The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 5 - Heather Ray (young adult books to read TXT) 📗

in his right hand. He clenched his left fist, which began to grow red with heat energy.

"Lower the shield," he requested. "It's time for round two."
Chapter Seventeen

Meanwhile, inside the mirror maze, the Purple Ranger stoos at what appeared to be a dead end. Surrounding her were reflections of herself. She was tiring of this situation very quickly.

"I hate mazes," she muttered, turning full circle, "I never know where there's a mirror, until I bump into it!"

She sighed deeply, and cautiously stepping in one direction. Sure enough, she collided with the reflective glass before getting very far.

"Okay, time to use my brain," she whispered. "Mirrors reflect lasers, and therefore a beam of laser would bounce around until it found a way through! That's it! Laser Whip!"

The purple tinted whip appeared in her right hand, and she grasped it tightly.

"All I have to do is make sure the beam is weak enough to bounce off the glass rather than shatter it," she said. A beam of bright violet light shot forth, and slammed into the mirror. Alexis quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding the light, and watched as the laser continued to ricochet until it finally found a path. Alexis ran as quickly as she could after the light beam. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Alexis, even while morphed, to run at the speed of light. However, since the light was constantly bouncing around, she managed to keep up with it. Finally, she saw a small clearing in the center of the mirror maze. She skidded to a halt and gazed at the skeleton creature standing in front of a stone pillar. She ducked out of sight before the creature saw her, and touched her wrist.

"Tommy?" she whispered, "I found the magic source! Tommy? Do you read?"

She frowned when only static was transmitted. She tried again.

"Alexis to CAC. Billy, are you there?"

Alexis huffed with frustration. My communicator doesn't seem to work at all! I didn't realize I couldn't send messages! I just thought I couldn't receive them! How am I supposed to contact the others?

Her emerald eyes widened with insight as she recalled her conversation with Kimberly and Aisha the previous night. After Jason had left, the conversation had turned to the Power Rangers, and Kimberly said that she used to control lightning, but now has the powers of telepathy and telekinesis as the Gold X-Ranger.

"That's it!" she said, almost too loudly. She held her breath as the skeleton creature looked around warily, certain it had heard something. After a few moments, he shrugged, and continued pacing around the pillar. Alexis exhaled slowly.

Now, all I have to do is think, and Kim'll hear me. I hope.

Chapter Eighteen

The two Viper Putties leaped at the Gold Ranger, but she cartwheeled out of the way. Taking care not to slip on the ice and snow, she pulled out her Thunderbow, and aimed carefully. One shot of scalding lightning struck one Putty in the face, immediately turning the entire creature to ash. The second one struck Kimberly in the arm, knocking her bow out of her reach. Kim blocked its follow-up punch with her forearm, and then punched it in the face with her other hand, closely followed by an elbow in the chin as she swung her arm back around. The Putty was dazed, so she took advantage of its distraction by grabbing the Putty by the shoulders, and thrusting it downwards, where it met with her knee halfway to the ground. Her knee struck the Putty in the face, and she continued to knee it until it stopped moving. She then tossed the Putty to the snow, where it evaporated. She glanced up, and saw Tommy still fighting Goldar. She ran towards them, picking up her Thunderbow along the way. But before she could reach them, she heard a mental cry. The cry startled her, and she closed her eyes to concentrate.

*Hello? Alexis, is that you?*

*Kimberly! Whew, thank goodness you heard me! I have no idea how to contact someone mentally!*

*Where are you?*

*I'm in the center of the mirror maze! Some skeleton monster is in here, and he's guarding a crystal orb. I'd bet my wings that its the source of the magical energy.*

*Why didn't you page us?*

*My communicator is still malfunctioning. I'll have to give it to Billy when we're done here. What should I do?*

Kimberly thought for a moment. *We'll be right there, Alexis. Just sit tight.*

Kimberly then opened her eyes again, and saw Tommy still fighting with Goldar. Tommy didn't seem to desperately need her help, so she focused her telepathic power, sending a mental call to the Black, Blue, Green, and Silver Rangers.

*Guys! Alexis found the power source in the mirror maze! It's right by the Ferris wheel! Get here ASAP!!*

Once the message was released, Kimberly continued towards Goldar and Tommy. Goldar had grabbed Tommy by the right wrist, and squeezed, forcing the Red Ranger to drop his sword to the snow. Goldar laughed triumphantly, but then screamed in pain as Tommy jammed his left fist, glowing with flaming energy, into Goldar's exposed face. The canine dropped the Red Ranger, and dropped to his knees, burying his burnt face in the snow. Tommy quickly picked up his Flame Saber, and stepped back from Goldar.

"Had enough, Metalhead?" Tommy taunted. Goldar growled, slowly rising to his feet. Smoke still exuded from his charred blue fur.

"I'll rip you apart," Goldar threatened, "and feed you to Zedd's snake-staff."

"Now that's a pleasant picture," Kimberly said, stepping beside Tommy with her Thunderbow aimed. Goldar frowned, realizing that victory would elude him once again.

"This isn't over," he muttered, as he slowly vanished in a cloud of golden light, "I'll be back."

"Doesn't he always say that?" Tommy asked, sheathing his sword.

"Yeah. The writer's of Terminator II should sue him for copyright infringement."

Just then, all four other rangers ran onto the scene.

"Where's Alexis?" Jason asked, glancing around.

"Still in the mirror maze," Kim replied. "Let's get going."

The six rangers hurried into the maze, immediately confused by the dozens of reflections. "We'll never find our way through this!" Zack moaned.

"Sure we will," said Jason, stepping forward. "Just follow me."

The others shrugged, and followed as Jason walked slowly through the maze, holding his hands out at arms' length.

Chapter Nineteen

After only a few minutes, the rangers heard the sounds of battle not far ahead.

"Wow," said Tommy, "how did you do that, Bro?"

"I kept my eyes closed," he answered. Zack gasped.

"Say what?!"

"The reflections create an optical illusion," Katherine said. "By closing his eyes, Jason avoided the confusion of the mirrors."

"You almost sound like Billy," Aisha joked. Katherine shook her head in the negative.

"Come on," Kimberly said, lowering her voice to a whisper. "They're right behind this mirror."

The four Terran Rangers and two X-Rangers peeked past the final mirror, and saw Alexis fighting with Rito Revolto. Behind the two of them was a crystal orb, placed upon a marble pillar.

"Guys!" Alexis called, kicking Rito in the stomach. "Destroy the crystal!"

"Wha...?" asked Rito, turning around, "Power Rangers!"

"Keep him busy, Lex!" Aisha yelled. The Purple Ranger nodded, and drew back her Laser Whip. She flung the purple leather whip through the air, wrapping it around both of Rito's hands. Rito struggled against the otherworldly strength of the whip, but he couldn't get loose. Alexis gave the other rangers a thumbs up.

"Terran Tempest, guys!" ordered Tommy. The five other rangers all held out their right hands, which began to glow with energy. Instantly, everyone's weapons appeared in their hands.

"Terra Thunderbow!" cried Kimberly, throwing her bow into the air. It stayed suspended in mid air.

"Terra Lance of Light!" shouted Zack, separating the lance in the center and throwing the two halves into the air. The halves attached to the center of the bow side by side, with the two prisms on either side facing forward.

"Terra Ice Daggers!" screamed Katherine, throwing both short blades up. They attached to the ends of the bow as two handles to hold up the weapon.

"Terra Earth Sword!" roared Jason, tossing his powerful blade into the air. The blade attached to one end of the bow, pointing towards the crystal.

"Terra Flame Saber!" bellowed Tommy, throwing up his trusted sword. It attached itself to the end opposite the Earth Sword, also facing the crystal.

"Terra Wind Shield!" called Aisha, launching the shield like a Frisbee. The shield lay on top the weapon.

Tommy grabbed one handle, while Jason grabbed the other handle. The others stood beside them, touching each others' shoulders.

"Terran Tempest!!" cried the entire team, focusing their elemental energies through the weapon. The two blades fired tight energy beams, while the two halves of the lance each fired beams of white lasers, laced with crackling lightning. The shield released a mighty gust of wind, laced with hail. The barrage of elemental energy struck the crystal orb all at once, instantly reducing it to small crystalline particles. The Terran Rangers released their weapon, and it vanished in a flash of multicolored light. Alexis and Rito stood in mute awe of the devastating power of the combined weapon.

"Uh oh," muttered Rito. "My sister's not gonna like