Tournament of Terror

by Neo Edmund

  “Then I’m going to help you forget it,” Goldar said as he came in for a landing near the Pink Ranger. He then pummeled her with a powerful uppercut, sending her flying backward into a concrete wall.

  “Alpha 5 to Kimberly,” he called on the communicator. “If you can hear me, please respond.”

  On the power station rooftop, Goldar nudged the Pink Ranger with his metal boot, but she didn’t react. Her plan to lure Goldar closer by pretending to be unconscious was working perfectly.

  “You disappoint me, Pink Ranger,” he said. “Without the other Rangers, you’re nothing but a weak little girl,” Goldar mocked.

  “Think again,” the Pink Ranger said. She kicked Goldar’s legs out from under him and then sprang to her feet.

  Just as Goldar struggled back to his feet, the Pink Ranger unleashed a mighty melee of punches and spinning jump kicks, hitting Goldar again and again. Goldar stumbled backward, dizzied and half knocked out.

  The Pink Ranger pulled out her Power Bow and aimed an arrow at Goldar. “Now tell me how to shut down the EMP.”

  “Figure it out yourself,” Goldar said. He lurched to the side and knocked the bow from her hand. Before he could attack again, the Pink Ranger spun around and pummeled him with a mighty side kick. Goldar went soaring backward off the building and across the parking lot. He crashed into a truck, smashing it into a pile of twisted steel.

  “Alpha 5, transmitting the code now. Get Zordon back online ASAP,” Kimberly said into her helmet’s communicator.

  “Will do,” Alpha 5 said gleefully. “What about the EMP?”

  “Still working on it,” the Pink Ranger replied.

  • • •

  At the Moon Palace, Rita watched the battle through her telescope. Goldar was clawing his way out of the wrecked remains of the truck. “If that foolish Pink Ranger believes she can defeat my best warrior, she’s got another thing coming. Magic wand, make my Goldar grow!”

  Rita flung her staff toward the Earth. It sailed downward through the atmosphere and all the way to the power station. The staff pierced into the asphalt near Goldar. Lightning bolts of mystical energy shot out, causing Goldar to grow and grow until he towered over fifty feet in height.

  Alpha 5 called the Pink Ranger. “You have to teleport out of there. You can’t fight him on your own,” he yelped.

  “How long before the other Rangers return?” the Pink Ranger asked.

  “Seven minutes. But if the EMP goes off first, they’ll be lost forever,” Alpha 5 replied.

  “Then I’m going to need help in a big way,” Kimberly said.

  “I know. I know. I’m working to get Zordon back online right now,” Alpha 5 said.

  • • •

  At the Command Center, Alpha 5 typed the security code Kimberly had transmitted into the main computer. “Aye-yi-yi, this better work, or we’re doomed.”

  Inside the energy chamber, Zordon rapidly appeared and then disappeared again. When he spoke, his voice sounded glitchy. “Alpha 5—can you—hear-hear—me?”

  “Hold on, Zordon, I just need to make a few adjustments,” Alpha 5 said. He flicked a series of switches on the console. “That should do it.”

  Zordon’s form stabilized in the energy chamber. “Good work, Alpha 5. I thank you,” he said.

  “No time for thanks. Kimberly is in serious trouble,” Alpha 5 said.

  • • •

  The Pink Ranger hid out of sight, helplessly watching Goldar rampage a nearby building.

  “Pink Ranger, do you read me?” Zordon asked over her communicator.

  “Zordon, it’s so good to hear your voice,” she replied. “I need my Zord now.”

  “Then you need only to call on it,” Zordon replied.

  Kimberly raised her arm to the sky. “Pterodactyl Dinozord Power!” she shouted.

  From the mouth of a distant volcano, the robotic Pterodactyl Zord rocketed into the sky. It flew at supersonic speed and reached the power station in mere moments. The Pink Ranger leaped into the sky and landed in the pilot’s seat. “Now, time to send Goldar back to where he came from,” she said.

  The Pink Ranger piloted the Pterodactyl Zord toward Goldar. He tried to swat the Zord from the sky, but the Pink Ranger made a hard turn to evade the strike. She targeted Goldar and fired a full burst of shots from the Zord’s energy cannons.

  Goldar stumbled off balance, but quickly recovered. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to stop me, Pink Ranger,” he jeered.

  Inside the power station, a squad of Putty Patrollers guarded the captive engineers.

  Finster checked the power gauge on the EMP. The needle was a hair below the FULL line. “It will only be minutes now, which means it’s time for me to get out of here,” he said.

  The Putty Patrollers followed Finster as he headed toward the stairs. “Get back, you brainless oafs,” he said. “You must stay here to make sure nothing disrupts the detonation.”

  The Putty Patrollers exchanged nervous stares.

  • • •

  High above the power station, the Pink Ranger maneuvered the Pterodactyl Zord around for another attack run against Goldar. She knew there was no time left to spare. If there was a chance to stop the EMP from going off, it had to happen now.

  Twenty yards behind Goldar, the Pink Ranger spotted a pair of electrical towers with thick power lines strung in between. She throttled the engines to maximum speed and set her targeting sights at Goldar’s feet.

  The Pterodactyl Zord’s cannons fired a barrage of energy bolts. Goldar roared and retreated back, stepping closer to the power lines. The Pink Ranger then fired a volley of missiles. The ground exploded beneath Goldar’s feet.

  Goldar roared furiously and stumbled into the power lines. Bolts of electricity zapped through his armor. He plummeted into the ground with a thunderous rumble. One of his hulking arms crashed down atop the power station, destroying most of the building.

  The Pink Ranger ejected from the Pterodactyl Zord and dropped down to the ground near the station entrance. The engineers were fleeing from the building. Putty Patrollers raced out and scattered in a panic. Goldar was still tangled in the power lines and unable to stand, though the Pink Ranger suspected he would soon break free.

  The Pink Ranger climbed over mounds of busted concrete and twisted steel. She found the staircase leading to the lower levels of the station. Smoke and ash soiled the air, making it difficult for her to see where she was going.

  When she reached the lowest level of the station, it took her nearly a minute to locate the EMP. The needle on the power gauge was twitching at the FULL line, and a timer was counting down from three minutes.

  “Alpha 5, I have the EMP,” she said into her communicator. “It’s fully charged and set to go off in three minutes.”

  “Aye-yi-yi,” Alpha 5 replied. “It will be almost four minutes until the space bridge opens. If you don’t find a way to stop the EMP from going off, the other Rangers will be lost forever.”

  Zordon then said, “Kimberly, you must use the Pterodactyl Zord to get the EMP as far away from the city as possible.”

  The Pink Ranger hurried out of the power station, lugging the bulky EMP in her arms.

  “But if the EMP goes off while she’s in flight, her Zord would be disabled,” Alpha 5 yelped. “That would mean—”

  The Pink Ranger interrupted, “It would mean my Zord would lose control and maybe even crash. But it’s the only chance we have, so I have to take it.” She carefully put the EMP on the ground and checked the timer: It was now down to two minutes.

  With a skyward leap, the Pink Ranger again landed in the pilot’s seat of the Pterodactyl Zord. She slowed the thrusters and maneuvered around so she could scoop up the EMP in the Zord’s mighty jaw.

  Goldar finally untangled himself from the power lines. He scrambled to his feet and
saw what was happening. With a furious roar, he swung his arm, trying to thwack the Pterodactyl Zord from the sky. The Pink Ranger steered into a tight turn, just dodging his gigantic hand.

  The Pink Ranger angled her Zord skyward and cranked the thrusters up to maximum power. The force of the takeoff slammed her back into her seat. “Alpha 5, what’s the minimum altitude to make sure this thing doesn’t knock out the Command Center?” she asked.

  “At least fifty miles, but the higher the better,” Alpha 5 replied.

  Zordon added, “Pink Ranger, you must power down the Pterodactyl Zord’s computer right before the EMP detonates. It’s the only chance to protect the Zord’s electronics from being destroyed in the blast. You will then need two minutes to restart the systems.”

  “Understood,” the Pink Ranger replied, hoping against hope that she could keep her Zord in the air long enough not to crash. When the computer indicated that she’d reached the needed altitude, she took a deep breath and said, “Pink Ranger, going offline. Wish me luck.”

  The Pink Ranger powered off the main computer. The Pterodactyl Zord’s thrusters shut down. The EMP detonated. Thousands of searing lightning bolts shot in every direction. The Zord’s dense armor shielded the Pink Ranger from the brunt of the blast, but it wasn’t enough to save her from being zapped out of her senses.

  “Calling the Pink Ranger. Come in, Pink Ranger,” Alpha 5 desperately said into the communicator. On the Command Center viewing globe, he watched the Pterodactyl Zord plummeting through the clouds. “Oh, why won’t she respond?”

  Zordon said, “Her Zord’s systems haven’t restarted, and her communicator might have been damaged by the EMP. There is nothing we can do but wait and hope. In the meantime, you must enter the coordinates to align the space bridge, or the other Rangers will be lost.”

  “Aye-yi-yi, I nearly forgot,” Alpha 5 said. He scampered over to the main control console and typed in the computations. The clock counted down to zero. “Engaging space bridge now,” he said.

  An energy spear opened up on the transport platform. Jason, Zack, Billy, and Trini stepped through. Filth and muck covered them from head to toe, and they were ambling in exhaustion.

  “Mission accomplished, Zordon,” Jason said. “I think we’re all going to need to sleep for about a month, though.”

  Zordon proudly looked at the Rangers. “I’m pleased to learn of your success, but we have an urgent situation.”

  • • •

  The Pterodactyl Zord’s computer finished its automatic reboot cycle. Lights on the control panel lit up. A warning alarm sounded. The Pink Ranger finally began to come to her senses. She cried out in distress when she saw her Zord was plummeting downward on a collision course to the power station. She desperately pulled back on the control stick. Nothing happened.

  “Alpha, can you hear me? Please come in,” she said on the communicator.

  “Alpha 5, receiving your signal. It’s good to hear your voice, Kimberly,” he excitedly replied.

  “You won’t be hearing me for long unless I get the thrusters started,” the Pink Ranger said.

  “Just push the starter button by your left knee and be ready to feel a major kick,” Alpha 5 warned.

  The Pink Ranger took a deep breath and pushed the button. The engines ignited with a thunderous roar. The force slammed her back into her seat. She pulled back on the control stick. The Zord began to gradually arc out of the dive.

  “Alpha, I’m not pulling up fast enough,” she yelped.

  “Don’t give up,” Alpha 5 urged. “The other Rangers are here, and we all know you can do it.”

  The Pink Ranger gritted her teeth and pulled back on the control stick with all of her might. Mere feet before hitting the ground, the Zord finally leveled out. Its bottom scraped across a patch of trees as it started to soar upward.

  The Pink Ranger howled in victory. “I am never doing that again.” She smiled when she heard Alpha 5 and the other Rangers cheering on the communicator.

  “Good work, Pink Ranger. We knew you could do it,” Zordon said.

  The Pink Ranger spotted Goldar stalking through Downtown Angel Grove. “We can celebrate later. Tell the other Rangers to meet me downtown and bring backup. It’s time to put an end to this nightmare.”

  • • •

  At the Command Center, Jason took out his Power Morpher. “You heard her, team. IT’S MORPHIN TIME!”

  Zack shouted, “Mastodon,” and he morphed into the Black Ranger.

  Billy shouted, “Triceratops,” and he morphed into the Blue Ranger.

  Trini shouted, “Sabertooth Tiger,” and she morphed into the Yellow Ranger.

  Jason shouted, “Tyrannosaurus,” and he morphed into the Red Ranger.

  • • •

  The four Power Rangers arrived in Downtown Angel Grove. Goldar was stomping down Main Street, crushing cars and knocking over street lamps. The Pterodactyl Zord swooped overhead, firing a volley of energy bolts at Goldar.

  The Red Ranger spoke into his communicator. “This is your fight to lead, Kimberly.”

  The Pink Ranger replied, “We need Dinozord power, now.”

  From distant corners of the Earth, the four robotic Zords arose from their hidden lairs. Moments later, they arrived in Angel Grove, roaring furiously and ready for battle.

  The four Rangers leaped high into the air and landed in the cockpits of their Zords. The Red Ranger commanded the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord. The Blue Ranger commanded the Triceratops Dinozord. The Yellow Ranger commanded the Sabertooth Tiger Dinozord. The Black Ranger commanded the Mastodon Dinozord.

  “Now it’s time for some Megazord action,” the Pink Ranger hollered.

  The five Dinozords began combining into a single robotic machine. The Sabertooth Tiger and Triceratops Zords became the legs. The Mastodon transformed into a pair of hulking arms. The Tyrannosaurus became the torso that linked all the parts together. The Pterodactyl took the form of an armored chest plate and merged with the mighty machine. Once complete, the Megazord towered over 150 feet in height and weighed one hundred tons.

  All five Rangers now sat in a single command cockpit. “Time to put an end to that metal menace Goldar once and for all,” the Pink Ranger said.

  Goldar dashed toward the Megazord and punched it several times in the chest. “You puny Rangers can’t defeat me.”

  “Let’s show him what we can do, team,” the Pink Ranger shouted. The Megazord punched Goldar repeatedly, then leaped high and pummeled him with a double front kick in the chest.

  “Fire concussion rockets,” the Pink Ranger said. A volley of rockets fired from the shoulders of the Megazord. Each hit Goldar with thunderously explosive blasts. He crashed down with an earth-rumbling thud.

  “It’s over, Goldar. This is your last chance to surrender,” the Pink Ranger shouted.

  Goldar got to his feet. “I’ll never surrender to you,” he bellowed. Then he extended an arm, and a sword appeared in his hand.

  The Red Ranger raised his fist skyward. “I call on the Power Sword.” A massive, gleaming sword appeared in the hand of the Megazord. “Now let’s finish this,” he said.

  The Megazord and Goldar exchanged a thunderous series of sword strikes. Explosive sparks scattered as the titans viciously hacked and slashed at one another. Finally, the Megazord knocked Goldar’s sword from his hand, and then continued hacking and slashing into his armor.

  As Goldar stumbled off balance, the Megazord walloped him with a kick to the torso. Goldar crashed to the ground, gasping and unable to continue the fight.

  “You’re finished, Goldar,” the Pink Ranger said. The Megazord swung the Power Sword to deal the final blow.

  “Not today, Pink Ranger, but I’ll be back,” Goldar vowed. He teleported away, just before the Power Sword sliced him in two.

  “And the Power Rangers will be ready when
you are,” the Pink Ranger said with a fist raised in victory. “Let’s go home, team. I could really use a nap right about now.”

  The other Rangers nodded in wholehearted agreement.

  Later that evening at the Juice Bar, Jason, Zack, Billy, and Trini entered, carrying Kimberly on their shoulders.

  Kimberly held up her first-place trophy from the Toughest Warrior contest. Sarah, Jack, and many of the students from the Center for the Hearing Impaired followed along.

  “Who’s the Toughest Warrior?” Jason asked using sign language.

  “Kimberly is the Toughest Warrior,” everyone signed together.

  They carried Kimberly to a table and sat her in a chair. She did her best to hold back a yawn, but the thrill of victory was no match for how tired she felt.

  Ernie approached with a tray stacked with enough drinks for everyone. “To honor your victory celebration, I offer this delightful assortment of fruity drinks, all on the house.”

  “You’re the best, Ernie. Thank you,” Kimberly said with a smile, and then picked up a drink.

  Ernie started to sign. “And I thank you for teaching me to speak in sign language.”

  Kimberly and the others giggled.

  “Did I do it wrong again?” Ernie asked timidly.

  “It was a good try, Ernie,” Kimberly said.

  Ernie chuckled uneasily and hurried away.

  Jack stood up and signed, “I would like to thank our wonderful friend Kimberly Hart. Her victory has assured the Center will remain open.”

  Everyone clapped and cheered.

  Kimberly handed Jack an envelope. “And here is the check—signed, sealed, and delivered.”

  “That’s a lot of money. Are you sure you want to donate all of it?” Sarah asked.

  “Think of all the shopping you could do,” Jack signed.

  “Saving the Center is more important than shopping,” Kimberly replied, then smiled slightly. “Then again, there is this really cool leather jacket I’ve been eyeing.”

  “Consider it yours if you want it,” Jack replied.