He snapped awake. “I’m here!”
The Zords’ armor groaned from the heat. They were at the edge of the hole. In another moment, they would topple in.
“Are we going over?” Billy screamed.
“No!” Kimberly thought she understood what might be happening. “Hold on tight to one another!”
The Rangers made one last push back against Goldar’s irresistible force. Crushed between Goldar’s heat and the energy of the Zeo Crystal, the Zords began to fuse together. The mastodon connected to the T. rex, the saber-toothed tiger to the triceratops and the pterodactyl. All around them was the Zeo Crystal’s brilliance—but it wasn’t destroying them. It was . . .
They stood up together from the edge of the burning crater. “Guys!” Billy called out. “We’re like one big Zord. Like a mama Zord. No, that sounds lame. A Megazord!”
They had become a single Megazord as big as Goldar, with a glowing opening in its chest that blazed with the energy of the Morphin Grid. All five Rangers were part of it, and from their cockpits they each controlled different parts of its body. From the edge of destruction, they had bonded together to find their ultimate strength.
Outside the Krispy Kreme, Rita Repulsa stood astonished by the sight of the Megazord rearing up out of the burning pit. “How?” she wondered. Few Power Ranger teams could form a Megazord even after years together. But these . . . children! . . . had managed it after barely an hour.
She stepped up onto Goldar’s hand and melded herself into his torso. It was time to teach these children a lesson before they learned how to pilot the Megazord.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Everyone, let’s go!” Jason called out.
The Megazord staggered as the Rangers tried to control it. It wobbled a bit before toppling over with an impact strong enough to shatter the windows in nearby buildings.
“I think that might have been my fault,” said Billy. “I’m sorry.”
“I think Kimberly needs to move our feet! Try again,” Jason added.
“No. I’ve got an arm,” Kimberly replied.
“I got a leg,” Zack added.
“You’re a leg, too?” Billy asked.
Trini chimed in. “I have the other arm.”
“We all have to move together,” Jason said. “All together on three. One . . . two . . . three . . .”
The Megazord slowly rose and pulled itself to its feet. This time, it kept its balance. They were getting the hang of it . . . just in time for Goldar to crash into them and drive them toward the docks.
“I can punch him!” Trini guided the Megazord’s hand through a sweeping roundhouse. It made an awesome crash on Goldar’s head. Goldar stumbled, crushing much of Angel Grove’s waterfront boardwalk.
“Oh, that was so cool!” said Billy. “I wish I had an arm!” He activated his leg and knocked Goldar back.
The Rangers’ early success was cut short as Goldar reeled back with his giant sword.
“Jason,” called Zack, “you got anything for that?”
“Remember the Pit?” he asked.
“Yeah!” Zack replied.
The Megazord rushed Goldar, hitting him in the middle of his body. They ducked under his swing and lifted him up. Then came the final move: The Megazord body slammed Goldar to the ground.
The Rangers were starting to get it figured out. They threw another punch. The Megazord’s fist crashed into the side of Goldar’s face and knocked him flat.
“Stomp him!” Zack said, and they did, pounding on the golden monster until he started to go limp.
The Megazord picked up Goldar and shook him, flinging molten gold into the harbor.
“Kim, Trini!” Jason called out. “Move back the arms! We’ve got swords!”
With that, the Megazord unclipped the wings on its back that became two awesome swords.
“Wait!” Rita Repulsa’s voice cut through the chaos as the Megazord plunged its sword through Goldar’s chest, pinning him to the ground. The Megazord loomed over the defeated Goldar as Rita emerged from his chest onto his hand. Molten gold dripped and streamed from her. Goldar could barely hold her up. She looked up at him, sad that he was hurting. “Look at me.” Rita turned to the Rangers. “You think you’ve won?”
The Power Rangers said nothing.
Rita pulled her coin from the head of her staff. “I came for the Crystal. Others will come! What you have? It can’t last! You know I’m right!”
“I don’t know,” Jason said. Again, he wondered what the whole story was between her and Zordon. “But for now, I need you to give your staff and your coin to us. We will take you to Zordon and let him be the judge.”
The mention of Zordon’s name transformed Rita’s expression to pure malice. “Zordon, judge me?” she said, her voice a hiss. “Never. No matter what Zordon says . . . I know I am worthy.”
She thrust her staff toward the morphing energy that swirled in the Megazord’s torso—but she was too slow. The Megazord reeled back a giant hand and, with all its power, batted her away. The force of the blow was enough to launch Rita into space.
“Did you just slap her?” Billy asked, not believing what had just happened.
“I did,” Jason replied. “Weird, right?”
As she disappeared, Goldar sank to the ground. His form melted back into a thousand streams of molten gold that split into tinier and tinier rivulets. These sank into the ground and disappeared. In seconds, it was as if Goldar and Rita Repulsa had never existed.
The Rangers looked out over the town of Angel Grove. The brilliant shaft of light from the Zeo Crystal still shone up out of the ground. They had saved it. Maybe they had saved a lot more than that.
People emerged from hiding and began to surround the Megazord. The Rangers in their cockpits looked out at the people, who cheered and took photographs.
“I told you we’d be famous,” Zack said as the Rangers celebrated.
Then Zordon’s voice filled the air.
“Rangers,” he said. “Hear me when I say, I am so proud of all of you.”
Alpha 5’s voice could be heard in the background. “Yeah, but you said they would fail!”
“Shut up, Alpha 5, I’m talking!”
Later, Jason entered Zordon’s control room and walked straight to the chair. He set the sword back into its sheath.
“You should keep that,” Zordon said from behind him. “You earned it.”
“I’ll come back for it,” Jason said. At the door, he stopped to wave. Alpha 5 waved back. Jason had a feeling he would be seeing them again fairly soon.
EPILOGUE
Things slowly returned to normal in Angel Grove. Construction crews worked to rebuild the downtown. The Cascadia mine was gone. The Zeo Crystal had been hidden again.
Nobody in Angel Grove suspected that five high-school kids had saved the world . . . especially these kids.
Jason walked into detention. He smiled at Kimberly and then at Billy. He looked around and saw Trini, who smiled back. He took his seat as Zack strolled in. Zack gave the room a once-over before taking a seat behind them, next to an empty desk with a green jacket hanging on the chair.
The five Power Rangers all shared a sly smile as they pondered Zordon’s words to them:
This Ranger team did what my team did not. You will humbly walk amongst your peers, but heroes you all will be. Each of your names will be etched alongside the great Ranger teams before you. I will always owe a debt of gratitude to you all.
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Power Rangers - The Official Movie Novelization Page 8