Chapter 4
After two days of trekking through the jungle, we saw no challenges.
On the third day, I was getting impatient. If you wanted to get something, you had to do something to get it. Simple philosophy.
I knew the Quest would prove challenges for us. The Great Power wouldn't let just anybody come through the jungle and tap it. It certainly would let nobody get a part of it without giving a test, at least.
Early during that third day, somewhere between dusk and the late afternoon, we had ventured through a bone graveyard. We were being extra cautious, since Tommy told the others last night.
"Be extra cautious," warned Aisha. "That creature or SOMETHING may pop out any minute."
"Yeah," Kimberly said. "It nearly chewed me in half, if it hadn't been for Tommy." She smiled a warm smile at Tommy, who warily returned it.
"Thanks for all the moral support, Kimberly," T.J. snapped.
"Aisha is right," Dulcea joined in. "True Ninjetti must be extra careful and watchful in possible danger. This Quest will determine how you work in teamwork, not by individuals."
Suddenly, I heard a faint, barely noticeable clanking.
The clank that Tommy told me about.
The clinking of bones moving on their own.
The clanking of a moving dinosaur skeleton that nearly killed Kimberly, the last time they'd journeyed to Phaedos.
"Stop!" I cried, holding up my arms. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Adam asked.
"I don't hear anything," Carlos offered.
"Be extra cautious," Billy warned. "It may come out any-"
"AAAHHHH!" Kimberly screamed. Three identical dinosaur skeletons seemed to pop from the very ground we stood on!
Using the momentum the quickly growing mound of earth gave us, we swiftly jumped or flipped out of the way and hurriedly assumed our battle stances.
"Let's do it, guys. Falcon!"
"Jay!" I cried.
"Raccoon!" yelled Carlos.
"Tiger!" T.J. bellowed.
"Skunk!" cried Ashley.
"Goose!" Cassie bellowed.
"Snow Owl!" Dulcea said.
"Bear!" cried Aisha.
"Butterfly!" Katherine commanded.
"Ape!" Rocky stammered.
"Frog!" Adam cried.
"Wolf!" Billy yelled.
"Cougar!" Jason bellowed.
"Dove!" Trini commanded.
"Giraffe!" Zack cried.
"Crane!" Kimberly bellowed.
With fifteen multicolored flashes, the Ninjetti sashes and hoods appeared immediately on our heads, only revealing our eyes and to protect our heads and faces from serious damage.
"Split up!" Tommy yelled. "Teamwork, remember!"
Throwing myself in front of the duplicate of the first dinosaur skeleton, I began to distract it, so it wouldn't see Tommy trying to throw himself on the first skeleton. Tommy had destroyed the dinosaur skeleton earlier, when he was the White Ranger.
Adam thought the same. To my astonishment, I saw him beginning to crouch down.
"What are you doing?" I cried out in alarm, flipping backwards to avoid being seriously butted by the dinosaur skeleton.
"When I was the Black Ranger, we both each had a quality from our animal spirits that enables us to do something that's enclosed in our animal guides. I can jump really high, Kim and Tommy could fly…"
"Good idea." I thrust my hand up in the air and promptly yelled, "I call upon the essence of the Jay!"
A bright blue flash was emitted from my coin on my chest. I was suddenly elevated fifteen feet up. I saw the battle with the other Ninjetti. I was safe.
Way, way up.
Suddenly, in my head, there appeared an input of information about my Ninja powers. I could control how I flew, which direction I wanted to, just by focusing my mind on a mental image.
I focused on landing directly on D2 (Dinosaur 2). The same blue flash shot from my chest, and swiftly, I descended. Right on the horny back of D2. WHUMP!
I recoiled in horrendous pain. I'd landed on hard on my stomach, which had seriously bruised my ribs. I breathed hard, clutched my chest and clung tightly to the back of D2. The ride on D2 was not a gentle horseback ride. More like a deranged, hunger-driven bull with no saddle and so bony I could feel the bones as it buckled and "snorted," trying to throw me off.
Ignoring the searing pain in my ribs, I managed to pull myself up in a sitting position. Quite difficult when this "horse" was buckling and jumpy and turning really sharp turns. Holding my chest and panting shallowly, I spotted the piece that was keeping the body apart: the neck bone.
Using my right hand, I ignored the pain in my chest and quickly yanked the neck bone out. D2 stopped, and quite suddenly, fell apart. I tumbled down from the now harmless bone pieces.
I fell down, groaning in pain. But, suddenly, my pain quickly ebbed away, and very suddenly, I was better again.
"Are you okay?" Trini asked, coming to me first, examining me. "When you landed on D2, it seemed like you bruised your ribs. Hard."
"He is fine, now, Trini," Dulcea came to me and offering me a hand. "If a Ninjetti is injured during the quest, and they had successfully passed this obstacle, they are healed immediately."
I took the proffered hand and Dulcea helped me up.
"Let's go," Carlos said, nervously eyeing what was left of D2. "Don't worry, Justin. Tommy, Cassie, and Katherine took out D1 earlier before you did, while the other had a field day while getting rid of D3. Let's go, before these three put themselves back together."
"Look! The Monolith is just behind those bushes!" Cassie said in barely contained excitement, drawing back the thorny bushes back. It revealed the stone monolith, only fifty yards away. Beside it lay a stone waterfall, with sparkling water trickling down its smooth granite rock worn down by erosion.
But surprisingly, there were no stone gargoyles resting on the monolith face.
As soon as we had all made it out to the Monolith, the ground suddenly began to violently shake, but not so violently to throw us off our feet. The Monolith suddenly split open in the middle and the famous stone pyramid rolled out, bearing all kinds of spirit animals on it.
The Monolith glowed a heavenly, golden light, and the animals, miniatures of our NinjaZords, came flying out. Each of our respective spirit animal circled around us, as if choosing where to attack us at, then slowly, gracefully, the Jay buried itself in the coin on my chest. A brilliant yellow glow blinded me, and I felt a familiar tickling strain as I grew to what would be my adult height.
The Ninja part of the Grid opened up to sixteen people, clothing them in suits in the appearance of Morphin, Zeo, and Turbo. The yellow glow faded, and my Ninjetti suit was no more. Instead, an armored version of my Blue Turbo Ranger suit had took its place. It seemed to be made out of a bizarre plastic/metal alloy that Tommy had talked about.
My armor design had not changed, with the sole exception that my Turbo belt had changed and that my gloves and boots had tiger-style stripes of royal blue crossing over them. There was a metal/plastic Power Morpher that had taken the place of my Turbo belt, with the coin holding my spirit animal in its place.
I looked at the others. The rest of the Turbo Rangers had returned, and so had the Zeo Rangers and Aisha was clothed in an armored version of the Yellow Zeo Ranger. The original Morphin Rangers were back.
But Dulcea had not changed. She was back in her bikini-like uniform.
"Why aren't you a Ranger?" I asked Dulcea.
"My Warrior fighting skills rival that of a Ranger without special powers. Therefore, I can not accept Ranger powers. The combined power of your many spirit guides will keep me young and healthy, thanks to the Great Power. I will not live at the rate of normal people. I cannot metamorphose into an owl. Plus," she added, "the Great Power is actually the Ninja Power. When, in a minor battle, you can morph into the Ninja Rangers to fend off yourselves. I can morph into the Silver Ninja Ranger to help you."
"I get it," I said. "What's this?"
I picked up a glowing white Power Coin that was lying beside me on the soft dirt near the Monolith.
Dulcea took the Coin from me and looked carefully at it. "It must be Tanya's. She will hold the power of the White Morphin Ranger, and her Grid spirit will be the Gazelle. Take good care of it, until you manage to get to Tanya."
"Ready?" Tommy cried out, turning towards us.
"Ready!" We snapped our hands to our belt buckles, and teleported away in a flash of white.