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Rita screamed again. “Don’t remind me!” she said. “Look, nitwits, as long as Bones is in the Green Ranger’s body and those doofus do-gooders don’t know it, I can have as many big plans as I want! And my new big plan won’t be the big plan they think it is! Got it?”

  The three minions scratched their heads.

  “I think,” Finster said.

  Rita sighed. “Look, what’s the first thing they do when they think I’ve got a big plan?” she asked.

  “Beat us up?” Squatt asked.

  They could all hear Rita’s teeth grinding. “No! The first thing! First!” she said.

  Finster rubbed his chin. “Try to figure out what your big plan is?” he offered.

  “Yes!” Rita said. “And where do they do that?” Impatient, she answered the question herself. “In the Command Center, so they can get that fuddy-duddy Zordon’s lame advice!”

  “But sometimes they just talk to him with their communicators,” Baboo said. “Maybe you should . . .”

  Rita growled until Baboo fell silent. “We can sneak Bones a teleporter,” she said, “so that once he is in the Command Center, he can teleport Goldar and the Skeleton Warriors in and attack!”

  “Actually . . . that’s pretty good!” Finster said.

  But the still-invisible Tommy thought, That’s terrible! And I still have no idea how to get out of here!

  “I’ll stay here on Earth to make sure Bones doesn’t louse this up,” Rita said. “The rest of you hollow heads, get to the throne room, fast! That’s the only place in the Moon Palace with a teleporter that putrid green teen can use to escape!”

  “Got it!” Finster, Squatt, and Baboo all said.

  Got it! Tommy thought.

  And they all raced for the throne room.

  Chapter 12

  Even though Goldar and the Skeleton Warriors had fled, the Rangers remained in the Youth Center parking lot. As they often did, they shared their thoughts on how to improve their skills and tactics. For Bones, the very idea of sharing was nerve-racking, especially since he was the subject!

  “You seemed a little off at first, Green,” the Red Ranger said.

  “But you sure came through in the end,” the Yellow Ranger added. “Blasting that Skeleton Warrior right on top of Goldar finished them off!”

  In a supportive gesture, the Red Ranger grabbed Green’s shoulder. “Absolutely,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. That was a fantastic move, and it ended the fight. I just want to make sure you’re okay. How’s that cold you were talking about?”

  Bones patted the Red Ranger’s hand, then pulled it from his shoulder. “I am feeling better,” he said.

  As a creature forged in Finster’s Monster-Matic, Bones only wanted one thing: to destroy whatever he was ordered to.

  This camaraderie feels awful, Bones thought, wishing it would end. But I must keep up appearances, no matter how hard it is, until I can convince them to visit the Command Center, so I can put Rita’s plan into action!

  “Listen, my fellow Rangers,” Bones said. “I feel that it’s very important that we visit Zordon at the Command Center.”

  Puzzled, the Yellow Ranger tilted her head. “Why?” she asked. “He’s probably hard at work with Alpha 5.”

  Hmm, Bones thought. Humans care about one another. It’s part of what makes them so weak. Maybe if I mention one of their foolish emotions, they’ll respond.

  He turned to the group and said, “Well, you see, everyone, not having been there in a while, I sort of miss the old fellow. I am fond of him.”

  It did seem to have an effect.

  “We’re all fond of Zordon,” the Red Ranger said.

  “And Alpha 5,” the Black Ranger added.

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “And, of course, Alpha 5. At the same time,” the Red Ranger continued, “I’m sure that right now they’re busy scanning all the available data to figure out what Rita’s up to. If we had some solid new information, sure, we’d contact them immediately, just like they’ll let us know the second they’ve got something. Otherwise, it would be irresponsible to interrupt them just to say hi.”

  This wasn’t going as easily as Bones had hoped. Remembering the rest of Rita’s instructions, he said, “But that’s just it, don’t you see? Rita is clearly up to something. I mean, Goldar showed up in the middle of Angel Grove with my . . . the Skeleton Warriors, and then we simply defeated them? It must be a distraction for some big, secret plan she’s got in the works.” For good measure, he added, “That evil, evil witch!”

  “It is suspicious,” the Blue Ranger agreed. “If Zordon was correct about Bones being resurrected, we do have to be especially careful.”

  That made Bones feel hopeful, until the Blue Ranger added, “But I do agree with Jason. There’s no point in interrupting Zordon without more data.”

  “But . . . we must go to the Command Center!” Bones said.

  This time it wasn’t only the Yellow Ranger who was puzzled. They all tilted their heads and stared at the false Green Ranger.

  After an uncomfortable silence, the Black Ranger asked, “Tommy, is this about when you were under Rita’s control? Is that still bothering you? You know better than any of us that you can’t live in the past. You’re one of us now. Nothing’s going to change that.”

  “Me? Worried about being under Rita’s control?” Bones said. “No. Not at all.”

  In fact, Bones thought, I rather like it that way.

  The Yellow Ranger crossed her arms and said, “I think it’s more about that cold he’s coming down with.”

  Bones latched onto the idea. “Yes, that’s it. The cold,” he said. “I thought I was better, but I am feeling very sick again. We should go to the Command Center and see if Zordon has some sort of cure for me.”

  There were more stares until the Pink Ranger said, “Cure? You mean, like . . . aspirin? I have some in my backpack that I can give you when we change back.”

  “That’s a good idea,” the Red Ranger said. “Things are quiet now. We may as well morph back to our civilian identities until we hear something.”

  “Hey, I could still go for some juice,” the Black Ranger said.

  Still trying to get them to the Command Center, Bones pointed at the Pink Ranger and said, “But . . . we already had juice.”

  The Pink Ranger shrugged. “I could use a muffin. Fighting always gives me an appetite.”

  As the others agreed and began cheerfully discussing what they would order, Bones gritted his teeth and thought, No, no, no!

  Chapter 13

  In the dank, twisty halls of the ancient Moon Palace, the still-invisible Tommy pushed his skeletal body to move faster. He was eager to find the throne room, where Rita had said a teleporter could be found, and use it to get to his friends.

  Finster, Baboo, and Squatt were also on their way there, but Tommy had gotten pretty far ahead of them. As they fell farther and farther behind, he had a better idea.

  They live here, so they’ll know the fastest way, he thought. I should be following them. As long as I’m careful, they won’t even know I’m here until I’m gone!

  He slowed to a stop and waited until they trotted by.

  “I felt something!” Baboo said. He nervously rubbed his arms. “Did you feel something?”

  “Other than you stepping on my foot?” Finster huffed. “Not a thing!”

  “Maybe it was a spider?” Squatt suggested.

  “Ew! I hate bugs,” Baboo said.

  As the minions hurried, they kept stumbling into one another. Tommy followed, but left a lot of room ahead of him in case one actually fell.

  Watching them huff and puff in their rush to obey Rita, Tommy couldn’t help but laugh a little.

  It would probably be easy to escape even if they did see me! he thought.

  But another thought came
to Tommy, one that didn’t feel quite like his own. It felt like it came from somewhere else, a new little voice in the back of his head.

  And it said, “Invisibility is fun! Being a monster isn’t so bad, really!”

  That worried him, especially given what Baboo had said about the mind swap making Tommy forget who he was.

  Could that be it? Is this body trying to make me believe I am Bones? he thought.

  Rather than stand around and worry, Tommy pushed the little voice aside. He had to stay focused on his goal: reaching the teleporter.

  Up two curved flights of steps, they came to a wide hall with a high ceiling. It ended in a large archway. Through it, Tommy could see an aged throne.

  That must be it, he thought. Now I just have to make sure I don’t get caught while I’m looking for the teleporter.

  The stumblebum minions were in such a hurry to be first that when they reached the arch, they did trip over one another. Finster ran his furry hand along the floor then looked at the dirt it had gathered.

  “I can see why Rita prefers to spend time up on the observation balcony,” he said. “This place needs a good cleaning!”

  “The Moon Palace was abandoned for thousands of years before we started using it,” a gruff voice said from the shadows.

  Oh well, Tommy thought. And here I was hoping I’d only have these three stooges to deal with.

  It was Goldar, in a far corner of the large room. They hadn’t seen him at first because there wasn’t much light to make his armor sparkle. Sulking, his shoulders slumped, he paced in front of a small stone pedestal.

  “Why are you here?” Baboo said. “Is Rita with you?”

  “No. She’s having too good a time watching Bones pretend to be the Green Ranger, but she didn’t trust you idiots, so she sent me back to keep an eye on the teleporter,” he said. He jutted his thumb at the stone pedestal behind him. “If it’s as old as this place,” he said, “I doubt it’ll even work.”

  So that’s the teleporter, Tommy thought. Not that it’ll do me much good with Goldar right in front of it.

  “And she trusts you?” Baboo said. Annoyed, he rose and stepped toward Goldar, nearly walking into Tommy on the way. “At least we didn’t just lose to the Rangers.”

  Goldar said nothing, but from the way he winced, they could tell he felt cranky about the way the battle had gone. Baboo, Squatt, and Finster couldn’t help but snicker.

  “It is pretty funny that you couldn’t beat the Green Ranger even when he was on your side!” Squatt said.

  “Funny? FUNNY?” Goldar said, drawing his sword. “I’ll show you funny!”

  Squatt ran back toward the arch, shouting, “Yikes!”

  Goldar sheathed his weapon. “If it had been the real Green Ranger, I would have beaten them. As it was, I only lost because of a stupid accident!” he said. “Now, why don’t you lackeys make yourselves useful and search the rest of the palace for the prisoner you lost? I’ll protect the teleporter.”

  Finster rose and said, “You can’t order us around like that!”

  “I not only can, I just did!” Goldar said. “I am second-in-command, remember?”

  “Fine,” Finster said. He grabbed Baboo’s arm and tugged him toward the arch. “Come on,” he said, “you take the west wing, and I’ll take the east.”

  Baboo nodded, but then said, “You know, it’s a pity we can’t just wait a while. It won’t be much longer before Tommy becomes convinced he is Bones!”

  Tommy gasped. That was what that little voice meant! he thought. How much time do I have left?

  All of a sudden, Finster froze and put out his arms.

  “Sh!” he said. “Did you hear a gasp?”

  Squatt, already back in the hall, rubbed his belly. “My stomach growled a little,” he said.

  Finster shook his head and said, “That wasn’t it. Among the powers I gave Bones was the ability to turn invisible! I never dreamed that Ranger would figure out how to do it, but if he has . . .”

  Fanning his arms, he started slowly moving toward where Tommy stood.

  “. . . he could be right here among us!” Baboo said.

  “I prefer to finish my own sentences, if you don’t mind!” Finster said.

  Baboo turned up his nose and answered, “Then maybe you should talk faster!”

  “Stop it, both of you!” Goldar said. “If he is here and he’s invisible, we have to feel him out.”

  For several long minutes, the four searched the throne room. Fortunately for Tommy, being able to see exactly where they were made them easy to avoid.

  If only Goldar would move farther from the teleporter, Tommy thought. But he’s probably the only one among them too smart for that.

  Indeed, Goldar never strayed more than a few feet from the pedestal. After a while, the frustrated minions gave up.

  “Either he’s not here or this isn’t working,” Baboo sighed. “Let’s go check the rest of the palace.”

  Tommy exhaled.

  But then Finster snapped his fingers. “Wait! I’ve got something that might work,” he said. He reached into one of the many pockets on his smock and withdrew a handful of what looked like powdered gray chalk.

  “Dust?” Baboo sniffed.

  “Magic-clay dust,” Finster corrected. “And here I was thinking of washing my smock. Good thing I didn’t!”

  He wandered, tossing the powder into the air.

  Staring at the chalky clouds, Squatt asked, “Is it still magic?”

  “Not particularly,” Finster said. “But it doesn’t have to be.”

  Realizing they might find him, Tommy headed for the hall.

  Just before he made it, Squatt let loose with an incredibly loud, powerful “Achoo!”

  The great sneeze sent a puff of the chalky dust right at Tommy, revealing his outline.

  “Look!” Finster said.

  As if the skeletal body knew the jig was up, it became fully visible.

  Goldar brightened. “Great!” he said, drawing his sword. “Now I can defeat the real one!”

  “Let’s see you try,” Tommy said, raising Bones’s sword.

  The two warriors came at each other, but as they moved, Tommy heard the others try to scurry away behind him.

  “We’ve got to warn Rita!” Finster said.

  Knowing that he had to stop them, Tommy instinctively sent his left arm flying away from the rest of his body. It swept along behind their legs, tripping all three minions.

  “Aiee!” they cried as they fell to the stone floor.

  As his arm flew back into place, Tommy thought, I’m getting a little too good at using this body!

  And that little voice inside said, “Now, now! Don’t say that! You can’t be too good at anything!”

  He tried to ignore the voice again. This time, it was a bit harder, and Goldar was still coming toward him.

  “You won’t find me as easy to defeat as those nitwits!” Goldar said.

  Part of Tommy wanted to stay and fight. Part of his body was begging him to do just that. “Go ahead!” it said. “Show him who’s the best!”

  But knowing the Power Rangers needed him gave Tommy the strength to ignore it.

  Much as I would like to defeat Goldar once and for all, getting back to the team is my first priority! Tommy thought. And I’d better try not to use Bones’s powers to do it. Otherwise, this body might get an even stronger hold on me.

  So he did something more familiar. Using his martial arts skills, he did a double flip that took him over Goldar’s head.

  As he sailed above the thuggish alien warrior, Tommy said, “Maybe some other time, Goldar!”

  Still in midair, Tommy stretched out a bony hand and slammed it into a single ruby button that sat in the center of the pedestal.

  Tommy disappeared so quickly, he didn�
��t even hear Goldar cry out in rage. In a flash, he was standing in the parking lot of the Angel Grove Youth Center. He quickly spotted his fellow Rangers. They were on the far side of the lot, heading off. Their backs were to Tommy, so he shouted as loudly as he could to get their attention.

  “Rangers!” Tommy screamed.

  Instantly, they spun toward him.

  But the hollow voice his friends had heard didn’t belong to Tommy; it belonged to the body he was in.

  I sound just like Bones! Tommy realized.

  And, naturally, that’s who the Rangers assumed he was.

  “Zordon was right,” the Red Ranger cried. “Bones is back!”

  “No! Wait! Let me explain!” Tommy said.

  Before Tommy could get out another word or lower the sword he still held in his hands, the true Bones, hiding in the body and uniform of the Green Ranger, said, “He’s attacking! Stop him!”

  And then the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers drew their blade blasters and aimed, unknowingly, at their own teammate!

  Chapter 14

  Weapons poised, the Power Rangers held their ground.

  Tommy raised his skeleton hands and said, “Wait! It’s me!”

  Even as he spoke, he realized that saying “it’s me” didn’t exactly give his friends enough information, since he looked and sounded like Bones. As he was about to explain, the real Bones, in the Green Ranger’s body, screamed, “Watch his arms! He’s attacking! Fire blasters!”

  The Power Rangers would never strike first, but they also trusted one another. Thinking the Green Ranger saw some weapon in Bones’s hands that they did not, their fighting instincts kicked in and they let loose with a series of laser blasts.

  Tommy’s body also reacted instinctively, but not the way he hoped. His head, arms, legs, and torso all split off, moving out of the way in different directions. No sooner did the pieces tumble than they lifted back into the air and reassembled.

  Seeing the flying skeletal arms and legs, the Red Ranger said, “You’re right! He’s up to his old tricks!”

  I’ve been in this body so long now, Tommy thought. That happened automatically!