Chapter 7: To the Monolith
The sun was rising on Phaedos. Tommy was looking out over the Neola Jungle when Kat approached him. "Morning, honey," she said. With that sweet comment, the Green Ninjetti Ranger looked to his wife and smiled. He responded, "Good morning, sunshine." This made Kat blush. She asked, "What are you thinking about?" "About what Lord Zedd's probably doing right now," he answered. He's probably having a ball right now." "I think we all feel the same way," Kat said.
The two lovebirds looked out over the jungle for a few moments. Finally, the Blue Ninjetti Ranger turned to her husband and asked, "Are you ready?" Tommy took a deep breath and said, "As I'll ever be." Kat then called to the others, "Let's go, guys. We have a planet to save." With that, all seven Ninjetti Rangers made their way from the Temple toward the Neola Jungle.
They had been walking through the jungle for quite some time now. Kat approached Jada and asked, "Are we almost to the Monolith?" "I really can't say," the Pink Ninjetti Ranger answered honestly. "We seem to be on a different path than the last time I was here." She then decided to change the subject.
"It must feel strange to see me in pink. I could see it in your eyes. I also noticed how surprised you were when you realized you were the Blue Ninjetti. I hear that you were the second Pink Morphin Ranger and Ninja Ranger, as well as the Pink Zeo and first Pink Turbo Ranger. As a Ninja Ranger, what was your animal spirit?" She answered, "I was the crane." This surprised Jada. "How did you get to be the crane? You sure don't look like one." Kat then explained her story.
"When I first moved to Angel Grove, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa placed a spell on me, making me evil. The same way Rita did when she made Tommy her evil Green Ranger. It made me obsessed with Tommy. Kimberly, the Pink Ranger at the time, was his girlfriend. I was determined to get her out of the way. So much so, that I even tried to kill her. She was a gymnast and was thinking about going to train for the Pan Global Games. She was practicing one day, and she took a nasty fall. I could have let her die, but I was able to fight off the spell long enough to get her to a hospital to save her life. Zedd and Rita had captured her Power Coin, and after I managed to break the spell, I got it back to the Rangers. Kimberly ended up accepting the offer to go to Florida and train for the Games. She gave me her Power Coin and I became the Pink Ranger, the crane."
"You didn't go to the Temple of Ninja Power to find your own spirit?" Jada asked in surprise.
"Ninjor was being held captive by Rita and Zedd at the time, so it was impossible. Even we he was freed, we never had time to do so with the frequent attacks. It also didn't help when Master Vile showed up."
"As you say on Earth, 'touché,'" Jada said understandingly.
Aisha and Justin were walking side-by-side. Aisha was surprised how much younger he was than the others. She asked, "How old are you?" "Nineteen," he said. Aisha then asked, "How old were you when you first became a Power Ranger?" "I was eleven," the Red Ninjetti Ranger answered. This stunned Aisha. "Only eleven?" she asked in shock. "How did you become a Ranger at such a young age? How did you figure out their identities?" "By accident," Justin said as he told his story.
"Rocky, Adam, and Tommy were training for a martial arts competition. During the course of the session, Rocky fell out of the practice ring and hurt his back. After he was rushed to the hospital, I visited him by myself. He was sleeping. I heard footsteps and I instinctively hid under his bed. As Tommy and the others talked to him, I heard their communicators go off. I heard Zordon's voice say 'Rangers.' I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After they teleported away, I bumped my head under Rocky's bed, getting his attention. To make a long story short, when the Turbo Powers were created, they needed a Blue Ranger. And since Rocky couldn't make it, he sent me. You could say that, initially, Tommy and the others weren't exactly thrilled."
Aisha nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. I'm sure they felt the same way about Tanya when I sent her back from my Zeo quest. But did you even know how to fight?" the Purple Ninjetti Ranger asked.
"Yes. My dad used to own a dojo, so naturally, I learned from him. But after my Mom died, he closed it down. His heart wasn't in it anymore. He had me stay at a shelter. He needed to do some 'soul-searching,' so to speak. When Divatox destroyed the Power Chamber and the Turbo Powers, my dad came home and I started living with him again."
The Rangers were now in a part of the jungle where there were skeletons of what looked like dinosaurs. "What is the place?" Aisha asked. "It looks like some kind of graveyard," said Justin. "I wonder what happened to them all," wondered Tanya. "Personally," quivered Adam, "I'd rather not find out."
They walked through the "graveyard" silently for a few moments until Adam said, "Welcome to Jurassic Park." "Very funny, Adam," said Tanya, not impressed.
Justin walked to the skull of one creature and examined it. Behind him, the boney remains of what was once a tail rose from the ground. Hearing a creaking sound, he turned around just in time to see the tail aiming right for him! He was barely able to move out of the way. The creature's head rose and Justin rolled away from it. The others watched in fear as the skeleton creature stood up.
The creature began to charge! "Asia!" yelled Justin. "Get out of there!" She let out a scream as the creature seemed to want her first! She was backed up against a rock, helpless. She screamed as the others tried to help her. Tommy picked up a bone and hit he creature on the skull with it. This only made it angrier as it's head snapped to the side and sent Tommy flying. "Tommy!" Kat screamed as she rolled underneath the creature, barely avoiding being swallowed. She watched it and tried to figure out a way to stop it.
Realizing there was no way to physically beat this beast, Justin made like his animal spirit and climbed up a tree. He watched as it quickly charged Tanya. She was the only one in his way. The Yellow Ninjetti Ranger was cornered inside the ribs of another creature, yelling, "Adam!" Justin started moving from tree to tree, a plan on his mind. Adam tried to help his wife by hitting the creature with a fallen tree branch. But just like Tommy, the Black Ninjetti was swatted away like a fly.
From his position, Justin thought, "It's now or never." With that, he pounced on the creature, riding it like a bull at the National Finals Rodeo. Kat, helping Tommy walk, yelled, "Hang on, Justin!" "I'm hanging! I'm hanging!" Justin yelled back. "Justin!" screamed Jada, worried.
The skeleton creature tried everything to throw Justin off, but the youngster was hanging on for dear life. After almost three minutes, Justin noticed something around the creature's neck. "Hey, fossil-head! I've got a bone to pick with you!" He then pulled the piece of bone out and the creature's head fell off. Before Justin realized what he'd done, the rest of the creature fell to the ground as well. "Whoa!" he yelled while falling.
The others quickly approached him. "Are you okay?" asked Jada. "Yeah. I'm fine," Justin answered. "You'll grow older, but you'll never grow up," joked Adam. Everyone laughed slightly. "Maybe we should get out of here before he decides to pull himself together or something," the youngest Ranger suggested. "I'm with you," said Kat in agreement. "Let's go, guys."
They continued on their trek without another word until Jada said, "Hey, this is starting to look familiar." She took the lead and seconds later, she said, "There it is!"
The seven ex-Rangers now stood in front of a huge structure. "Is that. . .?" began Tanya. "The Monolith," interrupted Jada. "But it seems. . .different." The wall of the Monolith had images of five stone creatures carved into it. Two on each side at both the top and bottom, and one in the very center. "Those stone creatures weren't carved into it the last time I was here."
This caused Kat to feel uncomfortable. "Let's take this nice and easy," she said. The Ninjetti Rangers slowly approached the Monolith until they reached the stone steps that led up to it. After getting a closer look, Jada said, "Yep, this is definitely different." "Wait here," said Kat. She slowly walked up the stairs and approached one of the stone carvings at the bottom. She touched it and turned to the others. Once she did, the blades that the creature held began to move. "Katherine!" yelled Tommy. The Blue Ninjetti turned and gasped in horror as the carving came to life. It leapt out swinging away at Kat with its blades. She leaped back to avoid the attacks and back-flipped back to the others.
Kat looked at her outfit and noticed that it had slightly been shredded. The seven former Rangers watched in horror as the other four stone carvings came to life. The one in the center leaped out in from of them all.
The armored stone creatures began approach them. "What now?" asked Tanya, frightened. Somehow, Kat knew what to do. "Ninjetti!" she yelled.
"The Hawk!"
"The Tiger!"
"The Monkey!"
"The Dove!"
"The Lion!"
"The Cheetah!"
"The Jaguar! Whoa!"
Aisha barely had time to duck as a stone creature threw its mace at her head. Soon, the seven fallen heroes, now fully clad in their Ninjetti outfits, were engaged in battle. They were in for the fight of their lives.