Part Eight
Chapter Seven
Teresa materialised on the street in a flash of white. She stepped into the Youth Centre carpark and froze at the sight that greeted her.
"That wasn't there yesterday," she said.
The Youth Centre was gone, swallowed up by a gigantic stone temple that towered over her. Easily twenty storeys high, the complex was ringed by enormous stone columns, the whole structure decorated with stone monsters and demons, all with far too many arms and faces and teeth. The dimensions were simply impossible. Teresa knew how large the property was, and there was no way a building that size could fit. The geography was hurting her head, yet there it was. Power crackled around her, the air thick with dark magic. The longer she stood there, the more the statues seemed to be staring at her.
Teresa raised her communicator. "Zordon? Are you seeing this?" she asked.
"There's so much magical interference that we're barely registering you," Zordon's voice crackled through. "Are you at the Youth Centre?"
"I was right," she replied, then realised something. "Zordon, you might not be able to track Luna, but you can still track me. This is our chance! Focus every scanner in the Command Centre on me. When I walk in there, you'll have a front row seat to what we're dealing with. I'll keep Luna talking. Give you all the time you need to study it."
"All the magic in the world isn't worth losing you," Zordon replied. "Good luck."
With that, the White Ranger stepped towards the dark temple. The main entrance sat above an enormous stone staircase, with massive burning torches on either side. But Teresa knew that walking in the front door would've been a terrible idea, so she ran her gaze along the front of the building. About five hundred metres to the left, a smaller staircase led into the structure, and Teresa ducked towards it. At that distance, she should've been standing in the lounge-room of the house next door, but she was still clearly on the block of land the Youth Centre occupied. Trying not to think about it, she made her way inside.
The temple's interior was vast and imposing, and Teresa's footsteps echoed off the stone tiles as she explored further. Everywhere she looked were stone columns holding up the ceiling, angry stone carvings of demons and monsters, and torch stands that filled the temple with flickering shadows. There were dead-end hallways and staircases that led nowhere. She passed pits of snapping creatures and a fountain that was pouring blue fire. But she eventually found a great central chamber ringed by stone columns. As she approached, she noticed a dozen stone platforms arranged in a circle around an altar. Reaching the entrance to the great room, she saw people lying on the tables. Her eyes went wide.
Her friends!
"Zac! Trini!" she cried, and rushed towards the two nearest platforms. Billy and Tommy were there as well, on the other side of the room. Everyone's chests were rising and falling, but the Rangers were otherwise in a deep sleep, although Zac had a deep cut on the side of his face. Teresa lightly patted Zac's face and shook Trini's arm, but to no avail. She couldn't tell what was happening to them, but there was something in the air here that felt wrong.
She looked to the altar in the centre of the room. At the top of the altar were two blood-red gems, glowing brightly.
"They're from the crown of shadows," Teresa said out-loud. "They must've survived when the crown was destroyed. Sergeant Thompson destroyed the third. So where's the fourth?"
Teresa spun around on the spot and slammed her boot into the altar, sending the pieces flying across the room. Teresa sighed with relief as the four Rangers blinked and came to their senses.
Zac sat on the edge of the platform, rubbing his eyes in confusion. Seeing Teresa, he grinned. "Girl, I am glad to see you," he said. "Where we at?"
"You're in Luna's temple," Teresa explained. "The Youth Centre is under here somewhere. Luna must've kidnapped you in your dreams."
"Affirmative," Billy said. "My last recollection was a terrible nightmare."
"Luna was just a distraction," Tommy added. "One of her imperial guards grabbed Trini and I. Did you destroy it?"
"Imperial guards?" Teresa repeated. "I didn't even…"
Shadow fell over Tommy. He leaped to safety as a gigantic fist slammed into the platform where he'd been lying a second ago, reducing it to rubble. Still groggy, Tommy found his footing and kicked high, but his foot bounced off the guard's chin and he fell to the floor. The guard raised his fists and aimed a paralysing blast at Tommy, but the White Ranger dived to safety, grabbing Billy and dragging him towards Zac, Trini and Teresa.
Trini turned to Teresa. "We'll lure him outside," the Yellow Ranger said. "Can you find whatever's going on in the temple and stop it?"
"Done," Teresa nodded.
Glancing through the temple, Trini spotted the giant entryway that led outside with the suburbs visible in the distance. She grabbed one of the torch stands and flung it at the warrior. "Hey!" Trini called, and the guard glared at her with his blue eyes burning bright. "You want us? Come and get us!"
The creature roared after the four Rangers as they dashed out of the chamber. Teresa held her breath but the guard soon disappeared from sight. The altar had scattered its contents across the room, but the two red jewels had fallen to the ground on the far side of the chamber, under a massive chandelier lit with a hundred candles. Teresa knew what she had to do.
Grabbing a piece of rubble from the destroyed platform, Teresa smashed the stone onto the two gems with all her might.
The gems shattered, and Teresa was instantly hit by a wave of magical feedback that nearly knocked her off her feet. Visions came fast, pictures, sounds and so much screaming. She didn't just see them but felt them in her head. Whatever was happening in that chamber, the jewels were connected to something and that something was mad. She saw flashes of the demigods the team had already faced, then Luna, then the crown of shadows. Then an endless desert. A prison for a great and terrible king, trapped in chains but surrounded by shattered links.
The chains were breaking!
For half a second, the king knew Teresa was there. She felt the full force of his rage, burning like a star. And with nothing more than a glance, the king threw her out. With the connection broken, her legs buckled, and Teresa collapsed to the floor.
Pursuing the four Rangers through the temple, the imperial guard didn't stop until he reached the entrance, then thundered down the stairs into the carpark. His four targets were standing in a line across the bitumen before him. As one of Luna's trusted lieutenants, he was used to the chase, but this? This was confidence. The warrior froze in confusion.
Zac folded his arms. "Hey there big guy," he said. "If you were looking for a fight? You hit the jackpot tonight."
"So here we are," Trini added.
"No more games, no more tricks or ambushes," Tommy continued. "Just you and us. Let's do this."
"Hey Bill," Zac began. "Love the pyjamas."
"I appreciate the compliment regarding my sleepwear," Billy replied cheerfully. "You know my favourite feature of this particular combination?"
Zac grinned. "Pockets?"
"Pockets," Billy replied, and raised his voice. "It's molecular transmutation time!"
"White Tigerzord!"
"Mastodon!"
"Triceratops!"
"Sabre-toothed Tiger!"
The blaze of light and sound faded away, and the warrior looked up to see four morphed Rangers facing him down. He growled and punched the air. As the battleground lit up, the Rangers dived to safety and rolled to their feet.
"Do you think morphing will protect us from that?" Tommy asked.
"Let's not give him the opportunity to try," Trini replied. "Go!"
The four Rangers leaped towards their opponent. Trini aimed a rapid blow for the warrior's head, but he blocked the move and struck her away, turning to fend off a low kick from Zac. Catching a punch from the Black Ranger, he launched Zac back in a shower of sparks, then ducked instinctively as Billy kicked high. The Blue Ranger found his footing and attacked alongside Tommy, but the guard was faster and more skilled than either of them expected, easily accounting for Billy's speed and the strength of Tommy's punches. Striking them away, he dodged to the side as Trini swing high, countering her moves before throwing her into Zac and taking them to the ground.
"Right," Zac said, as he and Trini picked themselves up off the ground. "Let's go with brute force then."
Standing his ground, Zac summoned his Power Axe. Spinning the weapon around, he pumped the barrel and fired a blast straight for the warrior's chest. The area erupted in sparks and smoke as the guard froze. Zac pressed forward, firing again and again, each blast forcing the warrior back. While their enemy was off-balance, Trini raced forward, taking to the air and slamming the warrior back with a high kick, before she dropped to the ground and clasped her hands together.
"Billy!" Trini called.
Billy leaped over Trini's head and used her hands as a springboard, slamming his boots into the warrior's chest and throwing him back even further. Before the warrior could recover, Tommy dropped down before him with Saba in his hand. The guard lashed out, but Tommy stepped around the move, carving Saba down the warrior's chest. Knocking the warrior's arm away, Tommy slashed again and again, the guard helpless under the assault. Finally, the White Ranger turned side-on and held up Saba. The sword's eyes and mouth were glowing an incandescent red.
"Sleep tight," Tommy said.
A blast exploded out of Saba and lit up the battlefield, slamming into the warrior, lifting him off his feet and destroying him in an explosion that shook the carpark. Tommy turned to his team-mates and holstered Saba as the other seven Rangers raced across the carpark to reunite with them.
"Good work," said Jason.
"Thanks," said Zac. "It is damn good to see you guys."
"Nice one-liner," Brendan said to Tommy.
The White Ranger allowed himself a smile. "I assume that was the last one?"
"By our count, that's all four," I replied.
Sarah glanced around. "Where's Teresa?" she asked.
"Still in the temple," Trini said. We raced up the staircase.
To be continued.