[See "Under Pressure" for disclaimer]
Homeward Bound
By Crypt and Mindy Mills
By Crypt and Mindy Mills
It was a typical morning onboard the Astro Megaship. Damon and T. J. sat in the dining room playing cards while Pico sat nearby eating his daily serving of dead flies.
"Ha! My Ace beats your Queen!" T. J. shouted.
"Aw man!" Damon complained.
T. J. added both cards to his pile. Then both boys flipped over another card simultaneously. After a few moments, Damon turned to Pico. "Hey Pico, do you think you could eat those flies somewhere else? It's making me sick!" he cried.
Pico shot him a sour look. "You want to see sick? I'll show you sick!" He leaned towards Damon, sticking his tongue out, revealing the ground-up flies. Damon and T. J. retched as they covered their faces. Pico went back to his meal.
"Let's see, where were we?" T. J. asked shakily.
"Let's go back to war," Damon told him.
The boys flipped over another card. Another fly began buzzing around the room and landed on Damon's head. At first, Damon didn't seem to notice … until Pico stood up and pounced on it. "Um … if you're not going to eat that fly … do you mind?" he asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Damon said, brushing the fly off his head.
"Hey!" Pico began chasing the fly around the room. When the fly flew up high near the ceiling, Pico leaped up at it, trying to snatch it into his hands. In a final attempt, Pico leaped off the wall and lashed his tongue out, catching the fly and pulling it into his mouth. He landed on the floor in a crouching position, where he froze for a moment. Damon and T. J. stared at him looking rather ill. Pico stood up, smacking his lips.
"That was delicious!" he exclaimed, going back to his plate. He picked it up and waved it in front of Damon. "You want some?"
"Eeeuw, no way!" Damon exclaimed.
Pico set the plate of flies in the synthetron and closed it. The synthetron was used to dispose of food as well as create it. Pico brushed his palms and left the room. Damon gave up on the card game and spread his cards out in a circle. As he stared at the pile, his eyes widened. He grinned.
"That's it!" he cried. "I've got it!"
"What?" T. J. asked. "A new card trick?"
"No, it's something much more interesting! Come on, let's go to the bridge!" Damon grabbed T. J.'s arm and rushed out of the room.
"We have the Astro Megaship on the viewing screen," Treacheron said to Scorpius. "Now we can activate our surveillance system."
"Excellent," Scorpius said. "Let's see what those brats are up to….."
Treacheron pressed several buttons on the machine, and the villains heard the Spices' conversation. The first voice they heard was Jenny's.
"Come on, Ruth, you look fine!" she cried. "Man, I've never seen anyone spend more time in a mirror."
"Relax!" Ruth's voice responded. "I'll be out soon. I just wanna wash my face so I'll look good for the boys!"
Kendrix scoffed. "Yeah right; you don't even have to try. Your beauty is as natural as the color of the sky."
"Why, thank you."
"Hey, keep it down!" Spinal's voice cried. "I'm trying to sleep."
"Spinal, do you have to sleep in the middle of the floor?" Robyn asked.
"Yes; it's better for your back. And you know me; I'm old."
The door opened at that moment and several of the boys entered the room. "Hey, what's going on in here?" Zhane asked.
Everyone turned to the group of boys that entered, except for Ruth. She was standing behind a thick curtain was well as in front of a mirror. She smiled, knowing that Carlos was in the room.
Hanim smiled sarcastically. "We're waiting for Ruth to get out of there so we'll know what is taking her so long."
"I'll be out in a moment," Ruth responded. After a few seconds of waiting, the curtain was pulled back and everyone stared at Ruth. Even Spinal sat up from the floor to get a better view of her.
She was wearing a scarlet red dress. She had on her head a thin tiara that held pretty ribbons as long as her hair, each ribbon holding several small beads. Her rose was in the center of the tiara, as if it was a large jewel in a queen's crown. She had an anklet on her left ankle, a purple sash around her waist, purple fingernail polish and eye shadow. She also had on the Magical Jewelry that she always wore. With this attire, Ruth looked like the gypsies her ancestors were.
There was a long silence. Ruth broke it by saying, "Well…?"
"Ruth, you look beautiful!" Mike exclaimed quietly.
Jenny seemed to be the most surprised of all. "I thought you were just going to "'wash your face,' Ruth."
Ruth smiled. "Well, I got started on it. Then I thought that I might as well do a pretty good job out of it."
Maya, sitting on the far side of the room, began sniffing the air. "Ruth, I can smell your perfume all the way from here!"
"Perfume?"
"Yeah, it smells like…" She sniffed again. "Fresh cut … apples!"
"Oh, that my shampoo and conditioner! Yeah, it's apple essence."
Carlos walked slowly to Ruth and placed his hands on her hips. "There's the beautiful side of the wife I'm married to."
"Beauty wasn't the reason you married me, was it?"
"Of course not."
"Careful, you two," Leo said. "Your friends are watching you."
Ruth giggled. "I don't care if even Ecliptor was watching us. I love Carlos, so I'm going to do this!" But before they had the chance to kiss, Damon ran into the room, with T. J. behind him.
Damon was shouting, "I've got it! I've got it!"
"You've got what?" Jenny asked.
"I know how we can get back to Earth!"
"What?!" Cassie and Ashley jumped from their seats and stared at Damon. Everyone else had their jaws dropped to the floors.
Damon smiled. "I'm serious. If we can create a power beam approximately 1.21 Giggawatts from the lasers of this ship, we might be able to create another warp hole that transferred us here in the first place."
"Excellent," Andros praised.
Everyone started to congratulate Damon all at once, except for Rachel and Robyn. They stared at each other, thinking of the same question. They got up and walked through the crowd of congratulators. Rachel tugged at Damon's shirt, getting his attention. "Damon, what in the world is a Giggawatt?"
"It is a large amount of energy."
"How are we going to get that much energy?" Robyn asked.
Damon frowned. Not thinking about this situation since he came up with the idea, he was at a complete loss for words. He thought for a long time, with everyone else staring at him. Finally, he said, "Well, the lasers of the ship is not large enough."
Spinal shrugged his shoulders. "I know that the Lights of Orion must be powerful–or Maggie D wouldn't want them so badly–but I don't think that they are enough."
"The Lightstar Crystal isn't enough, either," Jenny said.
"What about you, Ruth?" Maya asked. "I've heard so many tales of the Magical Princesses, all saying that they were very powerful. Is your Magic powerful enough?"
Ruth shook her head. "I regret saying this, but even the Magic of the Universe isn't strong enough."
Carlos faced everyone. "What a minute! Haven't you heard the expression: There is no I in the word TEAM?"
Jenny smiled and spoke in sarcasm. "Yeah, Carlos, and what a perfect opportunity for you to learn that lesson. But we've got a problem in our hands right now!"
"I know, Jenny. But, don't you see?"
T. J. looked at Carlos. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"I think so."
Leo smiled. "Combine all the forces together."
First, Damon spoke. "The power of the ship's lasers…"
Then, Ruth spoke. "The Magic of the Universe…"
Then, Jenny spoke. "The Lightstar Crystal…"
Last, but not least, Spinal spoke. "And the Lights of Orion?"
Jenny turned to Spinal. "Spinal … it appears as though the time has come … to reveal the location of the Lights of Orion."
Spinal nodded. "All right."
Treacheron turned off the surveillance device. "That's it! They're going after the Lights! I say we destroy them now! If we can't have the Lights, no one can!"
"Agreed, Treacheron," Scorpius said. "Attack the Astro Megaship."
Spinal took a deep breath, although he had no lungs. "Deca … set a course for sector 818."
"Acknowledged," the female computer voice responded. "Warning: Alien spacecraft approaching."
"Onscreen!" Andros ordered.
The Scorpion Stinger appeared on the monitor.
"It's the Scorpion Stinger!" Leo exclaimed.
"What's it doing?" C.C. asked.
The others shrugged. The Scorpion Stinger lifted its tail like a real scorpion and fired green lasers from it. The lasers struck the Megaship, causing it to shake. The heroes lost their balance, and those who had nothing to support them fell down.
"That's it!" Jenny growled. She tapped several buttons on the main terminal. "Scorpius!"
An image of Scorpius appeared on the viewing screen. "What can I do for you, my little adversary?" he asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"You wouldn't be attacking us again, would you?" Jenny asked innocently.
"Of course."
"Well, give it a rest; it's Saturday!" Jenny slammed another button on the terminal, closing the communication channel. She pressed several more buttons, opening a communication channel throughout the ship.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard Astro Megaship airlines Flight 986, offering direct service from your living room straight to hell. As we will be experiencing some turbulence, I recommend that you keep your seatbelts fastened and your vomit bags handy. So strap on your headset and get ready for today's in-flight entertainment."
The Scorpion Stinger fired another heart-pounding blast.
"We have to fight back!" Fulgore cried.
"No, we have to save the ship's energy," Andros told him.
"But we can't let Scorpius chase us the whole way!" Hallie protested.
"We need a distraction," Jenny said. "Spinal, let's go. Any volunteers are welcome."
"Where are we going?" Spinal asked as he and Jenny began to leave the bridge.
"With the galaxy gliders, we can sneak past the Scorpion Stinger," Jenny explained. "Rangers, we'll need you to keep Scorpius busy. Okay people, let's go."
So she, Spinal, C.C., Hallie, Arbin, Hanim, Pico, Fulgore, and Gazelle rushed towards the jump tubes and headed into space. On their white galaxy gliders, they flew directly underneath the Scorpion Stinger. Several of them reached up to run their fingers along the evil spacecraft.
"Daddy, the Spices are sneaking by the Scorpion Stinger!" Trakeena whined.
"Not for long, Trakeena," Treacheron assured her. "Release the Stingwingers!"
The Spices thought that they'd eluded Scorpius, but then they heard the familiar buzzing from behind. The next thing they saw were red lasers being fired at them.
"Stingwingers!" Fulgore cried.
"Looks like Scorpius spotted us," Spinal said.
"It's almost as if he knows what we're up to," C.C. commented.
The Spices turned to face the insects.
"Keep going, Spinal!" Gazelle called. "We'll hold them off!"
"All right! Go, go, go, go!" Jenny cried, moving behind Spinal.
They both leaned forward to increase their speed. The other Spices battled with the Stingwingers. However, a few made it out. One flew up and grabbed Spinal from behind.
"Hey!" he screamed. "Let me go!"
Jenny flew to his rescue and pulled the Stingwinger off. Then she kicked it away. The two Spices pressed on.
"That's the cool thing about galaxy gliders," Jenny said. "You can still access your skills."
Spinal rushed down to the planet where he hid the Lights of Orion. He and Jenny hovered over the graveyard.
"You hid the Lights in a cemetery?" Jenny asked.
"Well, I didn't know where else to put them," Spinal replied. "Here, help me dig."
He picked up two shovels lying on the ground and handed one to Jenny. Together they dug up the grave.
"You're sure this is the right spot?" Jenny asked.
"Of course. I knew that we'd need the Lights eventually," Spinal said. "There's no way that I'd forget where I put them."
They finished digging to reveal a coffin. Spinal opened it up. The urn containing the Lights of Orion was in the arms of the corpse, right where Spinal had left it. Jenny laughed out loud. "Spinal, you little sneak! I never would've thought to look in a coffin for the Lights."
Spinal picked up the urn and cuddled it like a baby. "I knew they'd be safe there."
Jenny pressed on her ring. "Guys, we've got the Lights. Return to the ship, pronto!"
"Roger," Fulgore responded.
"My name is Jenny, not Roger."
"Let's get out of here," Spinal said, his voice trembling.
They both teleported out of the cemetery.
Astronema stormed up to Scorpius. "The Spices have retrieved the Lights. Now we will surely fall!"
"Relax, my queen," Scorpius said calmly. "It just means that we'll have to take the Lights from them."
"But they've already retreated to the Megaship," Trakeena reported.
"Blast them out!" Astronema ordered.
The Spices instantly returned to the bridge with their specific goal in mind.
"I got "'em!" Spinal cried. "I got the Lights!"
"All right!" Ashley and Cassie high-fived each other.
Suddenly, the Megaship shook, throwing everyone off balance. Spinal dropped the urn, which rolled across the floor. Pico picked it up.
"Over here, Pico!" Spinal called.
Pico glanced at the urn, then looked up at the others. "Catch!" he called, throwing it carelessly across the bridge. Fulgore barely managed to catch it.
"Would you be more careful?" he scolded.
Pico smiled.
"Guys, we have to get away from Scorpius if we're going to do this," Leo said.
"Right. Deca, switch to maximum hyper rush velocity," Andros instructed.
"Switching now," Deca responded.
Jenny sat on the floor with her back against the control terminal. "Fasten your seatbelts, "'cause this is gonna be a bumpy ride!"
The heroes quickly jumped into a chair and strapped themselves in. Without warning, the Megaship's rockets fired up, and the ship blasted off out of Scorpius' view.
"What!? Where'd they go!?" Treacheron screamed.
"They must be up to something big," Trakeena said.
"They want to get home," Astronema told her.
"Follow them," Scorpius ordered. "This war is not yet over."
"Yes, Scorpius." Treacheron took a bow and set the course to pursue the Megaship.
Once the heroes felt that they had reached their distance, they returned to normal speed. The Rangers and Spices loosened themselves and unfastened their seatbelts.
"We'd better move fast," Ruth said. "Apparently Scorpius knows what we're doing."
"Hang on; I've got to go get the Lightstar Crystal," Jenny said. She rushed out of the bridge and dashed into her bedroom. She opened up her dresser and pulled out the Lightstar Crystal. "Ah, there you are," she gushed.
The Lightstar Crystal emitted a blue glow as if to respond to her.
"Come on, we've got work to do." Jenny ran back to the bridge and stood directly at the center. Ruth stood at her left and Spinal to her right. Spinal placed the urn on the floor and removed the lid. The flash of yellow light slowly rose from its prison. Spinal hovered his bony hands over it.
"Easy does it….." he said softly.
"You guys ready?" Jenny asked.
Ruth and Spinal nodded.
"I hope you guys know what you're doing," Damon said. "That's an awful lot of firepower you're playing with."
"Don't worry," Jenny assured him. "Andros … as soon as you fire the lasers, we'll begin."
Andros walked to the computer terminal. "Carlos, prepare to fire the Megaship's lasers."
Carlos pressed several buttons at his station. "Ready when you are."
"On the count of three," Andros announced. "One … two … THREE!!"
Carlos pressed the fire button. On the viewing screen, two red energy beams shot from both sides of the screen. They collided in the center, forming a red ball.
"Do it now!" Andros ordered.
"Les Bijoux Magique, faites marcher à touts!" Ruth called.
"Lightstar Crystal!" Jenny called.
"Lights of Orion!" Spinal called.
Now the three chanted in unison. "Let the powers combine! Let the powers unite! Open the gateway to another world in which the Planet Earth can be found!"
As they spoke, Spinal gathered energy from the Lights of Orion into his hands, Jenny gathered energy from the Lightstar Crystal into her hands, and Ruth summoned the magic from within. At once, they thrust their hands forward, each projecting a massive energy beam at the viewing screen.
Amazingly, the beams went through the screen to meet with the ball already created by the Megaship's lasers. At first, the ball only seemed to get larger. After a moment, it began to swirl like a whirlpool. Slowly it grew larger, and soon, the heroes recognized the most beautiful object in the universe.
"Is that … is that what I think it is?" Ashley asked with a grin.
Cassie grinned, too. "It's Earth!"
"WHOO!!" Everyone jumped up and down, hugging each other, expressing the joy of finally being home. Well … almost everyone.
"So that's the legendary Planet Earth, huh?" Pico asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I guess I just didn't notice how special it is because there are over three zillion planets exactly like it."
"Very funny, Pico," Fulgore sighed.
"Come on, we'd better get through," Jenny called. "This vortex won't hold out much longer."
Andros and T.J. both rushed to the controls. Damon made his way between them.
"Let me handle this!" he cried.
"Damon, I practically spend my entire life in this thing," Andros told him. "Don't tell me that I don't know how to work it."
He pushed the controls forward, and the Megaship zoomed through the vortex in a flash of light.
"The Rangers and Spices have found their way back to Earth," Astronema observed. "Follow them."
"But whatever for?" Treacheron asked.
"Oh, no reason," Astronema said. "I followed my daughter to the Lost Galaxy, and now I'll follow her back."
"None of us shall rest until the Rangers and Spices are completely destroyed," Scorpius vowed. "Let's move."
Astronema opened up a communication channel to the Dark Fortress. "Ecliptor, bring the Dark Fortress to Sector 987, and be quick about it."
"Yes, Astronema," Ecliptor responded.
"Proceed," Scorpius said.
The Scorpion Stinger moved in to pass through the vortex…
"Well, we did it, guys," Andros said. "Good job."
Spinal held up the urn, sinking the Lights of Orion back inside. Then he handed it to Jenny. "Here you go. Put these under your bed with the other energy sources."
"No thanks. Finders keepers," Jenny replied.
"Oh come on! I can't keep them," Spinal protested.
"Sure you can. They're yours," Jenny told him.
As the arguing continued, Ruth became distracted from the joy of being home. She appeared to be thinking. Scorpius was so persistent in trying to destroy them before and while they were going after the Lights of Orion.
If he was still so constant, and she imagined that he was, then he would be coming through the warp hole at any second. If that's true, then the Astro Megaship will be right in their path! She carefully listened past the continuing argument, and heard something that sounded like a faint jet.
Realizing what was going on, Ruth ran between Jenny and Spinal and tapped the controls quickly. The ship shifted upward quickly, and the Scorpion Stinger and the Dark Fortress both went through the warp hole a moment later!
"Whoa, Ruth!" Cassie said in shock. "That was so cool!" Then, everyone started talking at the same time.
"You've got sharp reflexes!"
"How did you know that was going to happen?"
"That was close!"
"You saved us again!"
"I can't believe you, girl!"
Ruth chuckled at all the compliments being rushed on her.
"There's their ship!" Treacheron said. "I suggest that we crush them now!"
"No!" Astronema shouted. "Let them have their victory first. They'll think that have won because they have arrived in their home galaxy, and later, we'll prove them wrong."
Scorpius thought for a moment. "You are correct, Astronema."
"Besides, I would like to give you a tour of this fine galaxy! You'll like it here."
"They're leaving," Hallie said in surprise, as both the Scorpion Stinger and the Dark Fortress were flying away from them.
"We haven't seen that last of them," Leo said.
"Look!" Zhane said, pointing to a shining object at the corner of the viewing screen.
"Deca, what is that?" Andros asked.
"It is an unidentified spacecraft," the computer responded. "Onscreen now."
The screen zoomed in on the ship to get a better view of it. The Space Rangers recognized it immediately. T. J. smiled, saying, "That looks like Dark Specter's ship."
"The vessel seems to be adrift," Ruth said.
"Meaning?" Robyn asked.
"Meaning the ship probably has no one to steer or control it," Carlos answered.
"Life forms?" Leo asked.
"Several, although none of them seem to be Piranhatrons, Quantrons, or Dark Specter."
"What kind of life forms would be on the ship if there are no Piranhatrons or Quantrons?" Ashley asked.
"Well, we could find out," Maya said. "We Rangers can teleport there and see what is going on in there."
"Can we come too, Daddy?" the twins asked in unison.
"They can if I go with them," Ruth added.
"All right," Carlos agreed.
The Rangers, Ruth, and the twins teleported to the ship. The lights on the ship were out, so they had to rely on their flashlights.
"All right, guys," Andros said. "We'll split up into group of 3 or 4. Stay with your own group so you will not get lost. Contact us if you find anything to report, and let us know when you are ready to go back to the ship."
"Right," everyone else responded.
The twins started to run off in one direction, but Ruth caught up with them. "Girls, I'm surprised at you two, wondering off like this! It's not safe here. Come on, Carlos; let's go see what has happened in this ship since Dark Specter was destroyed."
Everyone searched throughout the ship, not knowing what to find. They heard several growls and grunts, but nothing came at the searchers to attack.
"Look, Mommy!" the twins cried out. "A staircase! Are we going to go down them?"
Carlos looked at a nearby sign. There was an arrow pointing down the staircase, and the black letters read, "Prison Level." Nodding, Carlos said, "Yes, but keep searching."
Carlos, Ruth, and the twins walked down the staircase. The moment they arrived at the bottom, growls echoed off the metallic walls. It sounded like there were monsters everywhere. Rachel and Robyn stood side by side, hand in hand, in order to reassure themselves that they were safe.
As they continued down the halls, a screech was heard right next to the twins. They screamed as a monster with the head of an eagle scolded at them. The twins cried out, "Look, Mommy! A monster! Is it going to eat us?"
Ruth giggled, knowing that the monster could not even reach them. But she started to be frustrated with their questions. "No, girls. Keep searching."
After a few more minutes, the twins noticed a door that had no activity at all behind it. They knew that this was strange, because every other door had at least one monster growling at them, walking around the cell, or staring at nothing.
The twins started to whisper, and Rachel positioned herself below the window of the cell's door. Robyn got on Rachel's shoulders, was raised up to the window, and peered through it. Robyn gasped at what she saw, then got back down. Rachel took her turn, and also gasped at the sight. They cried out again.
"Look, Mommy! A face! Is it Zordon?"
Very frustrated by their questions, both Ruth and Carlos turned to them. "Keep searching!" They were about to resume when they stopped short, realizing what they had said. They ran to the door the twins found and also looked in the window.
"You have remarkable daughters, Magic Spice," Zordon said.
Carlos raised his wrist to contact the others. "Andros, this is Carlos. I think we've found something to report."
"What is it?" Andros responded.
"Oh, nothing; just Zordon."
"What?! We'll be right there!"
Ruth giggled. "I love it when you do that, Carlos!"
Soon, all the others had arrived. Andros used his Astro Blaster to open the door, and Zordon was finally freed. There was much celebration that night. The Power Rangers and the Spice Club had finally arrived home and finally found Zordon.
But little did they know that there was more to be done…
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