“You sent the Putties?” Rita said disdainfully. “Leave it to the two of you to avoid getting your hands a little dirty by sending in the Putties.”
“But, your evilness, there was nothing we could do,” Baboo insisted.
Squatt was quick to add, “The Power Rangers are very powerful fighters. I mean, they’ve even got the word power in their name.”
“Did they use their Zords?” Scorpina wanted to know. She had her arms crossed and she was glaring at the minions in a very disdainful way.
“Well . . . n-not exactly,” Baboo stammered. “But, I mean, they easily could have. And there’s nothing the two of us could have done against their Dinozords.”
“You two imbeciles disgust me!” Rita raged. “You let the Power Rangers get ahold of the Eclipse Ring with only a Putty fight?” She shook her fist in the air. “I should banish you to the bowels of the galaxy for such a show of cowardice.”
“But, your exalted overlord,” Squatt protested. “Don’t you always say that Earth is the bowels of the galaxy?”
This caught Rita off guard. After chewing back some of her fury, she admitted, “I do say that from time to time, don’t I? Then you two wastes of space will go with Scorpina, find the Power Rangers, and get the Eclipse Ring back!”
“I don’t want to be burdened with these two idiots,” Scorpina insisted, shaking her head. “It’ll be easier to conquer the Power Rangers without these goofballs getting in my way.”
“But we know where they are right now,” Baboo said, suddenly eager to join Scorpina.
“We do?” Squatt asked him in a quiet aside. This surprised him. “Aren’t we trying not to go back down to Earth?”
In a whisper, Baboo asked, “Would you rather stay here with Rita right now?”
Squatt’s eyes bulged a little at the thought of staying with the sorceress when she was in such a foul mood. “Yes, we definitely know where they are,” he insisted to Rita. “Scorpina,” he added, “we can lead you right to them. The Power Rangers are as good as yours.”
“Fine,” Scorpina said, relenting with an irritated sigh. “But don’t get in my way or you’ll taste my crescent blade.”
Zack was bored. He was with Billy in the garage and he couldn’t find anything to do. At first he tried helping his friend, but the Blue Ranger’s brain was wired completely differently than most human brains, and Zack—as well as the other members of the team—frequently found it very challenging to keep up. Trini could sometimes tune in to Billy’s wavelength, but Zack, Kimberly, and Jason usually didn’t have a clue.
The great thing about Billy, Zack mused, was that, even though he was a super-brainiac genius, he was also a really cool guy. Plus, he was a good fighter and an awesome member of the team. This was important because the Power Rangers all really counted on one another when it came to battling Rita and whatever destructive monsters she sent down to try to conquer Earth. That was never going to happen, as long as Zack and the other Power Rangers had something to say about it.
Once Zack began to realize that he was mostly getting in the way rather than helping, he tried working on some fighting techniques. The Black Ranger wanted to perfect his uppercut back kick and see how he could incorporate it with blocking techniques to make him a better fighter. Focusing on improving his martial arts skills was always a great way to pass the time. But after he’d executed a few of his more vigorous moves, Billy said, “Zack, that’s looking good, but you’re making me a little nervous. Some of my experiments are in a very fragile state, and I’m worried something might get damaged.”
“I’ll be careful,” Zack assured him.
“I know,” Billy said, “but that last kick came awfully close to my Power Crystal Dinozord enhancer. It’s very delicate, and I haven’t figured out how to make another one if this one gets destroyed.”
“What is it?” Zack asked, looking at the multicolored crystal. “It’s for our Dinozords?”
“Sort of. As you know, our Power Crystals are composed of our morphing essence,” Billy began.
“Sure,” Zack replied. At least he was pretty sure he knew what the Blue Ranger was talking about.
“Well, whenever I’ve studied any of our Dinozords, I’ve been gathering every bit of dust that I find from using our Power Crystals.”
“Dust from our crystals?” Zack asked. “I’ve never seen any dust.”
“It’s microscopic,” Billy assured him. “And there’s not much of it. That’s why this experiment has been so challenging.”
Zack peered more closely at the rainbow crystal. “What is it?”
“I’m working on fabricating a Power Crystal that combines each of our Dinozord’s strengths.”
“Oh wow,” Zack exclaimed. That sounded pretty good to him. “So we could all get one of these rainbow thingies and then we’d all be more . . . versatile with our fighting skills?” he asked, for lack of a better word.
“That’s what I hope to do; but there’s hardly any dust, so this is the only crystal I’ve been able to create so far, and it’s very unstable.” Billy shook his head. “I believe this one will work, but I’m not sure I can make another one.”
“Oh. Got it.” The Black Ranger backed away from the workbench. “No kicking around the rainbow Power Crystal. Not a problem.” He had a ton of respect for Billy and his lab, so he knew to follow the rules. Plus, if Billy was too stressed worrying about his other inventions, he wouldn’t be able to focus on the ring, and Zack was really curious about that intriguing trinket.
So then Zack thought he could work on some smooth dance moves, as long as it was nothing too energetic. He decided that might be a good way to pass the time. And that soaked up a few minutes, but it was hard to get in some solid practice when there was no music.
“Hey, Billy,” Zack said, breaking Billy’s concentration. “Sorry to interrupt, but why don’t you have some music piped in here?” And then he offered, “I could set it up for you. It’d be easy.”
“No thanks,” Billy replied, “but I appreciate the offer.”
“Why not?” Zack wanted to know. Setting up an awesome sound system for Billy would be an enjoyable way to pass the time. “I heard that listening to classical music while studying can help people to concentrate and absorb more information.”
“True,” the Blue Ranger said. “I’ve read a couple of those studies, but whenever I’ve tried, it never works for me.”
“Why not?” Classical wasn’t Zack’s favorite type of music, but there was some interesting stuff and a lot of it was very pretty. Besides, Zack thought, classical would be better than silence.
Billy looked up from the ring and thought about it for a moment. “Because let’s say I’m working and I’ve put on some Bach.”
“Okay . . .” Zack said.
“Well, the more I listen, the more portions of my brain start to focus on the music,” Billy said, setting down the powerful magnifying glass he’d been using to examine the ring. “Suddenly I find myself just thinking about Bach’s motivic organization and his judicious use of counterpoint. And then I start thinking about how Bach was a musical pioneer of the Baroque period. And then I start to think about the influence he had over the composers of the classical period, most importantly Mozart. And then suddenly I realize that whatever piece I was listening to is over and I haven’t gotten any other work done.”
“Wow,” Zack said, staring at his friend, both amused and amazed. “I usually just want to know if the song has a good beat and if I can dance to it.”
“So, anyway, that’s why I don’t want to have music in here,” Billy said, picking up his magnifying glass and a pair of very small tweezers. “But thanks for offering.”
“I think maybe I’ll just lift weights for a while,” the Black Ranger said. He needed to expel some energy and he was obviously distracting Billy even more than Bach. “Or do you need me for
something?”
“Not at the moment,” Billy murmured. He was already back to being deeply absorbed in how the ring functioned.
“Why do you even have weights in here?” Zack couldn’t help but wonder aloud.
“I don’t know,” Billy said, not bothering to look up. “I think they were left by the previous—Hmm . . .”
“Hmm . . . what?” Zack asked, quickly setting the weights down and hurrying over to his friend. “Hmm . . . bad? Or hmm . . . good?”
“Hmm . . . I’m not sure,” the Blue Ranger admitted, scratching his chin. “But I think I know what this ring does.”
“What?” Zack asked excitedly. He’d never been so curious about a piece of jewelry before, unless it was a championship ring for one of his favorite teams.
“Well . . .” Billy lifted up his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You know how I’ve been doing work on molecular particle rearrangement?” he asked. When his friend didn’t answer immediately, Billy added, “You know how I was telling you earlier about my work with the orange banana?”
“Sure,” Zack said. That he remembered. Just the thought of it made him crave one of Ernie’s strawberry-banana smoothies.
“Well, as far as I can tell, this ring appears to operate on the same principal. But instead of rearranging molecules, it seems to . . .” Billy searched for the right word.
“What?” Zack asked, completely fascinated. He wasn’t quite sure where Billy was headed with the whole thing, but he really wanted to know.
“Um . . .” Billy furrowed his brow. “It . . . it seems to erase them.”
“Erase them?” Zack’s eyes widened as his gaze shifted over to the ring. “Erase them how?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Billy said, frowning at the trinket. “I need to run some more tests on this erasure ring.”
“So it’s an erasure ring?” the Black Ranger asked, reaching out to touch the piece of jewelry.
“Best not to do that,” Billy said, blocking his friend’s hand. “I don’t know the ring’s full capabilities.”
“Oh, come on,” Zack said. “Can’t we just erase one little thing? It just sounds so cool.”
Billy pinched his lips together. “Well . . .”
“We could make the weights disappear,” Zack suggested, trying to think of something that his friend wouldn’t value.
“Better keep those,” Billy said, “for when you and Jason are over.”
“True,” Zack said with laugh. “But can’t we erase something else? I mean, something small,” he added. “Please?”
“Well . . .” Billy thought it over some more. “I do happen to have a lot of extra bananas around right now, so I suppose we could test it, as long as it’s in a controlled environment.”
“Yessss!” Zack said, breaking into a huge grin. Testing stuff was the fun part of science as far as he was concerned.
A few minutes later, they had everything set up. Billy had improvised a small stand for the ring, and they’d put a banana on a plate. “I think we should clear everything out of this corner of the garage before we try anything,” the Blue Ranger said. “I wouldn’t want to make the lawnmower disappear; my parents would think I was trying to get out of mowing the lawn.”
“No problem,” Zack said, rushing to clear the corner. He couldn’t wait to see the erasure ring in action.
Once the corner contained only the banana and the plate, Billy decided they needed protective eyewear. For a split second, Zack considered debating this with him, but then changed his mind. Billy was the science guy; he knew what he was doing. And if Billy said they should wear eye protection, then Zack was going to go along with it.
“All right,” the Blue Ranger said, once they were standing behind the ring. “See that tiny latch there?” He gestured with the tweezers. “I want you to lift it and then twist the gold jewel to the right.”
“Why me?” Zack asked, suddenly wondering if testing the ring was such a great idea.
“Because you’re the one with the sudden interest in science,” Billy pointed out, giving the Black Ranger a playful nudge.
“Fair enough,” Zack said. “I’ll do it.” Gingerly, he lifted the ring’s tiny latch. “Okay, here we go.” Reaching forward, he gave the top of the ring a twist to the right.
Instantly, a golden beam of light shot out of the ring, encompassing the banana and making it glow. A second later, the beam vanished and the fruit was gone.
“This is where we set up the volleyball net,” Trini said, surveying the ground of the cove. There were two depressions in the sand about thirty feet away from each other. “We put the poles there and there,” she said, pointing to the depressions.
“That’s right,” said Kimberly, crossing the sand. “So when Zack dove to save the point, he must have landed about here,” she said pointing to a spot on the ground.
Because of the battle, there were lots of tracks and marks all over the small beach that was part of the cove. There were several depressions in the sand that looked like they might have been made by a Power Ranger diving to save a point, but they could have just as easily been made by a sprawling Putty.
“Okay,” Jason said, walking over to where the Pink Ranger was standing. “I know it’s a long shot, but do you see anything?”
They all bent over, sifting their fingers through the sand. “This would be easier,” Trini mused, “if we knew what we were looking for.”
“I guess just anything that’s out of place,” Kimberly said. “Like the petals of a silk flower,” she added, holding up a few scraps of lilac-colored material.
“Why did Baboo and Squatt try to send a Putty over to us that was dressed like a lady who gets a senior discount at the movies?” Jason wondered aloud.
Trini chewed on her lower lip. “That’s right. Before the Putties attacked, there was that one all dressed up. Rita’s minions must have sent it down to interact with us for some reason.”
“That had to have been about the ring,” Jason said.
Kimberly shrugged. “It’s the only thing I can think of. But who of Rita’s monsters would want a piece of jewelry, and why?”
The ground trembled slightly, causing the teens to brace themselves for something more dramatic. “Well, Trini,” Jason said. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
Putty Patrollers appeared at the top of the bluffs, at least two dozen of them. “Putties,” the Yellow Ranger said, although they all obviously saw them. “Okay, this should be fun.”
“Should we morph?” Kimberly asked.
“No,” Jason said. “Let’s see what they want.” The Putties stood at the crest of the bluffs, staring down at them, waiting for their next command.
“Maybe we’ve got them all wrong,” Kimberly said as the three teens prepared for a fight, their backs to the ocean. “Maybe the cove is just where Putty Patrollers hang out when they’re off duty, or something.”
Trini pointed toward the top of the bluffs. “They brought Baboo and Squatt with them.” The two minions immediately ducked down, although they were still easily visible.
“What are they doing here?” Kimberly couldn’t help but wonder. “It’s got to be about the ring. But who wants it? And why?”
“Maybe we should morph,” Trini said. “You know they’re not just here to surf. This has got to be one of Rita’s sinister plans; we just don’t know what it is yet.”
Kimberly laughed. “And I doubt those two are going to tell us. But I wish we knew who was behind their little visit.”
“Look out!” Jason said, suddenly shoving Kimberly so hard that it sent her staggering.
“What?” Kimberly looked around, confused. “Where?”
“There,” the Red Ranger said, pointing at a spot on the ground just inches from where she’d been standing; there was a black scorpion crawling across the sand.
&
nbsp; Kimberly made a face. “There are no scorpions in Angel Grove. This can’t be good.”
“The last time I saw one of those,” Trini added, backing up a few steps, “was when we were fighting—”
Seemingly from out of nowhere, a beautiful young woman dressed in gold armor like a scorpion shell appeared at the top of the bluff.
“Scorpina!” the three teens said simultaneously, with Jason pointing at their foe.
“What’s she doing here?” Trini wanted to know.
“How is she even back here?” Kimberly added.
“I guess Rita called her back up to the major leagues,” said Jason, eyeing the terrain. It was obvious they were headed for a fight.
Baboo and Squatt walked over to stand behind their royal scorpioness. “They aren’t the one who found it,” Baboo whispered in her ear. “It was Zack, the Black Ranger; he found your Eclipse Ring.”
Scorpina’s face transformed into a very charming and gleeful grin. “That doesn’t mean they don’t know where it is.” After pretending to think it over for a moment she added, “Of course they might need some persuading before they’ll tell me.” Her left hand, the one encrusted in gold metallic plates, snapped menacingly.
“What are you doing back here on Earth?” Jason called to her. “What do you want, Scorpina?”
“I simply want what is mine,” she called down to them, her tone cool and pleasant.
“And what’s that?” the Red Ranger said, folding his arms and defiantly staring back at the gold-clad beauty.
“Hand it over without a fuss, and I promise I will destroy Earth quickly so no one has to suffer,” the scorpion lady said, her voice as pleasant as the purring of a kitten.
“Hand what over?” Jason asked, feigning ignorance.
“My Eclipse Ring, you little—” Scorpina did her best to suppress her emotions, her deadly temper beginning to bleed through her calm appearance.
While Scorpina was distracted by speaking with Jason, Kimberly took the opportunity to tap at her wrist communicator. “Come in, Alpha 5. This is the Pink Ranger. We’ve got a major emergency. Over.”
The Venomous Eclipse Page 4