The Venomous Eclipse Read online

  “I am!” shouted Kimberly as her Dinozord soared over the beach.

  “Count me in!” said Billy, his head already clear and his body ready for action, even after his bizarre disappearance.

  Trini chimed in with, “Now’s good for me,” as she deftly made a tight turn with her Sabertooth Tiger to take another pass at Scorpina.

  “Happy to be part of the team,” Zack said, relieved to have Billy back, but also pumped and ready for action.

  “Okay then,” Jason said. “We need Megazord power, now!”

  Each Power Ranger felt the special energy and excitement that ran through their blood when forming Megazord. It was every member of the team coming together to create one amazing fighting force. Their Zords began converging, all racing in a precise formation until they became a single fighting unit. Trini and Billy formed the legs of Megazord, giving it stability during battle. Zack formed the two big laser blasters on the tank, giving the firepower necessary to subdue a foe like Scorpina. Jason formed the body of the tank with the strength of a Tyrannosaurus so that the assault vehicle could withstand a beating from almost any opponent. Kimberly finished off the Megazord with the ferocity of her Pterodactyl riding at the very top.

  Even though each Power Ranger was in a separate part of the Megazord Tank, they were connected by the unifying power of the Megazord, which made it feel like they were all sharing the same cockpit.

  “Everyone’s fully engaged?” the Red Ranger asked.

  “Yes!” said Zack and Billy, both giving a thumbs-up.

  “Right!” said Trini and Kimberly, both pumping their fists in the air.

  “Great,” Jason said. “Now let’s blast this crawdad back to the Stone Age!”

  There was a blast of the Megazord cannons; a direct hit to Scorpina’s chest. The giant scorpion beast staggered back a few steps, but then recovered and came straight at the tank, swinging her crescent sword and putting a tremendous dent into the hull.

  “Ouch!” cried Trini. It was her portion of the tank that had taken the blow and she felt it personally.

  “Wow!” The Blue Ranger was amazed. “That was both barrels, and Scorpina barely felt it.”

  “I think she’s extra mad because I threw away her toy,” Zack commented.

  “That’s what you get for tossing someone’s jewelry,” Kimberly informed him as she did a flyby, blasting Scorpina with her wing-mounted lasers.

  “When will I ever learn?” Zack replied with a shake of his head.

  Despite their joking around, the Power Rangers knew they were in deep trouble. If a full blast from the Megazord Tank cannons wasn’t enough to slow Scorpina down, there was only one thing left to do.

  “It’s time for Megazord Battle Mode,” the Red Ranger shouted. “Everyone get ready; we’re going to Morph.”

  “You got it!” the Black Ranger cried.

  “Ready when you are!” the Pink Ranger radioed in.

  “I’m with you!” the Blue Ranger said.

  “No time like the present,” the Yellow Ranger chimed in.

  “Okay, team!” the Red Ranger said, giving everyone only a split second to prepare. “Let’s do it.”

  The Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger began to rise, forming the legs of the massive human-shaped robot of Megazord Battle Mode. The Mastodon converted, forming the core and arms of the body, with the Tyrannosaurus transforming into the head. For the Megazord to be complete, the Pterodactyl joined in, forming the breastplate.

  “Now we’re ready to rumble,” said the Red Ranger. “Come on, team, let’s send this uninvited guest out of here in a galactic taxi.”

  Scorpina was one step ahead of the Rangers, attacking with a fierce swing of her sword. Megazord ducked the blow, spun around, and then executed a mighty roundhouse strike that sent the scorpion beast staggering.

  Recovering quickly, Scorpina used her tail in a maneuver that was usually a classic leg sweep. Megazord leaped over the electric tail, but while dodging the blow, the robot got caught right inside Scorpina’s giant, terrifying claw. And it clamped down tightly.

  “Ugh, I can’t move,” Zack said. “She’s got our arms pinned.”

  “Stomp on her foot,” Jason commanded. “Anything to get us loose before she brings in the tail.”

  “On it!” Trini said, delivering a crushing blow to the top of their enemy’s foot.

  “Gah!” the Red Ranger said as the horrible scorpion claw began to slowly crush the metal chest cavity of Megazord. “Rangers, ready your Power Crystals.”

  “Right!” the team shouted as a single fighting unit.

  Scorpina’s golden claw was tearing through Megazord’s metal sides. The Power Rangers were seconds away from being cut in half.

  “Ready!” the entire team shouted. Then, with Olympic-level precision, the Power Rangers inserted their Power Crystals into the slots on their Dinozords’ control panels.

  The Megazord was suddenly filled with a new strength and energy. A vicious head butt rang Scorpina’s helmet, causing her to loosen her grip enough so that Megazord was able to get one arm free. That was all the opportunity the Rangers needed.

  “Time for a little Power Sword!” the Red Ranger shouted.

  A bolt of lightning raced across the sky, and then a sword as long as a school bus sped down from the heavens. Megazord easily caught the weapon and began hacking at the scorpion monster while fending off blows from her deadly tail.

  “Yeah! Take that, you giant cockroach!” the Black Ranger yelled.

  “You tell her, Zack,” Billy chimed in.

  Scorpina released an ear-shattering roar. She was furious, but also fully aware that she was about to be defeated. “You horrible, thieving peons!” she yelled. “I will destroy you! You will never be rid of me!”

  But those were only idle threats; Scorpina was growing weaker. She managed to deflect another blow from the Power Sword with her immense claw, but it obviously took something out of her. Megazord did a spinning back kick and sent Scorpina stumbling.

  “You’ll never win,” she said, staggering. “Rita will never stop until Earth is destroyed.”

  “That’s never going to happen as long as the Power Rangers have anything to say about it,” the Red Ranger told her.

  After another blow from the Power Sword, Scorpina was finished; she had no fight left in her. Megazord raised its sword for a final blow, but Scorpina turned and ran. A moment later, she had teleported, making her escape.

  • • •

  Back on the moon, Rita was furious. “What are you doing back here?” she demanded, once she realized that Scorpina had given up the fight and fled back to the fortress.

  “Just grabbing my stuff,” Scorpina said. She had transformed back into a beautiful woman clad in gold armor. “I didn’t want to forget my other boots,” she said, hastily throwing a few possessions into her bag.

  “The Power Rangers are still alive! Get back down there and fight!” the sorceress bellowed.

  “Sorry, Rita. I just remembered something I’ve got to do,” Scorpina called before she teleported out of the solar system. “Thanks again and sorry about the ring. I’ll see you in a couple of centuries.”

  “Wahoo!” the Power Rangers shouted, high-fiving one another as they jumped out of Megazord. As soon as they were all clear, the giant robot disassembled into the Dinozords, which went off to conceal themselves in their secret locations.

  “I can’t believe Scorpina ran away,” Trini said, laughing. “That was too good.”

  “She left so fast, I guess she forgot to take her crew with her,” Zack said, pointing to the crest of the bluff where Baboo and Squatt were still hiding.

  “I say we get ’em!” Jason said, pretending like he was about to start chasing Rita’s two minions.

  “They see us!” Baboo squeaked.

  “Let’s get ou
t of here!” Squatt added, but he was speaking to thin air because his friend had already taken off with all the Putties.

  That gave all the Power Rangers a good laugh.

  “I need to call in and update Zordon,” Jason said, tapping at his wrist communicator. “Come in, Zordon and Alpha 5. Billy’s back, and Scorpina has been sent packing.”

  “Congratulations, Power Rangers,” Zordon boomed. “You continue to impress me with your fighting skills, loyalty, and teamwork.”

  The Power Rangers all smiled at one another. “Thanks, Zordon,” Kimberly said. “We like you, too.”

  “You can give me a full report later, Power Rangers,” Zordon said. “Right now, I think you deserve some time to celebrate your hard-won victory.”

  “Thanks, Zordon,” Zack said. “It’s nice to take a break from saving the world every once in a while.”

  “What do you say we celebrate with some milk shakes at the Youth Center?” Jason suggested.

  “Sounds sweet,” Zack agreed.

  “Plus, I want to hear all about what happened to you, Billy,” Trini added.

  “And where it happened,” Kimberly said. “You know, like what dimension.”

  “It’s a shame about the ring, though,” Billy said, shaking his head and gazing out at the ocean where the Black Ranger had flung it. “I didn’t have time to fully understand the technology. That’s something I really wish I could have done.”

  “Well . . .” Zack said, suppressing a grin. “Maybe you can.”

  “How?” Billy wanted to know. “I’ll never be able to find it in all that water. Not in a hundred years.”

  “Maybe I didn’t actually throw Scorpina’s ring into the ocean,” Zack told him. Then he pulled the Eclipse Ring out from where he’d hidden it in the cuff of his glove. “I might have thrown a rock instead. You know, just to fake out old lobster tail.”

  “Wow,” Trini said, shaking her head. “Scorpina would never have left if she knew you still had that.”

  Her words made Billy frown and knit his eyebrows together. “Trini’s got a point. No matter how much I want to study the ring, I think it would be better for the survival of the world if we destroyed it.”

  “Destroyed it?” Zack wasn’t following his train of thought. “Why?”

  “Because of Scorpina. We managed to defeat her this time, but it could have so easily gone the other way.” The Blue Ranger shook his head. “No matter how much I want to keep the ring, I think we’re better off if we destroy it.”

  The entire team thought this over. “You mean like go on a really long journey and then eventually end up throwing it into the mouth of an active volcano or something like that?” Kimberly asked. “Because that sounds a little epic-y.”

  “No.” Billy had to laugh at the thought of the Power Rangers taking on the role of hobbits in a Lord of the Rings–style adventure. “I was thinking we could just melt it in my family’s garage.”

  Everyone nodded their heads. “That sounds easier,” the Pink Ranger admitted with a laugh.

  Talking about destroying the ring turned out to be a whole lot easier for Billy then actually destroying the ring. When they got to his family’s house and headed into the garage, he put the ring in a crucible, but then he couldn’t force himself to move forward from there. “It’s just such a great piece of technology,” he said. “I can’t destroy it. Maybe if I just kept it for a little while and could study it very secretively and—”

  “Sorry, Billy, it’s just not a good idea,” Jason said, lighting an acetylene torch and starting to heat the ring with the flame. “I don’t want to stand in the way of science, but I also really don’t want Scorpina coming back here anytime soon.”

  “I understand,” Billy said, looking glum. “There’s so much cool stuff in the world to study; I can’t get hung up on this one thing.”

  “What do we do with it now?” Zack asked, looking at the lump of hot metal once it had melted.

  “I don’t know,” Jason said, using some tongs to dunk it into a bucket of water to cool it down. Then he reached in and pulled out the chunk of metal that used to be the Eclipse Ring. The stone had survived the heat and was imbedded in the blob. “It makes a pretty cool paperweight.” Turning to Billy, he said, “Do you want it? You’re the one who got erased into another dimension.”

  “No thanks.” Billy shook his head. “Seeing it all the time would remind me of the technology we had to sacrifice.”

  “I’ll take it if nobody else is interested,” Zack said. “I think it would be something good for me to have around.”

  Just then the garage phone rang, and Billy picked it up. “Hello?”

  “Helloooo,” said someone using a weird-sounding, high-pitched voice. “I saw on a flyer that you found my ring. My sister and I are just so delighted because we’ve been worried about my ring. It was our grandmother’s, you know.”

  “Oh . . . um . . . hold on a second.” Billy covered the mouthpiece of the phone. “I think it’s Bulk pretending to be an old lady. He and Skull are trying to get the ring.”

  “You’re kidding,” Zack said, shaking his head. “Those two are—”

  “Just tell them to get lost,” Kimberly said. She was sick of those two lugs always causing problems.

  “No, wait a minute,” Jason said. “Maybe we can have a little fun with this. Tell them to meet you at Ernie’s Juice Bar in the Angel Grove Youth Center and you’d be happy to return their ring.”

  Forty-five minutes later, the Power Rangers were all dressed as normal teenagers, seated around a table at the Youth Center.

  Ernie came over carrying a tray full of milk shakes. “Okay, let’s see,” he said, examining his order pad, “strawberry for Kimberly.” He set a glass full of blended ice cream down in front of her. “Lemon chiffon for Trini . . . blueberry for Billy . . . cherry for Jason . . . and chocolate for Zack.”

  “Thanks, Ernie,” the team said simultaneously.

  “Hey, you guys all ordered what you’re wearing,” Ernie said with a broad grin. “You’re matching.”

  “Huh?” The teenagers looked down at their clothes.

  This made Ernie chuckle. “Trini’s shake is yellow just like her shirt. Billy’s shake is blue just like his overalls. It’s the same for all of you.”

  “Well, look at that,” Jason said, holding up his red shake to his red shirt. “It’s almost like we planned it.”

  “Oh, oh. Quiet. I want to hear this,” Ernie said, rushing over to turn up the volume on the television above the counter.

  “This just in,” a newscaster was saying. “Reports have come in that there was an attempt to destroy Earth by a giant scorpion creature from outer space. The alien was reported to have landed at Angel Grove Cove. Its plans to conquer Earth were thwarted by none other than our own local superheroes, the Power Rangers.”

  Everyone in the Youth Center began to clap and cheer.

  “We’ll have a better update as information keeps coming in, but I know I speak for all of us when I say that it’s easier to sleep at night just knowing that the Power Rangers are out there, ready to protect us if necessary. Next up in the news, does your garbage disposal tend to sometimes smell like old food? It may be more sinister than you think . . .”

  Ernie muted the television again and then let out a big sigh of relief. “I’d heard something was going on down at the beach today,” he said. “I’m sure glad nobody was hurt.”

  “Us, too,” Jason assured him.

  “Thank goodness for the Power Rangers,” Ernie went on as he gathered up some empty glasses to take back into the kitchen. “I hate to think of what would happen if they ever disappeared.”

  “Speaking of disappearing,” Trini said, once Ernie was gone. “Tell us more about what happened, Billy. You said you felt like you’d been frozen for a moment, and then everything felt different, but exa
ctly the same. How does that work?”

  “It was very perplexing,” Billy said, after taking a sip of his blueberry shake. “I could see all of you, but it was like there was a thick piece of glass between us. Everything was blurry, and I couldn’t get your attention, no matter how hard I tried. I felt like I was a ghost or something.”

  “Sounds freaky,” Jason said, wiping away a bit of a cherry milk shake mustache.

  “It was disturbing,” Billy admitted. “Plus, there were a bunch of Putties that got erased with me. And even though we were in an alternate dimension, their whole purpose is to attack Power Rangers, so that’s what they kept trying to do.”

  “Sounds like you kept your wits about you,” Kimberly observed.

  “And used your fighting skills,” Jason said, slapping the Blue Ranger on the back.

  “I’m so sorry that happened, Billy,” Zack said, hanging his head and unable to look in his friend’s direction. “You told me we shouldn’t bring the ring to battle Scorpina, but I wouldn’t listen to you. And we almost lost you. That must have been scary being stuck in another dimension.”

  Billy patted him on the shoulder. “I’m okay. It was kind of scary, but everything turned out fine.”

  But Zack wasn’t letting himself off the hook that easily. “I acted like an idiot. You’re the scientific genius; you know your stuff. I should have listened to you. I’m just really glad you’re okay.”

  “I appreciate you saying that, Zack,” the Blue Ranger told him. “We all have our strengths and weaknesses. My strength just happens to be science.”

  “Just like how Zack can sometimes get a little dangerous on the dance floor,” Kimberly said in a teasing voice, making everyone laugh.

  “Speaking of dangerous,” Zack said, looking across the room. “Whatever’s going on over there can’t be good.”

  Everyone turned their heads to see two old ladies tottering into the Angel Grove Youth Center. The first lady was quite large, and almost as wide as she was tall, wearing a ridiculously tight skirt. The second lady was medium height and pretty thin, wearing a dress that fit like a circus tent. Neither one of them looked sweet or even very much like ladies. Even someone with bad eyesight could tell that it was obviously Bulk and Skull disguised as a couple of elderly women.