Devious One
04-03-2005, 01:22 PM
Well, here it is, the next chapter in this novel, or should I say alternate version to satisfy some people. I really didn't expect the contraversy over that last chapter, but I'm dealing with it. ANd please, if you don't like something, let me know about it.
Thanks and here you go.
Devious.
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Chapter 23
Billy slumped back down on the passenger's side seat next to the Phantom Ranger. He leaned back with a heavy sigh and re-strapped himself in. Phantom Ranger watched him in silence for a few seconds, keeping his attention also on the bolts of energy that swirled and surged throughout the core. At the moment, he was keeping the Phantom Cruiser still and unmoving.
"So," Phantom Ranger asked, "how is Rocky?"
Billy looked at him, then glanced at the back. He furrowed his brows. "It's in Rocky's hands now. We got the glass out and I did my best to cleanse the wounds on his eyes. Right now, he's in a coma and, if he's strong enough to fight it, he should recover in time. So, it's up to him now."
"Good. That's good news." the Ranger said. "But something else troubles you."
It was a statement, not a question and Billy knew it. He glanced at Adam and shook his head. "No matter what happens now, there's always going to be this big wall between me and Adam. Because of my getting them involved in this." he looked at Penny. "She's dead because of me."
"No," Phantom Ranger said, his voice solid and serious, "you are not to blame for all of this and deep down, Adam knows this as well. Master Vile orchestrated all of this, pulling all of our strings. So much so that he lured me into a false trust so that he could brainwash me into fighting you. Master Vile is to blame not you."
"I want to believe that's true......but it's hard to." Billy just replied. "It's hard."
"I know." Phantom Ranger wanted to change the subject. "So, any ideas of how we're going to punch through the outer barrier of the core before the final meltdown?"
Billy looked at it, studying it for a few seconds, then he nodded. "There's one idea I have, but I don't know how effective it's going to be."
"What is it?" Phantom Ranger asked.
Billy looked at his wrist, the Demon Transcoder attached to it, and he unstrapped it. "We wire the transcoder with your ship's system and upload as much energy as you need to the engine's thrusters. It should be enough to break us through. No guarantees, though."
Phantom Ranger expelled a breath. "Let's do it."
Billy took his Demon Transcoder and hooked it to the panel in front of him. He completed the uploading process in less than two minutes. Keying in a code on his Transcoder, he watched the numbers on the ship's screen. "Okay, the energy is in the system. We're ready when you are."
Phantom Ranger looked over his shoulder. "Everyone, brace yourselves! We're going to try to get through again!"
Kimberly and Tanya moved to their knees on one side of Rocky. Adam dropped down on the other side of his friend. The three stayed over Rocky as they anticipated the coming impact. "We're ready!" Kimberly called up.
"Let's do it." Billy said to the Phantom Ranger.
"Okay....here we go." Phantom Ranger said.
Phantom Ranger focused every ounce of the energy given to his ship by Billy into the engine thrusters and the ship suddenly took off, gaining speed and velocity as each second passed by. As they started to reach the core, they were already going about one thousand miles an hour. The ship was a blur as it finally reached the core's outer barrier. This time, unlike the last time, however, the ship exploded through the outer barrier, punching a hole right in the core and they punched through, the ship soaring into open space as they broke through the core.
But just as they punched through, the core's meltdown had occurred. The core exploded in a massive explosion that ripped through the space it occupied. Debris from the planet, along with fiery flames expelled outwards for thousands of miles in each direction and the Phantom Cruiser was swallowed up in the large flames and debris.
*****
In the Desert of Despair, Jason Lee Scott was busy with his sword, battling the dozens of Piranatrons and Quantrons that were there on the ground. In the air, Velocifighters circled around Ninjor, who was enlarged and in his battle mode. Both warriors were exhausted, having spent over an hour at this fight and more enemies seemed to be showing up just when they were gaining the upper hand.
Emily, for her part, was staying on the sideline, using her fighting style when some of them did actually come at her. It was Jason's idea, not hers. She would have preferred to be part of the fight, not on the sidelines. But she gave her word and she was a person of her word.
Ninjor would knock one Velocifighter down, but a few more would appear. Another would go down, and two would appear to replace it. He didn't know where they kept coming from, but that didn't matter. On the ground, Jason would knock one down, but more would appear, coming straight at him. There seemed to be an endless supply of them and Jason simply was losing more and more strength as he fought as many of them off as he could.
Jason didn't know, and neither did Ninjor for that matter. How could they? How could they know that one year earlier, Dark Spectre had created a hidden, secret facility underground at the Desert of Despair designed for the expert purpose of building Quantrons and Velocifighters and holding Piranatrons. They didn't know and couldn't be expected to know.
But, as Jason saw more and more of them appear out of nowhere, he chose the smarter of the two choices he found himself with. He ran over to his girlfriend and kept his sword out, at the ready. Even as the now hundreds of Quantrons and Piranatrons circled them, surrounded them, he kept his sword up, ready to fight until his last breath. And in the sky, Jason watched in horror as the Velocifighters fired wires at Ninjor's arms and legs, effectively tying him up, then they took off, pulling Ninjor down to the ground.
The fight in the Desert of Despair had just gotten worse. Astronema's forces were winning this particular battle.
*****
Andros stood still, his face registering the shocked and utter disbelief that he was feeling at seeing who he was seeing. Well, he'd never before seen this Power Ranger before, but he recognized the voice from the databanks of footage of the legendary Tommy Oliver of Earth. He'd always wanted to meet that particualar retired Power Ranger, though not quite like this. Though, he did know you didn't always get what you wanted.
Tommy, for his part, kept his attention on Andros, knowing with an intensity that shocked even him, that he had to be here. That was his vision. Of Andros shattering Zordon's energy tube and knowing at a deep level that he had to get here to stop it. Stop Andros. "Now," he said from within his helmet, "tell me why you were about to destroy Zordon. I thought you were the Red Ranger."
Andros sighed. "I am the Red Ranger.....and there's no other choice here."
Tommy shook his head. "That's where your wrong. There's always another choice."
"Tommy."
Tommy lowered his sword, resheathing it at his waist and he turned, giving Zordon his attention. He reached up with his right hand and touched his neck. His helmet vanished in a flash of black and white light. Tommy's face registered the exhaustion he felt. "Zordon.....I don't believe it. It's really you."
A smile crossed Zordon's features as he looked at one of his favorite humans. Tommy, decked out in the black armor of the Dino Thunder power. It was something he'd always wanted to tell Tommy about. The truth. Where he came from. Who he came from. But, Zordon always felt it wasn't his place to give Tommy that knowledge and he was proud of Tommy now that he'd found the sword. The sword that led him to the Dino Thunder power.
Truth was, Zordon was proud of Tommy for so many things. Tommy had far surpassed all of Zordon's expectations of Tommy as a Ranger. It made the fact that Tommy was here and now all the more important in his eyes. "Tommy," Zordon said the name reverently, "you have discovered your destiny."
Tommy looked down at his Ranger suit and sighed. "I've discovered a lot of things.....the least of which is a Power Ranger trying to destroy you." he said, glaring at Andros for a moment before looking back at Zordon. "Am I missing something here? Has Andros crossed sides or something?"
Zordon looked at Andros, then back to Tommy. "No, Andros has not crossed sides, Tommy. I asked him to do what he was about to do."
"What?" Tommy was shocked.
"Do you really think I wanted to do this?" Andros stepped forward, speaking for the first time. "I wanted to find another way......but Zordon says there isn't one."
Tommy looked at Zordon's wisdom filled face. "There has to be."
"No," Zordon stated, "there isn't. I wish there was another alternative, Tommy. Really, I do. The forces of evil have conquered the universe. The only resistance there is now is the Rangers on Earth and they are close to defeat. My good energy can purge the universe of evil. It's the only to win this war and save the universe. You, above all others Tommy, knows the duty that falls upon a Power Ranger. You know what must be done."
Tommy's hands fell to his sides and his face showed the frustration and despair he felt. "Yeah, I know." he whispered.
"Time is not something that needs to be wasted right now. One of you must shatter my energy tube right now. Save the universe before it really is too late." Zordon said. "And do it now."
They looked at each other. Andros hadn't wanted to do it in the first place and now that Tommy was here, he was wondering if it would be better for Tommy to do it. But Tommy didn't want to do it either. They were truly at a crossroad in their lives. Zordon knew what they did....that his time in the universe was over. But which of them would be the one to release his energy to defeat the forces of evil.
Andros walked over and picked up his Spiral Sabre. He walked back over to Zordon and raised it. He looked at Tommy. "It shouldn't have to be this way."
"But it is." Zordon said back.
And as Andros rose his weapon high to strike down at Zordon, a sudden blast of white powerful energy struck him from behind, sending him crashing against one of the walls near Zordon. His face struck it and he was dazed considerably. He fell to his knees and arms, wincing at the pain he now felt. Tommy whirled around quickly and his shock showed clearly on the features of his face.
Barely able to stand, but standing he was, Lord Zedd was there, in the doorway. He was holding onto his Z staff and his free hand was clutching his wound at his chest. "You...you didn't think it was over, did you?" he asked Tommy.
"I thought you....you were dead." Tommy said, looking at Zedd.
"Almost. But don't worry, I'll be dead soon. But until then, we have a fight to finish."
"Tommy," Zordon said. Tommy looked back at his mentor. "You know what must be done now. My fate will fall into Andros's hands now. You have to deal with Zedd once and for all." Zordon paused for a long moment. "It has been my proudest honor to have taught you, Tommy."
A tear fell from Tommy's face. "No," he said, "the honor's been mine."
Then, he turned and charged at Zedd. Zedd swung his staff at Tommy, but the former Red Ranger ducked under it and sidestepped him, delivering a kick to Zedd's side. It forced Zedd to move aside, clearing the doorway and giving Tommy the opening he needed. Tommy dove into the air and somersaulted in midair, coming down and planting both of his booted feet against Zedd's chest, knocking the villain down.
Zedd hit the ground with an audible groan. Tommy landed back on his feet and stood there, facing him in the doorway. He indeed knew what had to be done now. He had to get Zedd away from this room before Zedd tried that energy absorbing trick of his on Zordon. If he did that, he would be able to heal himself and be a bigger threat than he was now. "Alright Zedd," Tommy said when he noticed Zedd getting back to his feet, "come and get me."
With that, Tommy turned and took off, running down the corridors that lead away from the bridge room of the ship. He headed in the general direction of the cargo bay area. And he knew without even having to look that Zedd was coming after him.
Zedd snarled. "With pleasure."
Zedd stalked down the corridor as fast as he could, given his injured condition and unleashed blast after blast of power down the long hallways, the powerful blasts getting closer and closer to striking Tommy as he stalked down the halls.
Back in the bridge, Andros was recovering from his slam into the wall. He got back to his feet, grabbing his Spiral Sabre. Then, he walked back over, looking for Tommy. "What happened?" Andros asked.
Zordon glanced at the now empty doorway for a few seconds. "Don't worry about that, Andros.....you have something more important to deal with now. It's time to save the universe. Are you ready?"
Andros looked down at his weapon. "Yes, I'm as ready for this as I'll ever be."
He raised his weapon high into the air once again, intent on finishing this the most uncomfortable of missions that he'd ever had to do. But before he could perform the down swing, he was attacked by Ecliptor. The villian kicked him in the back, sending Andros scrambling down to the ground. He landed on one knee and he turned around as Ecliptor charged at him. He dove to his feet quickly and met the sword that was coming at him.
The steel swords clashed and a new battle was on.
Lord Zedd, many corridors away, walked close to the opening into the cargo bay, his Z staff held out before him. His other hand was covering the wound Tommy had already caused him. He looked back and forth, trying to see anything that would give away Tommy's position. So far, he had nothing. No idea where his enemy was. But he'd find him. Zedd was bound and determined to succeed in his mission.
"Come out and play, Tommy. You know you can't hide forever. I'm going to find you." Zedd said, "And we're going to finish this. Make it easier on yourself and come out now."
He reached the end of the corridor, the very opening of the cargo bay and he looked to the left. There wasn't any sign of Tommy. Then he looked in the opposite direction. Same thing, no Tommy. Zedd growled and walked through the opening. He walked to the railing, getting angrier and angrier. He put his hand on the railing.
"Zedd."
Zedd turned around so swiftly that the muscles where his wound was tightened up painfully, but he ignored it. Tommy was there, holding himself up above the opening entrance to the cargo bay. And as Zedd turned, Tommy was dove through the air, somersaulting and delivering a thunderous kick to Zedd's chest. It knocked Zedd over the railing and Zedd was going through the air, finally falling on the ground below, directly in the cargo bay.
Tommy walked to the railing, planting his feet and leaping up and over it. He soared until he landed on his feet on the cargo bay floor. He reached up and touched his neck and his helmet materialized back in place. Reaching down, he pulled his Bracchio staff out and moved to Zedd. Zedd, for his part, was already back on his feet and he grabbed his staff and held it out in front of him.
"Come on then." Zedd snarled. "Let's finish this!"
Tommy charged at Zedd. "To the end."
The battle was intense and vicious. Tommy moved with a speed that he never knew he held inside of him. He was gripping the sword with both hands and he moved it at Zedd's staff time and time again, faster and faster, harder and harder, at Zedd. Zedd was holding up, keeping his staff engaged completely with Tommy's fast and hard movements.
Tommy was a flurry of movement, moving his staff again and again, even faster yet against Zedd's weapon. Then, he dove into the air as Zedd tried a strike against his lower abdomen. He executed a neatly perfected flip and landed behind Zedd, holding his staff down and striking Zedd's back. Zedd crashed against a few crates, breathing heavily.
"This time," Tommy said, "it ends."
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Next: Phantom Ranger & crew encounter a new problem, Zedd's last stand, & a sacrifice made.
Thanks and here you go.
Devious.
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Chapter 23
Billy slumped back down on the passenger's side seat next to the Phantom Ranger. He leaned back with a heavy sigh and re-strapped himself in. Phantom Ranger watched him in silence for a few seconds, keeping his attention also on the bolts of energy that swirled and surged throughout the core. At the moment, he was keeping the Phantom Cruiser still and unmoving.
"So," Phantom Ranger asked, "how is Rocky?"
Billy looked at him, then glanced at the back. He furrowed his brows. "It's in Rocky's hands now. We got the glass out and I did my best to cleanse the wounds on his eyes. Right now, he's in a coma and, if he's strong enough to fight it, he should recover in time. So, it's up to him now."
"Good. That's good news." the Ranger said. "But something else troubles you."
It was a statement, not a question and Billy knew it. He glanced at Adam and shook his head. "No matter what happens now, there's always going to be this big wall between me and Adam. Because of my getting them involved in this." he looked at Penny. "She's dead because of me."
"No," Phantom Ranger said, his voice solid and serious, "you are not to blame for all of this and deep down, Adam knows this as well. Master Vile orchestrated all of this, pulling all of our strings. So much so that he lured me into a false trust so that he could brainwash me into fighting you. Master Vile is to blame not you."
"I want to believe that's true......but it's hard to." Billy just replied. "It's hard."
"I know." Phantom Ranger wanted to change the subject. "So, any ideas of how we're going to punch through the outer barrier of the core before the final meltdown?"
Billy looked at it, studying it for a few seconds, then he nodded. "There's one idea I have, but I don't know how effective it's going to be."
"What is it?" Phantom Ranger asked.
Billy looked at his wrist, the Demon Transcoder attached to it, and he unstrapped it. "We wire the transcoder with your ship's system and upload as much energy as you need to the engine's thrusters. It should be enough to break us through. No guarantees, though."
Phantom Ranger expelled a breath. "Let's do it."
Billy took his Demon Transcoder and hooked it to the panel in front of him. He completed the uploading process in less than two minutes. Keying in a code on his Transcoder, he watched the numbers on the ship's screen. "Okay, the energy is in the system. We're ready when you are."
Phantom Ranger looked over his shoulder. "Everyone, brace yourselves! We're going to try to get through again!"
Kimberly and Tanya moved to their knees on one side of Rocky. Adam dropped down on the other side of his friend. The three stayed over Rocky as they anticipated the coming impact. "We're ready!" Kimberly called up.
"Let's do it." Billy said to the Phantom Ranger.
"Okay....here we go." Phantom Ranger said.
Phantom Ranger focused every ounce of the energy given to his ship by Billy into the engine thrusters and the ship suddenly took off, gaining speed and velocity as each second passed by. As they started to reach the core, they were already going about one thousand miles an hour. The ship was a blur as it finally reached the core's outer barrier. This time, unlike the last time, however, the ship exploded through the outer barrier, punching a hole right in the core and they punched through, the ship soaring into open space as they broke through the core.
But just as they punched through, the core's meltdown had occurred. The core exploded in a massive explosion that ripped through the space it occupied. Debris from the planet, along with fiery flames expelled outwards for thousands of miles in each direction and the Phantom Cruiser was swallowed up in the large flames and debris.
*****
In the Desert of Despair, Jason Lee Scott was busy with his sword, battling the dozens of Piranatrons and Quantrons that were there on the ground. In the air, Velocifighters circled around Ninjor, who was enlarged and in his battle mode. Both warriors were exhausted, having spent over an hour at this fight and more enemies seemed to be showing up just when they were gaining the upper hand.
Emily, for her part, was staying on the sideline, using her fighting style when some of them did actually come at her. It was Jason's idea, not hers. She would have preferred to be part of the fight, not on the sidelines. But she gave her word and she was a person of her word.
Ninjor would knock one Velocifighter down, but a few more would appear. Another would go down, and two would appear to replace it. He didn't know where they kept coming from, but that didn't matter. On the ground, Jason would knock one down, but more would appear, coming straight at him. There seemed to be an endless supply of them and Jason simply was losing more and more strength as he fought as many of them off as he could.
Jason didn't know, and neither did Ninjor for that matter. How could they? How could they know that one year earlier, Dark Spectre had created a hidden, secret facility underground at the Desert of Despair designed for the expert purpose of building Quantrons and Velocifighters and holding Piranatrons. They didn't know and couldn't be expected to know.
But, as Jason saw more and more of them appear out of nowhere, he chose the smarter of the two choices he found himself with. He ran over to his girlfriend and kept his sword out, at the ready. Even as the now hundreds of Quantrons and Piranatrons circled them, surrounded them, he kept his sword up, ready to fight until his last breath. And in the sky, Jason watched in horror as the Velocifighters fired wires at Ninjor's arms and legs, effectively tying him up, then they took off, pulling Ninjor down to the ground.
The fight in the Desert of Despair had just gotten worse. Astronema's forces were winning this particular battle.
*****
Andros stood still, his face registering the shocked and utter disbelief that he was feeling at seeing who he was seeing. Well, he'd never before seen this Power Ranger before, but he recognized the voice from the databanks of footage of the legendary Tommy Oliver of Earth. He'd always wanted to meet that particualar retired Power Ranger, though not quite like this. Though, he did know you didn't always get what you wanted.
Tommy, for his part, kept his attention on Andros, knowing with an intensity that shocked even him, that he had to be here. That was his vision. Of Andros shattering Zordon's energy tube and knowing at a deep level that he had to get here to stop it. Stop Andros. "Now," he said from within his helmet, "tell me why you were about to destroy Zordon. I thought you were the Red Ranger."
Andros sighed. "I am the Red Ranger.....and there's no other choice here."
Tommy shook his head. "That's where your wrong. There's always another choice."
"Tommy."
Tommy lowered his sword, resheathing it at his waist and he turned, giving Zordon his attention. He reached up with his right hand and touched his neck. His helmet vanished in a flash of black and white light. Tommy's face registered the exhaustion he felt. "Zordon.....I don't believe it. It's really you."
A smile crossed Zordon's features as he looked at one of his favorite humans. Tommy, decked out in the black armor of the Dino Thunder power. It was something he'd always wanted to tell Tommy about. The truth. Where he came from. Who he came from. But, Zordon always felt it wasn't his place to give Tommy that knowledge and he was proud of Tommy now that he'd found the sword. The sword that led him to the Dino Thunder power.
Truth was, Zordon was proud of Tommy for so many things. Tommy had far surpassed all of Zordon's expectations of Tommy as a Ranger. It made the fact that Tommy was here and now all the more important in his eyes. "Tommy," Zordon said the name reverently, "you have discovered your destiny."
Tommy looked down at his Ranger suit and sighed. "I've discovered a lot of things.....the least of which is a Power Ranger trying to destroy you." he said, glaring at Andros for a moment before looking back at Zordon. "Am I missing something here? Has Andros crossed sides or something?"
Zordon looked at Andros, then back to Tommy. "No, Andros has not crossed sides, Tommy. I asked him to do what he was about to do."
"What?" Tommy was shocked.
"Do you really think I wanted to do this?" Andros stepped forward, speaking for the first time. "I wanted to find another way......but Zordon says there isn't one."
Tommy looked at Zordon's wisdom filled face. "There has to be."
"No," Zordon stated, "there isn't. I wish there was another alternative, Tommy. Really, I do. The forces of evil have conquered the universe. The only resistance there is now is the Rangers on Earth and they are close to defeat. My good energy can purge the universe of evil. It's the only to win this war and save the universe. You, above all others Tommy, knows the duty that falls upon a Power Ranger. You know what must be done."
Tommy's hands fell to his sides and his face showed the frustration and despair he felt. "Yeah, I know." he whispered.
"Time is not something that needs to be wasted right now. One of you must shatter my energy tube right now. Save the universe before it really is too late." Zordon said. "And do it now."
They looked at each other. Andros hadn't wanted to do it in the first place and now that Tommy was here, he was wondering if it would be better for Tommy to do it. But Tommy didn't want to do it either. They were truly at a crossroad in their lives. Zordon knew what they did....that his time in the universe was over. But which of them would be the one to release his energy to defeat the forces of evil.
Andros walked over and picked up his Spiral Sabre. He walked back over to Zordon and raised it. He looked at Tommy. "It shouldn't have to be this way."
"But it is." Zordon said back.
And as Andros rose his weapon high to strike down at Zordon, a sudden blast of white powerful energy struck him from behind, sending him crashing against one of the walls near Zordon. His face struck it and he was dazed considerably. He fell to his knees and arms, wincing at the pain he now felt. Tommy whirled around quickly and his shock showed clearly on the features of his face.
Barely able to stand, but standing he was, Lord Zedd was there, in the doorway. He was holding onto his Z staff and his free hand was clutching his wound at his chest. "You...you didn't think it was over, did you?" he asked Tommy.
"I thought you....you were dead." Tommy said, looking at Zedd.
"Almost. But don't worry, I'll be dead soon. But until then, we have a fight to finish."
"Tommy," Zordon said. Tommy looked back at his mentor. "You know what must be done now. My fate will fall into Andros's hands now. You have to deal with Zedd once and for all." Zordon paused for a long moment. "It has been my proudest honor to have taught you, Tommy."
A tear fell from Tommy's face. "No," he said, "the honor's been mine."
Then, he turned and charged at Zedd. Zedd swung his staff at Tommy, but the former Red Ranger ducked under it and sidestepped him, delivering a kick to Zedd's side. It forced Zedd to move aside, clearing the doorway and giving Tommy the opening he needed. Tommy dove into the air and somersaulted in midair, coming down and planting both of his booted feet against Zedd's chest, knocking the villain down.
Zedd hit the ground with an audible groan. Tommy landed back on his feet and stood there, facing him in the doorway. He indeed knew what had to be done now. He had to get Zedd away from this room before Zedd tried that energy absorbing trick of his on Zordon. If he did that, he would be able to heal himself and be a bigger threat than he was now. "Alright Zedd," Tommy said when he noticed Zedd getting back to his feet, "come and get me."
With that, Tommy turned and took off, running down the corridors that lead away from the bridge room of the ship. He headed in the general direction of the cargo bay area. And he knew without even having to look that Zedd was coming after him.
Zedd snarled. "With pleasure."
Zedd stalked down the corridor as fast as he could, given his injured condition and unleashed blast after blast of power down the long hallways, the powerful blasts getting closer and closer to striking Tommy as he stalked down the halls.
Back in the bridge, Andros was recovering from his slam into the wall. He got back to his feet, grabbing his Spiral Sabre. Then, he walked back over, looking for Tommy. "What happened?" Andros asked.
Zordon glanced at the now empty doorway for a few seconds. "Don't worry about that, Andros.....you have something more important to deal with now. It's time to save the universe. Are you ready?"
Andros looked down at his weapon. "Yes, I'm as ready for this as I'll ever be."
He raised his weapon high into the air once again, intent on finishing this the most uncomfortable of missions that he'd ever had to do. But before he could perform the down swing, he was attacked by Ecliptor. The villian kicked him in the back, sending Andros scrambling down to the ground. He landed on one knee and he turned around as Ecliptor charged at him. He dove to his feet quickly and met the sword that was coming at him.
The steel swords clashed and a new battle was on.
Lord Zedd, many corridors away, walked close to the opening into the cargo bay, his Z staff held out before him. His other hand was covering the wound Tommy had already caused him. He looked back and forth, trying to see anything that would give away Tommy's position. So far, he had nothing. No idea where his enemy was. But he'd find him. Zedd was bound and determined to succeed in his mission.
"Come out and play, Tommy. You know you can't hide forever. I'm going to find you." Zedd said, "And we're going to finish this. Make it easier on yourself and come out now."
He reached the end of the corridor, the very opening of the cargo bay and he looked to the left. There wasn't any sign of Tommy. Then he looked in the opposite direction. Same thing, no Tommy. Zedd growled and walked through the opening. He walked to the railing, getting angrier and angrier. He put his hand on the railing.
"Zedd."
Zedd turned around so swiftly that the muscles where his wound was tightened up painfully, but he ignored it. Tommy was there, holding himself up above the opening entrance to the cargo bay. And as Zedd turned, Tommy was dove through the air, somersaulting and delivering a thunderous kick to Zedd's chest. It knocked Zedd over the railing and Zedd was going through the air, finally falling on the ground below, directly in the cargo bay.
Tommy walked to the railing, planting his feet and leaping up and over it. He soared until he landed on his feet on the cargo bay floor. He reached up and touched his neck and his helmet materialized back in place. Reaching down, he pulled his Bracchio staff out and moved to Zedd. Zedd, for his part, was already back on his feet and he grabbed his staff and held it out in front of him.
"Come on then." Zedd snarled. "Let's finish this!"
Tommy charged at Zedd. "To the end."
The battle was intense and vicious. Tommy moved with a speed that he never knew he held inside of him. He was gripping the sword with both hands and he moved it at Zedd's staff time and time again, faster and faster, harder and harder, at Zedd. Zedd was holding up, keeping his staff engaged completely with Tommy's fast and hard movements.
Tommy was a flurry of movement, moving his staff again and again, even faster yet against Zedd's weapon. Then, he dove into the air as Zedd tried a strike against his lower abdomen. He executed a neatly perfected flip and landed behind Zedd, holding his staff down and striking Zedd's back. Zedd crashed against a few crates, breathing heavily.
"This time," Tommy said, "it ends."
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Next: Phantom Ranger & crew encounter a new problem, Zedd's last stand, & a sacrifice made.