Mind over Magic

by Stefan Petrucha

  Dodging the oncoming Skeleton Warriors, she picked up the fallen Dragon Dagger and threw it.

  It clattered to the floor in front of Tommy.

  “Take it!” the Pink Ranger said. “It’s yours!”

  Tommy shook his head. “I can’t use the Dragon Dagger!” he said. “It belongs to the Green Ranger! And I’m not . . .”

  “You are!” the Pink Ranger said. “You are the Green Ranger! I believe in you, and I know you believe in yourself! I’ve seen it in a hundred fights. You just have to find that strength and use it!”

  “Do it!” the Red Ranger said, as he fought to keep Bones pinned.

  “We know you can!” the Yellow Ranger said.

  Tommy looked up. Jason and Trini had the faces of Bulk and Skull, and he couldn’t see Kimberly’s face behind her helmet, but he felt the fierce friendship and loyalty in their voices.

  If they believe in me, Tommy thought, Who am I to give up?

  “No!” the little voice said. “You are Bones! Bones! It’s time to conquer the humans!”

  Bolstered by the faith of his teammates, Tommy said, “No one can tell me who I am. No one really knows, except for me and my friends!”

  He picked up the Dragon Dagger and proudly stood, ready to fight.

  Chapter 22

  Tommy’s first powerful swing created a green energy wave that knocked six Skeleton Warriors back out the gaping hole. Rather than use any of Bones’s powers, Tommy executed a sweeping kick that sent even more clattering off their feet.

  The little voice still objected, still wanted him to be a monster, but now he was fighting alongside his teammates. He could barely hear it.

  He was Tommy Oliver, and no one, not even Rita, could change that anymore!

  “Yes!” the Pink Ranger said. “Go, Green!”

  Bones, meanwhile, managed to twist out from under the Red Ranger. The Red Ranger fell and had trouble getting Bulk’s body to stand.

  “You may as well stay down!” Bones said, laughing.

  As Tommy rushed over to help, he blasted Bones, hurling him away.

  “You’re the one who should stay down,” Tommy said. “You’ve lost your strongest weapon, and now you’re facing four Power Rangers!”

  But the foul Rita, angry that the battle tide was turning, aimed the Mind-Swapper.

  “I’ve had enough!” she said. “I’m going to switch that dratted Tommy teen with a mosquito, then swat him once and for all!”

  In the precise instant before she could fire, a white cat leaped onto her face and dug its claws into her hair.

  “Mmmf!” Rita said, her face covered by fur.

  As she flailed, trying to grab the cat, Rita felt a sharp, pointed pain in her ankle. If the cat wasn’t trouble enough, a small black dog was biting her!

  Though trapped in the bodies of Stinkerbell and Lady Fluff, the Black and Blue Rangers hadn’t run away. Instead, they’d sneaked up to the roof, unnoticed, to attack the malevolent Rita directly!

  Rita half yanked the cat away, but the biting dog kept her tripping.

  “What the . . . ?” she said. “Do you pesky pet Rangers really want a fight, or should I just drop you at a shelter?”

  As Rita tried to shake the Black Ranger off her ankle, the Blue Ranger bit her hand.

  “Yeow!” Rita said, dropping the Mind-Swapper.

  Before it hit the ground, the Black Ranger grabbed the Mind-Swapper between his teeth and ran off. Mission accomplished, the Blue Ranger followed.

  “Get back here!” Rita cried.

  Before she could reach the running animals, they hopped into a ventilation duct too small for the witch to follow and disappeared into the building.

  “Meow!” the Blue Ranger said as they left Rita behind.

  “Ruff, ruff!” the Black Ranger answered.

  But each knew what the other meant.

  “Ahhh!” Rita cried. “Now it’s only a matter of time before those furry fugitives get everyone back in their original bodies! I won’t lose again! I won’t!”

  A furious Rita ran to the roof’s edge to check on the fight.

  It was worse than she’d imagined. Tommy was aiming the Dragon Dagger at Bones. Since he was in a human body, a blast that close might knock him out completely.

  “Oh no you don’t!” she screeched.

  In a last-ditch maneuver, Rita used her magic to fire an energy blast. It careened toward Tommy. Instead of hitting him, the well-placed strike knocked the Dragon Dagger from his grip.

  The mighty weapon went end over end until it landed back in the hands of Bones!

  “Ha! No one aims like I do!” Rita said, gloating. Before the Rangers could react, she shouted, “Bonehead! Summon the Dragonzord!”

  The Dragonzord was one of the Dinozords, amazing battle vehicles controlled by the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that each linked to a powerful beast symbolizing their powers.

  But Bones shrugged and asked, “How?”

  “Do I have to spell out everything?” Rita screamed. She knew the Dragonzord particularly well, since Tommy had first used it when he was under her spell. “You have to play the Dragon Dagger like a flute!”

  “Oh!” Bones said. He quickly played a tune, but nothing happened.

  “Not that!” Rita yowled. “Don’t you know anything about anything? How quickly you forget. It’s a little number from the Zelton Galaxy, which I conquered thousands of years ago. It goes like this: da-da-dum-dee-dee-dee . . .”

  Her croaky voice hummed the melody, and Bones repeated it.

  Just off the coast of Angel Grove, a powerful rush of water churned from the ocean depths. The Dragonzord was on its way!

  Chapter 23

  Surrounded by a briny swell of twenty-foot waves, the Dragonzord burst to the surface. Reaching the Angel Grove docks in seconds, it flicked its sharp, drill-tipped tail, threw back its head, and let loose a terrible battle cry.

  All the Dinozords were a sort of living machine. The others were based on the great dinosaurs that once dominated the Earth. The Dragonzord, though, was tied to something stronger: the wingless dragon.

  Over 150 feet tall, the Dragonzord’s two powerful legs carried it through the city streets. Its goal: to reach whomever held the Dragon Dagger. In the past, that had been Tommy. Now, unfortunately, it was Bones.

  As the Dragonzord arrived at the Youth Center, all who saw it gasped and gawked. Rita’s eyes twinkled with evil delight as her servant, in the Green Ranger’s body, leaped toward the cockpit.

  “Even lazybones can’t mess this up!” she chuckled. “Once he’s inside, all he needs to control that Zord is the Dragon Dagger!”

  But then her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Bones was not alone. The real Green Ranger was rushing up after him!

  “I don’t care whose body you’re in or what weapons you have,” Tommy said as he climbed. “You’re not going to use the Dragonzord to cause any damage!”

  “Oh no?” Bones said. “And just how do you think you can stop me?”

  “Like this!” the true Green Ranger said.

  Tommy wrapped his skeletal arms around Bones. They both landed on the Dragonzord’s massive shoulder.

  As soon as they did, Tommy sent a bony palm-fist strike toward his helmeted foe.

  “And this!” he said.

  But Bones twisted out of the way.

  Of course, Tommy thought. He’s as fast as I am.

  Fighting against his own body wasn’t the first weird sensation of the day for Tommy, and he wasn’t about to let it distract him. When Bones karate-kicked him, rather than tumble, he stayed solidly on his feet and punched back.

  As they grappled along the great, green metallic shoulder, Tommy unleashed a burst of kicks and punches. But Bones met and blocked each one. The instant Tommy paused, he found himself on the defensive, fac
ing the same flurry of attacks he’d just used, but with the strength and speed of a Power Ranger behind them.

  Thinking about his fighting techniques, Tommy found he could predict Bones’s every move. Soon, it was Bones who struggled to keep up.

  “I’ve still got one thing you don’t have, Ranger,” Bones said. “The Dragon Dagger!”

  He sent a green blast hurtling at Tommy.

  Tommy dodged, but the edge of the wide blast caught him, slamming him sideways onto the Dragonzord’s hard shoulder. He saw the fight going on below, and it didn’t look good.

  The Red and Yellow Rangers were doing their best with Bulk’s and Skull’s bodies, but they couldn’t summon their special weapons, let alone their Dinozords. That left it up to the Pink Ranger to keep most of the Skeleton Warriors at bay.

  They’re fighting bravely, but the numbers are overwhelming! Tommy thought.

  But what Tommy couldn’t see were the two animals, a cat and a dog, sitting in the shadow of the Dragonzord, both hard at work.

  As the Black Ranger dog tried to hold the Mind-Swapper steady in its paws, the Blue Ranger cat used its claws to adjust the settings. Once done, the feline Blue Ranger meowed loudly, and the two struggled to aim the Mind-Swapper up, up, up at the wrestling figures above.

  The short second Tommy had taken to worry about his friends had cost him. When he turned back, Bones was hovering over him, ready to bring the Dragon Dagger down for a crushing final blow. Even then, Tommy’s thoughts weren’t on the danger but on his teammates.

  I can’t let them down! he thought. But there was nowhere to go, no countermove he could think of that could possibly work.

  “I’ll knock your pieces so far apart, you’ll have to take a plane to scratch your back!” Bones said.

  Then they both found themselves bathed in an orange glow.

  “Huh?” Bones said.

  One second, Tommy was looking up at Bones, the Dragon Dagger in the monster’s hands. The next, he was standing, looking down at Bones, and the Dragon Dagger was in Tommy’s hands.

  In fact, they really were his hands. He was back in his body!

  Bones, on his back, looked at his skeletal form, confused. “How did this happen?” he asked aloud. He looked back up to see the flat of the Dragon Dagger coming down at him.

  “Uh-oh,” Bones said.

  THWAK! The Green Ranger swatted him. Bones slid across the Zord’s shoulder and fell. Looking very small next to the giant Dragonzord, he tumbled down, down, down.

  To avoid being hit by the falling Bones, a certain dog and cat had to scramble to get out of the way.

  When Bones struck the ground, he broke into even more pieces than usual. Surrounded by puffs of rising concrete dust, the pained sound he made was loud, but not nearly as loud as Rita’s scream.

  “No!” she cried. “I’m not done yet! Get yourself together, now!”

  As Bones obeyed, Rita raised her wand.

  “I can hit a monster from the moon. You’re so close, Bonesy, I could do this one blindfolded!” she said.

  Hurling the wand at him, she called out, “Magic wand, make my monster grow!”

  It struck near Bones, surrounding him with a sorcerous glow. As the magic did its work, he started to grow, rising taller and taller, faster and faster. In moments, Bones was the same size as the Dragonzord, his giant shadow stretching all the way across the parking lot and into the gym.

  Suddenly finding herself in Bones’s shade, the Pink Ranger looked up.

  “Wow,” she said. “He must weigh a skele-ton!”

  “No,” the colossal creature answered. “I’m just big boned!”

  Laughing hysterically at his joke, he lifted his enormous skeletal hand to swat the Green Ranger.

  Chapter 24

  Bones’s gargantuan skeleton hand was definitely big enough to crush the Green Ranger. But Tommy dove into the Dragonzord cockpit just in time. The whole Zord shook as the blow slammed its shoulder. But the Green Ranger, keeping his balance, turned the Dragon Dagger sideways to use it as a controller.

  The others are still in trouble, Tommy thought. But right now, Bones is the bigger problem, literally!

  Bones’s sword was now enormous as he drew it back to strike. Its tip nearly touched a tall building across the street, but before it came forward, Tommy raised both hands of the Dragonzord and fired a series of missiles from its fingertips.

  Hissing through the air, all ten hit Bones. The explosions scattered his giant pieces. A huge arm landed atop six parked cars. A colossal leg splashed into the Youth Center’s outdoor swimming pool.

  Even Rita ducked, afraid she’d be hit. But the rest landed in an enormous heap.

  “Oh, my aching bones!” the great skull lamented.

  As soon as Rita realized she wasn’t hurt, she shouted at the disconnected collection, “Get up, you lazy Bones, and fight!”

  Size made no difference. Just as before, the pieces briefly shook, rose, and reunited.

  Bones glared at the Dragonzord. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you!” he declared.

  He came forward swinging, but the Green Ranger commanded the Dragonzord to duck and counter. As the behemoths exchanged blow after blow, the citizens of Angel Grove felt the ground shake for blocks around.

  Below, a smaller but equally important battle raged. Getting the hang of Bulk’s body, the Red Ranger managed to palm-fist strike a Skeleton Warrior.

  But there were a lot more where that one came from, and even more still streaming through the hole in the wall.

  The only one who could summon her special weapon, the Pink Ranger, called out, “Power Bow!”

  The moment it appeared above her head, she leaped up and grabbed it. Before her feet touched back down, she shot a flurry of pink projectiles at the warriors.

  The explosions hit the front rank, tripping those behind them.

  “Great shot!” the Yellow Ranger said in Skull’s voice.

  The Pink Ranger had to think a moment before answering, “Thanks!”

  As she notched more arrows for another strike, she explained, “It’s so . . . weird hearing you talk with that voice.”

  The Yellow Ranger shrugged. “Imagine how I feel!”

  Nearby, the panicked bullies in Power Ranger form were again tangled on the floor.

  “Unhook your hand from my arm!” Bulk said.

  “Like this?” Skull asked.

  The enhanced strength of Skull’s Ranger body sent Bulk spinning and skittering away.

  “Nooooooo!” Bulk said as he crashed against the wall.

  Dazed, he heard a strange barking. “Yip! Yip!”

  “Stinkerbell?” Bulk said.

  But when he looked, he didn’t see the dog. He saw the Black Ranger’s body trotting up to him on all fours. He pressed his helmet against Bulk’s hand and repeated, “Yip! Yip!”

  “I think he wants you to pet him!” Skull said.

  Bulk turned to see that the Blue Ranger’s body was near Skull, purring.

  Unable to take the craziness, Bulk closed his eyes. “Oh, please let me wake up, please let me wake up!” he said to himself.

  When he opened his eyes again, he was briefly relieved to see Lady Fluff and Stinkerbell. Then he noticed they were aiming what looked like a laser pistol at him!

  Bulk threw up his hands and begged, “Don’t shoot!”

  But the animals did, covering both Bulk and the Red Ranger in orange light.

  Chapter 25

  In a flash, Bulk was back in his body, but his problems were far from over because he was facing a Skeleton Warrior! As he turned to run, he saw the two pets fire again, this time at Skull and the Yellow Ranger.

  The Red Ranger, now back in his body, immediately summoned his special weapon. “Power Sword!”

  The Yellow Ranger called out, “Pow
er Daggers!”

  “Go, go, Power Rangers!” Red said, and they rushed to join Pink in the fight.

  Now the dog fired at the cat and the Blue Ranger.

  The first thing the Blue Ranger said when he was back in his body was, “Thanks! I think I was getting a hair ball!”

  The dog, having trouble holding the Mind-Swapper on his own, yipped at him.

  “Sorry, Black,” the Blue Ranger said. “But it was crucial to restore everyone else first, since they were in the middle of a fight!”

  He picked up the Mind-Swapper and used it on Stinkerbell and the Black Ranger.

  “No worries,” the Black Ranger said, exhaling. “But I am very happy to be back where I belong! That’s everyone, right?”

  As the Blue Ranger watched Bulk and Skull scoop up the cat and dog and run, he nodded, saying, “Affirmative.”

  Summoning their special weapons, they joined the fray.

  “Power Lance!”

  “Power Axe!”

  Once the Skeleton Warriors were facing four fully powered Rangers, the tide quickly turned. Bones and swords scattered this way and that.

  But above, the battle between Bones and the Dragonzord was at a standstill. Each giant was countering and returning one strike after another.

  We’ve spent so much time in each other’s bodies that we know each other too well, the Green Ranger thought. Even when I land a solid strike, Bones just reassembles himself!

  Rita saw the problem, too. Now that the Skeleton Warriors were being routed, she was pretty unhappy.

  “Bones,” she said, “there must be something new in that empty head of yours!”

  “Hmm,” the giant Bones said. “How about this?”

  He came at the Dragonzord, swinging the sword high above his head.

  “Bone to be wild!” Bones said, laughing.

  How is this new? Tommy wondered. He’s already done it a dozen times!

  Tommy got ready to block with the Dragonzord’s arms, but Bones did have a new trick. Rather than complete his swing, he split apart!

  The right arm continued the swing, which Tommy blocked. But the huge left arm flew behind the Dragonzord and smacked it in the back of the head. At the same time, the two great legs hopped to either side and kicked at the Dragonzord’s knees!