Mind over Magic

by Stefan Petrucha

  The sack open, Tommy’s skeletal arm sprang out. It quickly grabbed hold of the blueberry-colored creature’s armor and crawled up toward his face!

  Squatt screamed, “Yeow! It’s got ahold of me! Help! Help!”

  Dropping the other sacks, Squatt twisted this way and that, trying to shake off the arm. But Tommy held on tight.

  Baboo was also startled, but he decided he had to prove he was at least braver than Squatt. He acted as if being grabbed by a disembodied arm was no big deal.

  “Stop being such a scaredy-cat, Squatt!” he said.

  When Squatt kept screaming, Baboo sighed and tossed the sacks into the cell, including the one with Tommy’s skull.

  “Omf!” Tommy said as his head landed.

  Despite feeling each limb hit the hard ground, he focused on the hand clinging to Squatt. The skull now on the cell floor, Tommy wriggled it free from the sack, giving him an even better view of things.

  Meanwhile, Baboo turned back to his squirming sidekick and said, “Here, let me give you a hand with that hand!”

  He tried to catch the arm with his long, vampire bat-like hands, but the frightened Squatt was moving too fast.

  “Hold still!” Baboo said.

  “It tickles! And I’m scared!” Squatt complained. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!”

  “Will you stop being so silly?” Baboo replied. “After all, what can one arm do?”

  But when Baboo got close enough, a bony fist gave him a good, solid punch.

  “Oof!” Baboo said, staggering backward.

  Punching Baboo meant Tommy had to let go of Squatt, so the arm clattered to the floor. Neither minion moved to grab it, though. Baboo was still stunned, while Squatt was furiously scratching the parts of his neck and face where the bony hand had been.

  Seizing the opportunity, Tommy used the fingers to pull the arm toward the other sacks in the cell.

  If I’m strong enough and fast enough, he thought, I can untie all the bags and get out of here!

  Seeing the arm inch along the floor, Baboo and Squatt cowered and started to argue.

  Baboo tried to push Squatt toward it. “Hurry, Squatt!” he said. “Grab it before he gets the rest of himself free!”

  “But it’s so creepy! Why don’t you do it?” Squatt said.

  “It already punched me!” Baboo whined.

  Tommy thought he might make it, when a new voice boomed along the hall, saying, “What’s all the racket down there?”

  Tommy turned his skull to see Goldar at the bottom of the stairs, shaking his head, annoyed.

  “Don’t you have the Green Ranger in that cell yet?” he asked.

  Squatt and Baboo pointed to the crawling arm.

  “Most of him,” Baboo said.

  “I’ll handle this,” Goldar said.

  “Is that a joke?” Squatt asked. “Like hand-le?”

  “I don’t joke,” Goldar said.

  Tommy tried to make the arm crawl faster, but before he could reach the first sack, Goldar bent down and grabbed the arm.

  Tommy tried to punch him, but it was no use.

  “Not much of a fighter now, are you?” Goldar said. Feeling pretty superior, he tossed the arm into the cell with the rest of the bags. Then he clanked the door shut and locked it.

  No! Tommy thought. Not about to give up, he started untying the sacks that held the rest of him.

  Meanwhile, Goldar barked at Squatt and Baboo, “Get over here, you cowards!”

  He grabbed the shaking minions by the scruffs of their necks. Yanking them toward the cell, he pushed them against the bars of the door and made them look.

  Tommy’s pieces were free now, but he couldn’t control them all. They just flopped around, clicking against the stone.

  “Look at that pathetic show!” Goldar said. “Is that what you’re so afraid of?”

  Baboo snickered. “When you put it that way,” he said. “He is pretty pathetic, isn’t he? He can’t even make something of himself!”

  “Yeah,” Squatt added. “It sure is nice to make fun of him while we’re safe and he’s stuck behind those bars!”

  Hoping to prove them wrong, Tommy rolled his skull toward his torso. He tried to connect it to his neck, but it wouldn’t stay put. The skull just rolled away, giving him an upside-down view of the laughing minions.

  Just then, Rita Repulsa’s voice filled the hall, sounding like fingernails on a chalkboard. Being an evil sorceress, she could call on her minions no matter where she was.

  “Goldar!” she screeched. “Teleport down here to Earth now! I need a good warrior for the next part of my brilliant plan, but you’re all I’ve got, you gold-chested ape!”

  Goldar huffed at her insult then said, “Yes, your queenliness.”

  He spun and marched off.

  Feeling safe, Baboo and Squatt lingered behind to keep making fun of their prisoner.

  “You’d make a lousy monster!” Baboo said.

  “Is that something I’m supposed to feel bad about?” Tommy asked. “You have no sense of loyalty, friendship, or love!”

  “Oh yeah? If you think being human is so hot, just wait until we conquer your planet!” Baboo said. “Besides, knowing how to be a monster would certainly come in handy for you now, wouldn’t it?”

  As much as Tommy hated his new form, Baboo had a point. If he were going to fight back, he’d have to learn how to use this strange body. He started by trying to remember what else the Blue Ranger had told him about Bones. He knew that Bones had a few more tricks in his arsenal.

  Didn’t he say something about eye-blasts? he thought. Yes, he did.

  Hoping to use that ability, the disciplined Tommy concentrated, putting all his energy into the skull, and then fixed his mind on the eyes. With a great effort, he sent two weak red beams sizzling into the hallway floor, right in front of Squatt and Baboo.

  The flash and crackle weren’t very powerful, but they made them both jump.

  “Eep!” Baboo said. “Well, I’m sure he’s secure in there. Besides, remember what I said to Rita earlier? If he stays in that body long enough, he’ll start to think he is Bones. Then he won’t be any trouble at all! And that only works on humans. Bones will always be Bones. We may as well go!”

  “You got it!” Squatt answered, and they both scurried off.

  Tommy’s mind seized up. Was Baboo telling the truth about the mind swap? Could he actually forget who he was and believe he was Bones? If that was true, this was even worse than when he’d been under Rita’s spell!

  Chapter 7

  Back at the Juice Bar, Kimberly tried not to stare at Tommy. This was partly because she was trying to understand her own feelings about him, but also because he’d been acting pretty strange.

  Tommy certainly looked the same. Same hair, same face, same intense expression, same voice. Having said a few odd things, he was being quiet now. He was never very chatty, but this was more silence than usual. Whenever Kimberly talked, he just bobbed his head and stared off, as if he was waiting for something.

  Plus, he hadn’t touched his juice. Usually Tommy was pretty thirsty after a workout.

  Maybe he drank a lot of water back at home, she wondered. But something told her that wasn’t it.

  “Don’t you like your juice?” she asked. “I thought it was your favorite.”

  “Yes, of course. It is,” Bones said. He picked up the cup and took a long swig. “Ah. Delicious as always,” he said.

  But he didn’t look as if he enjoyed it. To Kimberly, it looked more like he’d swallowed something awful and was trying to hide what he really thought.

  She was about to come out and ask if anything was wrong when their wrist-communicators chirped. Invented by Billy, the communicators connected them to one another and to the Command Center. It was there that Zordon, their
guide and mentor, monitored world events in case Rita attacked.

  “Attention, Rangers,” Zordon said. His steady booming voice was always calming, but he usually didn’t contact them just to chat, so Kimberly listened intently.

  “Goldar has appeared near the Youth Center and is causing a panic,” Zordon said. “You’ve defeated him before, but this time there’s something odd. Instead of the usual Putty Patrol, Goldar is being accompanied by the Skeleton Warriors once used by our old nemesis Bones!”

  Hearing the name, Kimberly winced. “Bones?” she said. “But he was destroyed in another dimension when Trini threw his head into a lava pit!”

  “I thought so as well,” Zordon answered. “It’s possible Finster repaired him. Be especially careful; you could be facing more than one foe!”

  In the background, the excitable Alpha 5 issued his own warning. “Aye-yi-yi! Two at once! You’d better get over there quick!” he said.

  “Tommy and I are on our way!” Kimberly said.

  Through the communicator, she heard Jason say, “The rest of us are just a block away. It’s Morphin Time!”

  Kimberly was headed for the door when she noticed Tommy was hesitating.

  “Come on, you heard Jason!” she said.

  “Right!” Bones said.

  With Bones following, Kimberly raced outside and found a quiet area in the parking lot. Once she was sure no one could see, she pulled out her Morpher, which contained her Power Coin. It looked a little like an oversize belt buckle, but it was much more than a coin or a buckle.

  Left hand open, Kimberly held her coin in her right fist and called out the name of the prehistoric beast from which the coin drew its great energy:

  “Pterodactyl!”

  In a great, sizzling burst of light, Kimberly morphed into the Pink Ranger. Rather than street clothes, she stood in her proud, helmeted uniform and executed a few sharp jabs and kicks to test the strength, speed, and ability that the coin enhanced.

  She looked to her side, expecting to see the Green Ranger. Instead, “Tommy” was still wearing his civilian clothes. She stared at him for a moment before he nodded sharply.

  “Yes, of course,” Bones said. Remembering what Rita had told him about the Rangers, he took out his Morpher and said, “Uh . . . Dragonzord!”

  In a flash, he morphed into the Green Ranger. His practice moves were as sharp as ever, but the Pink Ranger still felt something was off about him. There was nothing she could do about it now, though.

  Atop the large, wide Youth Center roof, Rita Repulsa sat on her bicycle, taking in everything the Pink Ranger and Bones said and did. Rita’s bike was as alien as she was. It looked the same as any antique bicycle, with a huge front wheel and tiny back wheel. Unlike any other old-fashioned bicycle, hers could fly. And thanks to her magic, it carried Rita wherever she wanted to go.

  Right now she wanted to be there, to see how her evil plan was working out.

  Seeing the Pink Ranger run off alongside Bones made the witch grin. “It’s working!” she said. Rita was so pleased, she wanted to cackle. But she didn’t, lest she be heard.

  Instead, she bit her tongue so hard it hurt.

  “Ow!” she said. Then she leaned over in her seat for a better view and whispered to herself. “That puny pink teen doesn’t suspect a thing! This will be even easier than I thought!”

  Chapter 8

  Peaceful and happy mere moments earlier, the scene in front of the Angel Grove Youth Center was now full of terrified people. They all screamed and raced in every direction to get away from the creatures that had appeared in the parking lot.

  Goldar stood at the center of the panic, swinging his sword high above his head. A pack of Skeleton Warriors were at his back, hunched over and ready to strike.

  His golden armor shimmered in the sunlight as the pug-faced fighter used his free hand to beat his chest like a mountain gorilla.

  “Run, you silly humans, run!” he howled.

  He swung the flat of his blade into a nearby trash can. With a horrible crash, it sent the heavy can skyward. It landed and rolled toward the fleeing crowd.

  “You’re not fleeing fast enough!” Goldar said, laughing at them.

  The clacking Skeleton Warriors rushed toward the crowd.

  Soon the monsters would be on them!

  But they were far from unprotected. At about the same time, the Red, Yellow, Black, and Blue Power Rangers arrived. The Pink Ranger hurried in from the other side of the lot with the false Green Ranger beside her.

  Seeing the endangered civilians, the Red Ranger knew exactly how to respond. Still running, he called, “Yellow and Black, get those people out of harm’s way. The rest of us will hit Goldar and those Halloween rejects from both sides. If we’re fast enough, we’ll catch them right between us!”

  “On it!” Yellow said. A series of cartwheels brought her near the struggling pedestrians well ahead of the skeletons. She took an older man’s arm to help him up while the Black Ranger lifted a fallen child and brought her to her mother’s arms.

  Seeing the tears in the little girl’s eyes, the Black Ranger said, “You’re safe now!”

  The girl sniffled, put on a brave smile, and said, “Thank you!”

  Meanwhile, the Red, Blue, and Pink Rangers hit the Skeleton Warriors, hard.

  Red let loose a series of kicks and punches that sent two staggering. The Blue Ranger more than kept up, blocking a swinging sword with his forearm, then palm-fist striking the warrior’s skull with the move the Green Ranger had taught him earlier.

  The Pink Ranger grabbed a Skeleton Warrior by the shoulders, then twirled it into the air so it flew into two others. When another made the mistake of coming straight at her, Pink’s high kick slammed it in the chin.

  But where was the Green Ranger?

  Whenever a Power Ranger took a breath and glanced around to see how the others were faring, the Green Ranger didn’t seem to be doing much of anything. They all figured that he just happened to be catching his breath at the same time they were. Besides, between Goldar and all the Skeleton Warriors, there was too much going on to pay much attention to anything else.

  It didn’t seem to change things. The Red Ranger’s strategy was working. Attacking from two sides had left the warriors disorganized and easy to pick off.

  Watching from above, Rita chuckled. “That uppity lunkhead Goldar is following my plan for a change, giving them a false sense of confidence before crushing them.”

  But when she realized the civilians were all safe and the Skeleton Warriors were scattering, the dastardly sorceress grew angry. As Goldar polished his sword, Rita cried out to him in that magic way only her minions could hear. “Hey, monkey muzzle! How can such a shiny helmet hold such a dim wit? I said a false sense of confidence, not the real thing! Look! They’ve practically won!”

  Goldar glanced up and said, “Right. I’m so used to really fighting, it’s tough to hold back!”

  “So go! Fight! Just remember the Green Ranger is on our side!” she said. “I don’t have to tell you which color uniform he’s wearing, do I?”

  With a nod, Goldar rushed into the fight.

  “Leave Bones’s . . . I mean, my Skeleton Warriors alone, you putrid Power Rangers!” he said.

  Plowing into the middle of the battle, Goldar swung his blade in a long, wide arc that pushed the Rangers back.

  The Red Ranger realized he had to adjust his strategy. “Green!” he said. “The others can handle the skeletons. You and I can take Goldar!”

  Before the Red Ranger could reach him, Goldar vanished. At first he thought Goldar had fled, but then he saw that he’d only teleported to the far side of the huge parking lot.

  “Come on, then!” Goldar called, beating his chest again. “I want you all to myself!”

  Expecting the Green Ranger to be at his side, the Red Range
r raced toward his foe.

  “Ha!” Goldar said. “Why did the Red Ranger cross the parking lot?”

  Leaping into the air, the Red Ranger answered, “To get to the other side and defeat you?”

  “Wrong! To meet your doom!” Goldar said, swinging his sword. “Hmm. I have to remember that one. I could use it again sometime!”

  As Goldar finished his sentence, the Red Ranger dodged the slashing sword and forced both fists into the monster’s chest plate.

  The blow landed with a loud metallic ringing. It staggered Goldar, but he was far from finished.

  When Goldar came at him again, the Red Ranger realized he was still alone.

  “Green!” Red called. He jumped to avoid Goldar’s sword, barely making it, then looked for his friend and ally. The false Green Ranger was still all the way on the other side of the parking lot.

  The Red Ranger shouted at him, “Some help?”

  Bones waved and said, “Be right there!”

  Hmm. Rita wants me to mess up the Rangers without revealing the mind swap, the villain thought. This should be fun.

  He did head toward the Red Ranger but very, very slowly. Seeing a chance to cause more trouble, Bones stuck out his leg and tripped the Blue Ranger when he passed.

  “What the . . . ?” Blue said as he fell, barely missing being struck by a skeletal sword.

  Dazed, Blue didn’t know what had tripped him, or notice Bones giving the warrior a little wink. Bones put a hand out, as if to help the Blue Ranger to his feet, then pulled it away at the last second.

  “Oops!” Bones said. “It seems I’m all bones! I mean, thumbs. I’m all thumbs.”

  But the Blue Ranger simply rolled backward and flipped to standing. “Don’t worry about it,” Blue said. “I just used a move you taught me this morning.”

  “Uh . . . yes . . . you did. Good job!” Bones answered.

  Meanwhile, the Black Ranger used a rapid series of punches to drive a Skeleton Warrior backward. The warrior dropped its sword, which clattered at Bones’s feet.