Tournament of Terror

by Neo Edmund

  PENGUIN YOUNG READERS LICENSES

  An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

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  ™ and © 2017 SCG Power Rangers LLC. Power Rangers and all related logos, characters, names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are the exclusive property of SCG Power Rangers LLC. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization. Published by Penguin Young Readers Licenses, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  Cover illustration by Dan Panosian

  Ebook ISBN 9781524785376

  Version_1

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  In the Command Center of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Kimberly Hart watched nervously as the seconds ticked away on a clock above one of the many blinking computer consoles. In only five minutes, a space bridge would teleport the Rangers to a strange world on the far end of the galaxy. The details of their dangerous mission were an absolute secret. If the evil witch Rita Repulsa were to learn of their plans, she would do everything in her power to stop them.

  Alpha 5, the Command Center’s robotic caretaker, scurried around in a panic. “Aye-yi-yi! We’re running out of time, and we still don’t have the final coordinates to align the space bridge,” he said.

  “Relax, Alpha.” Billy Cranston, the Blue Power Ranger, was typing complex calculations on a computer tablet. “I’ll have the coordinates ready in time,” he said.

  “It’s not that we don’t trust you,” said Jason Scott, the Red Ranger. He was doing a final check on the special weapons they were taking on the mission. “We just don’t want to miss dinner.”

  Billy grimaced. “When did that ever happen, except for that one time?” he asked.

  Zack Taylor, the Black Ranger, carefully packed survival meal kits into a backpack. “Twelve ration packs should be enough to feed four Rangers for three days, right?” he asked.

  Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger, finished rolling up a survival tent. “News flash—there are five Rangers, not four.”

  Zack looked curiously at Kimberly. “Haven’t you told them yet?” he asked.

  “Told us what?” Jason asked. He and the others approached Kimberly.

  Kimberly was surprised her friends hadn’t realized what was going on. Unlike them, she wasn’t wearing her Ranger suit. “You guys know being the Pink Ranger is the most important thing in the world to me,” she said.

  “Kimberly, what’s going on? Are you sick?” Billy said.

  Their leader, Zordon, an ancient galactic sage trapped in a time warp, looked down on the Rangers from inside an energy chamber that served as his link to the Command Center. “Fear not, Rangers. Kimberly isn’t sick. She has, however, decided to stay behind for a personal reason,” he said.

  Kimberly frowned. She was feeling a little guilty. “The Angel Grove Gymnastics Tournament is this weekend. If I go on the mission, I’d miss my chance to compete,” she said.

  “Kimberly, you have to go for it,” Trini said. “If you win, you could go on to the Pan Global Games. That’s been your dream since you were a little girl.”

  “This is far too important an opportunity to pass up,” Billy said.

  “I know, but it also feels wrong to ignore my duty as the Pink Ranger over a silly tournament,” Kimberly said.

  Zordon proudly smiled. “Kimberly, your loyalty to the Power Rangers is admirable, but there is nothing silly about pursuing your dreams,” he said.

  Jason nodded in agreement. “Then it’s settled. We handle the mission. You stay here and win that tournament,” he said.

  Kimberly smiled warmly. “You guys are the best friends ever.”

  She watched timidly as Jason, Zack, Billy, and Trini gathered their equipment and then stepped up onto a metal platform. The clock over the main console counted down from thirty seconds.

  “Rangers, the space bridge won’t open again for seventy-two hours,” Zordon said. “Whatever happens on your mission, you are all on your own. Look out for one another and may the Power protect you.”

  “You have our word, Zordon,” Jason vowed.

  Kimberly felt shaken by Zordon’s warning, because it also meant she would be on her own if trouble were to arise in Angel Grove.

  “Beginning final countdown,” said Alpha 5. “Ten, nine, eight . . .”

  “Entering coordinates now,” Billy said. His fingers moved at lightning speed as he typed on the tablet. A glowing energy ring began to spin around the platform.

  “Opening space bridge in three, two, one,” Kimberly said. She pushed a button on the main console marked ENGAGE.

  An energy vortex appeared above the platform. The Rangers morphed into four beams of energy—red, blue, yellow, and black. They then vanished into the vortex.

  Kimberly looked to the clock. The time was now counting down: 71 HOURS, 59 MINUTES, 55 SECONDS.

  Alpha 5 put a hand on Kimberly’s shoulder to comfort her. “Don’t worry. The Rangers will be just fine,” he said.

  Kimberly half-heartedly nodded in agreement. “I know they will. I just hope I’ll be okay without them.”

  Meanwhile, the evil space sorceress bent on world domination, Rita Repulsa, stood on an observation deck atop the tallest tower of her lunar fortress known as the Moon Palace. While spying on the people of Earth through her long-range telescope, she saw four beams of light soaring away from the planet.

  She turned a crank on the telescope to zoom in for a closer look.

  “Well, well, my nemesis Zordon is using a space bridge to send those meddlesome Power Rangers on some sort of mission,” Rita said. She turned to face her grisly gang of alien sidekicks. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?” she asked.

  “A thousand apologies, my queen,” said Finster, an intellectual gray-skinned alien with pointy ears and a long snout. “We do our best to track Zordon’s activities, but he’s always one step ahead of us.”

  Rita grinned with wicked delight. “No
matter. With the Rangers away, it’s time for me to play,” she said.

  Baboo, a lanky apelike alien with blue skin and black fur, looked at the four beams of light that were heading off into space. “Red, blue, yellow, and black. Pardon me, my queen, but aren’t there five Rangers?” he asked.

  Rita picked up a long staff that had a golden crescent moon mounted on the top. She used it to smack Baboo on the head.

  “Of course there are five Rangers, you dim-witted fool,” she said.

  Squatt, a short and pudgy alien with a big head and huge teeth, lumbered up to Rita. “But if only four Rangers are going on the mission, someone must have stayed behind,” he said.

  “Silence, you fool,” Rita said, and shoved Squatt out of her way. She again looked through the telescope and saw the four beams of light. “Red, blue, yellow, and black. That means that infuriating Pink Ranger is home all alone.”

  Finster grinned proudly. “This is just too good. We could destroy Zordon and stop the Rangers from returning to Earth,” he said.

  “What are you babbling about?” Rita asked curiously.

  Finster hurried over to a large object concealed beneath a greasy tarp. “I’m talking about my electromagnetic pulse bomb, or EMP for short,” he said, and pulled away the tarp, revealing a metallic sphere covered with tubes, frayed wires, and flickering lights. “In one fell swoop, we could permanently disable the Command Center and take out every electrical device in Angel Grove.”

  Rita kicked the EMP. “I thought you said this hunk of tin was a big fat dud,” she said.

  “My invention is no dud, your evilness,” Finster said. He pointed to a power gauge on the side of the EMP. The needle was at the empty line. “I said we need a massive source of energy to charge it to full capacity.”

  “What about the Angel Grove Power Station?” Baboo asked.

  Finster considered this. “Yes, I believe the power station would do the trick, but the EMP would take nearly three days to charge. We’d have to find a way to keep that pesky Pink Ranger from discovering it,” he said.

  Rita pondered wicked thoughts.

  “So, how to stop the Pink Ranger from interfering.” Her eyes narrowed with a dastardly idea. “I’ve got it. Somebody tell that no-good Goldar to get his metal tail in here,” she said.

  Goldar, a monstrous, apelike alien warrior with jet-black wings and golden armor, stepped up behind Rita. “You called, my queen?” he asked.

  Startled, Rita turned around. “How did you get here so quickly?” she asked.

  Goldar shrugged. “I’ve been here the entire time,” he said.

  Rita smacked him with her staff. “Just shut your trap and follow me.”

  Rita led Goldar down a long and dreary stone corridor.

  They passed several metal cell doors, each with a vicious creature growling on the other side. They then walked through a crackling energy barrier and entered an octagon-shaped chamber. In the center was a black pedestal with a glowing pink chest sitting atop.

  Rita opened the chest, revealing an ancient amulet hanging from a golden chain. Goldar leaned in for a closer look. He saw a tiny gem in the middle of the amulet that was glowing bright with pink energy.

  “I’ve been saving this for the perfect opportunity,” Rita said. “With this mystical amulet, you will be invisible to all humans except for the Pink Ranger.”

  “And how will this help me destroy her?” Goldar asked.

  Rita put the amulet around Goldar’s thick neck. “You’re not going to destroy her. Your job will be to terrorize her night and day. Whenever she turns around, you’ll be there, but with nobody else able to see you, she’ll think she’s going off like a cuckoo clock. Her mind will become so tired and confused that she’ll do anything to get you to leave her alone. That’s when you will order her to take you to the Command Center,” she said.

  “Now I understand,” Goldar said with a raised fist. “With the Pink Ranger’s help, I could get into the Command Center undetected. I would knock Zordon out of commission before he even knew I was there. There would be nobody to stop us from detonating Finster’s EMP.”

  “And when the Command Center is permanently disabled, the Rangers won’t be able to return to Earth,” Rita said with vile delight. “It’s a perfect plan, so you better not screw it up.”

  “As you command, my queen,” Goldar said. Then he teleported away in a streak of gold light.

  At the Angel Grove Youth Center, the gymnastics tournament was in full swing. A young gymnast was performing a dazzling tumbling routine to the delight of the cheering crowd.

  While Kimberly watched from the sideline before her turn to perform, she began to feel nervous about her chances of winning. This was the first time she had ever competed against gymnasts with such high-level skills.

  A teen girl named Sarah Robins stepped up next to Kimberly. She was wearing a T-shirt that said TEAM KIMBERLY in bright pink letters. On the back was a logo for the Angel Grove Center for the Hearing Impaired.

  The crowd burst out cheering as the other gymnast finished her performance. “She’s really good,” Kimberly said to Sarah.

  Sarah grinned at Kimberly and then pointed to her own ears.

  Kimberly grimaced, having nearly forgotten that Sarah was deaf. She started using her hands to speak in sign language. “I said she’s really good,” she signed.

  Sarah signed in response, “You are also really good, so don’t worry. I know you will be amazing.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot to me,” Kimberly replied.

  On the intercom, an announcer said, “Next up, Angel Grove’s own Kimberly Hart!” The crowd burst out in thunderous cheers.

  Sarah joined a group of teens in the front row. They were all students at the Angel Grove Center for the Hearing Impaired and wore TEAM KIMBERLY T-shirts.

  Together, they signed: “We believe in you, Kimberly!”

  Kimberly smiled and waved to her friends. She walked over to the far corner of the tumbling floor. She pictured herself doing the opening steps of her routine. This was hardly necessary because she’d practiced so much she could perform the routine in her sleep.

  On the intercom, a catchy rock song Kimberly had chosen for her routine began to play. She took a deep breath and launched into her opening run. With amazing skill, she executed a series of soaring half-twists and backflips. The crowd cheered excitedly.

  Just as Kimberly prepared for another tumbling pass, a flickering pink light caught her eye. She glanced to the spectator stands and saw a startlingly familiar golden figure lurking among the crowd. “Goldar!” she yelped.

  Goldar pointed his hulking sword at Kimberly. “I’m coming for you, Pink Ranger,” he said, and then vanished in a blink.

  Kimberly nervously looked around, trying to see where Goldar had gone. There wasn’t a sign of him anywhere. She rubbed the sweat from her forehead and hoped that it was just her nerves playing tricks on her.

  It took Kimberly a few calming breaths to regain her concentration. This was no time to fall apart, she told herself. A major mistake now would ruin her chances of moving on to the next round of the tournament.

  As Kimberly sprinted into her next tumbling pass, Goldar appeared right in her path. “Surprise,” he roared, swinging his bulky sword at her. Deathly startled, Kimberly leaped into a sideways twisting flip, just clearing his blade.

  As soon as Kimberly’s feet touched the floor, Goldar again swung his sword at her. She backflipped high into the air to dodge the attack. Her heart raced as he swung his sword at her again and again. Each time, she executed an acrobatic move, narrowly evading his strikes.

  The crowd responded with gleeful cheers.

  “Don’t stop now. They love you,” Goldar teased.

  Kimberly felt confused when she noticed the crowd didn’t seem at all concerned. Even Sarah and her friends were sm
iling and cheering.

  While Kimberly was distracted, Goldar grabbed her from behind and locked his muscular arms around her. “I have you now,” he said.

  Kimberly frantically kicked and flailed around, trying to escape his grip. She then firmly planted her feet on the ground and pushed backward with all her might. Goldar toppled down and lost his grip on her.

  “You won’t escape me that easily,” he said.

  Kimberly hopped to her feet. She saw the contest judges were whispering to one another, trying to understand what was happening. She was certain this fiasco must have cost her far too many points to advance in the tournament.

  “Don’t look so sad. You never had a chance anyway,” Goldar said.

  Kimberly felt both angry and disappointed. More important, she was worried about the safety of the crowd. She reminded herself that even if they didn’t have a clue what was happening, it was her duty as the Pink Ranger to protect them from danger.

  “It’s time for you to leave, Goldar,” Kimberly growled.

  “I’d like to see you make me,” Goldar said.

  Kimberly replied by raising her fists and attacking. She unleashed an astonishing melee of jumping and spinning kicks. Goldar counterattacked with his sword, but Kimberly bashed it out of his hand. She followed up with a spinning kick that knocked Goldar to one knee.

  With Goldar stunned out of his senses, Kimberly dashed forward, planted a foot on his knee, and leaped into a soaring backflip kick. The metal brute crashed hard into the floor.

  “You lose, Goldar,” Kimberly said.

  “Maybe this round, Pink Ranger, but our fun has only just begun,” Goldar said. He then vanished in a golden flash.

  Kimberly took a long breath of relief, then suddenly remembered where she was. She could feel the eyes of the crowd staring at her. They must think I’ve completely lost my mind, she thought.

  After a long moment of silence, Sarah stood up and started clapping. Her friends stood up and joined in. Then the entire crowd burst out in a gleeful standing ovation.

  Kimberly dared to look over and saw the judges were also standing and applauding. With a confused shrug and a half-hearted smile, she timidly waved to the crowd.