I don't own the Power Rangers. Big sigh. And this is a slight rewrite of the original post, before you ask. Plus I now have a poll at the top of my profile asking you guys what set of PR seasons you want to see me rewrite first. Please participate!
It's kind of my version of PR if the Rangers had stayed in Angel Grove. I'll be taking some liberties but overall I'll be kind of close to the canon version when it comes to battles & pairings. Kind of.
Episode 1: Broken Spell I
It was the first day of the 2006-07 school year for Angel Grove High School. While the astronomy teacher took roll for his new homeroom two senior boys were talking quietly under the chatter of reunited schoolmates.
"I don't know. They don't look ready to me," one was arguing. He had an olive-skinned complexion, crinkled and close-cut black hair, and intense green-grey eyes that were currently eying a quartet of teens on the far side of the room. He wore a black T-shirt and black jeans.
"They're ready; I can sense it," his companion stated happily, his brown eyes flickering from the open pages of his astronomy textbook to the quartet. Although the same age and height, he had a much more relaxed and naïve aura than his companion in addition to fair skin and unruly brown hair. He wore a red and green striped polo shirt, khaki pants, and brown leather gloves. "Besides, I was the girls' age when I became a Ranger, while the boys are our age. They'll do fine, Nick."
Nick looked unconvinced.
"Unless you want to take one of our places. I mean, I'll be happy to join Boom and Al as a techie."
"No, no," Nick hurriedly assured the other boy. "I'm sure Conner knew what he was doing when he chose you as his replacement. Besides, Bridge, if I'm a Ranger I can't keep a close eye on my sister."
Bridge scratched his head, further mussing his already untidy hair.
"She hasn't been the same since we managed to stop Emperor Gruumm's first attempt to conquer and/or destroy Earth. By we I mean…"
"I know," Nick interrupted curtly. More gently he repeated, "I know."
Taking off a glove, Bridge waved his hand about uneasily.
"Gruumm will return soon. We need to keep an eye on the to-be Rangers."
"I will," Nick promised, planning to keep an eye out on one of the four in particular for reasons he wasn't quite willing to admit to.
…
At the end of the school day the quartet Nick and Bridge had been watching exited the school together even though the four had different classes last block. One of the two girls, who had fair skin and jet black hair, commented to her sister and two guy friends, "I think two boys were watching us during homeroom."
"I didn't notice," argued a brown-haired boy in an Aussie accent. The other girl, who had tawny skin, brown eyes, and a black bob with neon purple streaks, rolled her eyes at him.
"You were too busy flirting with that girl at the desk next to yours to notice anything, Xander. Sheesh. Boy hormones."
The final member of the quartet, a lanky redhead with freckles, gave Vida an amused look. She just stuck her tongue out at him.
"Vida, Chip," the first girl sighed, pushing back her hair. She was dressed in a jean skirt, a teal T-shirt, and blue rain boots with gold stars on them. Xander wore a green polo shirt and white slacks. Chip wore a yellow T-shirt, jeans, and a red super hero cape. Vida wore a black tank top, jean shorts, and black boots. Then she pointed in the direction of the parking lot.
"Look, there they are!"
The other three saw them too; two of the boys from their homeroom standing next to a pair of motorcycles- a black one and a red one. Vida shrugged.
"So what if they were looking at us? That other guy looks unfamiliar. Bridge was probably just showing him around."
She turned to Chip.
"Hey… you and Bridge share the school title for weirdest geek. Maybe you should hold a contest to see who's weirder and geekier."
"V!" Xander laughed. Madison ignored them, watching Bridge pull on a brown quilted biker's jacket while the newcomer pulled on a white quilted biker's jacket with two thin gold stripes on the sleeves. Once they got on their helmets (which matched their bikes) they rode off. Madison thought to herself, That new guy is cute. I hope he doesn't have a girl in his life.
Nick and Bridge were having a race to see which of them could reach the SPD Command Center first. So they were gunning their engines across the rocky desert that stood between Angel Grove and the mountains. Suddenly there was a large earthquake that sent their motorcycles skidding. Hurriedly both boys leapt off their bikes before they could get hurt. Troubled, Nick took his helmet.
"What was that?"
Keeping one gloved hand pressed to the ground Bridge took off his own helmet. He stared up at Nick.
"It was a warning. Emperor Gruumm has returned."
…
Deep underground a giant glowing red eye- all that could be seen of Earth's would-be conqueror, stared up at his army. Over the summer he had had Morgana design an army of zombie-like creatures to fight for him, as well as a general for them- Morticon. Morgana herself had a new look- a black dress, a face covered with black and white designs, and two bat-like silk appendages protruding from her head. Folding her arms, she asked, "When shall we attack?"
"Now," came Gruumm's voice. Clunky and odd-shaped, the greyish Morticon emerged from the shadows. He bowed to the glowing eye.
"My soldiers are ready as always for your command."
"Excellent. Send one group after those my foes would set against me; and Morgana, lead the second group against the two in the desert."
"My pleasure," Morgana smirked, and she left with Morticon on her heels. In the shadows, a figure shifted restlessly. Gruumm's great eye flickered maliciously.
"Patience, my dark wolf. Your turn is coming."
…
Out in the desert, Nick and Bridge were looking over their motorcycles to make sure that they hadn't taken any damage from their wild ride during the earthquake. Nick looked over at Bridge.
"We need to get to the Command Center as soon as possible. I'm worried about my sister."
"I know, but we won't be any good to her if our bikes give out halfway there," Bridge reminded his friend.
Nick sighed, unable to argue.
"I need a cupcake," Bridge muttered under his breath, making Nick smile. Lately Bridge had been trying to act more mature, as his new status sank in, but he was still Bridge.
They were nearly ready to go when Morgana and a dozen or so of strange creatures materialized out of a dark portal spell. The creatures wore ragged brown clothes, had white masks that covered their heads, and wielded clubs. Morgana put her hands on her hips.
"Good to see you again, Bridge."
"Morgana. Uh… I guess I ought to be saying something about your new look right now but really I can't think of anything to say that wouldn't be mean and well I am supposed to be one of the good guys-"
"ATTACK!"
"Ack!" went Bridge as the creatures attacked. Blocking, punching, and kicking the two teens went into action.
Meanwhile Vida, Chip, Xander, and Madison were hanging out in the park, trying to unwind after the freak earthquake on the heels on their first day back at high school. Vida was listening to a CD, Chip was reading a comic book, Xander was eying every remotely attractive female that passed, and Madison was looking up at the clouds.
So all of them were taken by surprise when a group of the same creatures that had attacked Nick and Bridge attacked them as well. The foursome was barely holding its own when they vanished in a white glow. The creatures looked at each other, confused.
…
They reappeared in a high-tech looking room, with a table in the center that had a huge crystal orb full of mist implanted in its center. Screens and keyboards lined the walls. Behind them was a currently closed sliding door. In front of them was a petite woman in a white sleeveless turtleneck sweater and a white pleated skirt. Her caramel brown hair flowed past her shoulders, its color matching her eyes.
"Hello."
"Hi!" Chip smiled back widely, squirming in excitement. Vida looked over at her best friend since elementary school.
"Chip, what are you so happy about?"
"It has finally happened! I'm going to be a super hero! And you guys get to be super heroes with me! Wicked!"
Xander just shook his head at the other boy. Sticking out a hand, he approached the brunette.
"Hi, I'm Xander-"
"Bly. I know," she finished for him. "You three are Charlie "Chip" Thorn as well as Vida and Madison Rocca."
"You know our names- what's yours?" Vida demanded.
"I'm Kimberly Hart. Welcome to the SPD Command Center."
"Okaay," Madison drew out the word. "Which is?"
Kimberly smiled wryly. "The current headquarters of the Power Rangers."
…
The last of the creatures had been defeated in the desert and now Bridge and Nick were closing in on Morgana. Stepping backwards she warned them, "The Underworld will conquer Earth. You might as well give up now!"
Nick and Bridge gave her a look. So Morgana just portaled away. Bridge headed back over to his motorcycle.
"We'd better hurry. Sounds like the battle between good and evil is getting hot again- kind of like when toast just comes out of the toaster." Bridge paused, wistful. "I wish toast could stay hot like the battle though."
Nick only shook his head.
…
"You're kidding, right?" Vida half-laughed at length, back in the Command Center. Chip gave her a wounded look. The other two were just confused. Kimberly looked sad for a moment before she smiled wryly again.
"Nope. Last year's team had its headquarters here and we're reusing it for this year."
Madison looked puzzled.
"But why us?"
"Towards the previous showdown with Emperor Gruumm I had the five core color Rangers choose their replacements. They had been Rangers long enough, and had their own lives to live without worrying about the world's fate on their shoulders."
Kimberly smiled almost sardonically at the last sentence. With a kinder smile she continued, "And they chose you, and I think they chose well."
Madison counted.
"But there are only four of us. Shouldn't there be a fifth?"
Kimberly nodded approvingly.
"Yes. He already knows, since he was a Ranger last year. But you're right… he should be here already."
Just then the sliding doors came open, revealing Nick and Bridge, sans motorcycle riding attire. Bridge held a piece of buttery toast in each gloved hand. Kimberly raised an eyebrow at Nick, who shrugged. Noting the silent exchange Bridge exclaimed, "You'd need buttery toast, too, Kim, if there was an earthquake and then an updated Morgana attacked with zombie-ish creatures!"
The four newcomers noticed how when Bridge had said 'buttery' his fingers had wiggled almost compulsively. Nick looked uneasy.
"Kimmy, I don't know if it's a good idea. I mean, last year you were fine with just being one of the two mentors!"
Then, realizing his mistake, he clammed up. Kim met his eyes steadily.
"You know perfectly well why I'm doing this."
Nick only sighed and shook his head. Vida looked aggravated.
"Why are they here?"
"Nicky moved in over the summer; as my baby brother for some reason he thinks it's now necessary for him to baby me."
"For some reason?" Nick echoed dubiously. Chip raised his hand.
"But his last name is Russell while yours is Hart. I heard it during attendance."
"Her birth mom and my adoptive mom remarried when I was still a kid; my kid-self figured that compared to 'Russell' 'Hart' was a girly name," he explained. Swallowing the last piece of one of his two slices of buttery toast Bridge introduced himself.
"I'm Bridge Carson. Last year I was the Green Ranger, so I'm responsible for Xander being Green."
Vida eyed Xander. "Did you choose wisely?"
"Oh, yeah," Bridge responded. "I'm psychic. That's why I have to wear gloves all the time."
"It's true," Nick backed him up. "And he's this year's Red thanks to Conner."
Xander frowned. "Conner McKnight? The soccer superstar from a year or two ago?"
"Apparently," Nick shrugged carelessly. Bridge nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, that Conner. Last year's morpher was his third- all Red. Well… the first one was Crimson so…"
"Bridge!" Kimberly laughed. Abashed he fell silent, opting to finish eating his second piece of toast. Opening a drawer in the table Kimberly brought out five brown sticks capped by five differently shaped and colored crystals- a red firebird, a pink butterfly, a yellow thunderbird, a blue mermaid tail, and a green minotaur head. With a wave of her hand golden sparks turned them into golden, slightly over-sized cell phones. As she handed out the new morphers Kimberly explained matters.
"Last fall a new foe came- Emperor Gruumm. Like most Power Ranger foes, he wanted to take over the world. The Star Patrol Defenders team set back his plans, but now he's back. We six are now the Mystic Force Power Rangers."
"We six?" Madison echoed. Hopefully she asked, "You're going to be a Ranger with us?"
Nick snorted. "Against my better judgment she is. Kimmy-"
"I'll be fine," she retorted, opening a second, larger drawer to pull out a three-foot long white staff capped by a white shining star. "This is my morpher: the Snow Staff. Your morphers will give you powers over the elements as well as enable you to become Power Rangers."
"But do I have to be Pink?" Vida argued grumpily, holding her morpher away from her body as if she thought it dangerous. "Pink is not my favorite color. Actually, it's my least favorite color."
Seeing Kim narrow her eyes at the teenage girl Bridge tugged at the collar of his shirt.
"Kim was the first Pink Ranger so I wouldn't argue against that color with her. Besides, Z chose you to be Pink, not Kim."
Vida was still unhappy but didn't say anything else. For the time being, anyway.
Kim elaborated, "I'll have power over ice and snow; Bridge will have power over fire; you, Vida, will have power over wind; Chip will have power over lightening; Madison will have power over water; and Xander will have power over nature."
She gazed at them soberly.
"It's too late to back out now. Actually it might have been too late to back out since you were born, or even before that."
"Destiny," Chip stated happily. Kimberly smiled crookedly.
"Destiny."
…
Gruumm's great red eye widened, emitting an even brighter red glow.
"Now."
So an armored figure made its way to one of the exits from the Underworld to enter the park where groups of Gruumm's foot soldiers were already starting mischief.
…
A screen came to life, showing the creatures ravaging the park. Kimberly frowned.
"Hidiacs."
"Zombie-ish creatures," Bridge concurred.
"All right; here are our uniforms," and out of a lower drawer Kimberly brought out a stack of clothes and passed them out. "Change quickly; it's time to save the world."
So Kim led the group to a small set of dressing rooms across from the central room.
The five main Rangers' uniforms looked almost the same: black boots, black breeches, black armguards, and a black vest. But the short-sleeved shirt under the vest as well as the designs on the vest and armguards managed their Ranger color. Vida smiled unhappily.
"Pink it is."
Kimberly rolled her eyes. Her uniform consisted of white boots, white slacks, a white vest, white armguards, and a long-sleeved cloud grey knee-length tunic under the vest. Her brown hair was now pulled back via a white Alice hairband.
"Let's go to the park now. Those Hidiacs will keep causing trouble until we stop them."
Nodding the five Rangers followed; Nick had stayed behind in the central room to keep an eye on the screens. At the end of the line, Bridge noticed his two techie friends Boom and Al gesturing for him to come over. With a half-smile he hurried over.
Boom was a slightly stocky young man with dirty blond hair and a youthful face. Al could pass for human with his curly brown hair and fair skin, but was in fact an android built by Gruumm last year who had defected to the Rangers' side. Both were dressed in the green-grey jumpsuits of the lab. Whispering Bridge asked, "What is it, you two?"
"Look, the Mystic Racers aren't quite configured yet but we do have something for you- the Red Ranger- that is configured," Boom beamed. As the more senior assistant, Boom had been left in charge of the lab when Dr. Manx had left early on during the just ended summer vacation.
Bridge glanced back at the quickly leaving Rangers, then at Boom and Al. They almost always knew what they were doing. Looking down, he saw the silvery robotic canine RIC looking up at him hopefully, its tail wagging rapidly.
Bridge came to a decision. "Anything that will help us stop Gruumm is worth my time."
So Boom and Al darted off towards the lab, RIC and Bridge right behind them.
Once outside, Kimberly looked around and sighed.
"I hope Bridge knows what he's doing."
She teleported herself and the four remaining teens to the park. Stepping forward, Kimberly instructed the new Rangers.
"After me!" She held her Snow Staff aloft. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"
Against a scene of falling snow Kimberly morphed into her Ranger form.
"Flurry of Snow! White Mystic Ranger!"
"Whoa, now that's cool," was Vida's assessment. Kimberly's upper body was encased in hard white armor which pleated once past her golden belt, resulting in a skirt-like look. Her white boots were capped by black, and black bands ringed her white sleeves right below the elbows while a ring of silver protected the area at heart level. She also had white gloves seamless to the rest of her uniform. Above her eye-shaped visor on her elongated helmet was a silver six-pointed snowflake like the one that topped her Snow Staff, which she still wielded in her right hand.
Using her Snow Staff Kimberly attacked the Hidiacs.
Getting out her morpher (even if it marked her as a Pink Ranger) Vida decided to join in on the fun.
"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"
In a pink background a pink portal like ring went up from Vida's feet to beyond her head, morphing her from her uniform to her Ranger suit.
She had bright pink boots capped by black, the black stripe ringed by gold; white leggings; a pink tunic with a gold belt and twin black stripes again rimmed by gold; black bands rimmed with gold below her elbows; pink gloves; and white material protecting her neck above the strip of material with a black stripe rimmed with gold that covered the very top of her torso.
With a swirl of pink sparks Vida felt her Ranger helmet envelop her head. It too was pink, with a gold-trimmed visor shaped like a butterfly. Striking a pose the words came naturally to Vida.
"Ever-changing as the wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"
"V! You have a cape!" Chip yelled in sheer delight. Reaching behind herself, Vida learned that Chip spoke the truth. She had a pink cape with white lining that reached from her shoulders to her hips. She was an honest-to-goodness superhero now. Great.
Psyched as well as hyper now, Chip held out his morpher.
"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"
His morphing process was like Vida's, but his background and portal spell were yellow. His uniform was rather like Vida's, although the gold ringing the black stripes on his uniform was almost invisible against the yellow hue of the rest of his uniform. He also had solid yellow pants which continued the parallel black stripes down his torso. His visor was shaped like the spiky thunderbird on his wand prior to it becoming a morpher. Entering his Ranger pose Chip yelled out:
"Fast as lightening! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"
Taking a deep breath Madison stepped forward.
"I guess it's my turn now," and she held out her morpher. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"
This time, instead of pink or yellow, it was blue. Madison's visor was that of a mermaid's tail and she had leggings like her twin's. She went into her Ranger pose.
"Fluid as the sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"
"Crikey," grumbled Xander, but he got out his morpher and called out, "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"
His color was green, with his visor that of a minotaur head. He, like Chip, had solid green material on his legs. He got into his Ranger pose and declared, "Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"
"Good work, you four," Kimberly called out. "But get out your Magi Staffs and help me out a little here!"
The four nodded.
"Magi Staff!" they called out. Compact white staffs appeared in their hands. Wielding them they began to battle Hidiacs. Before long they were all defeated. Nodding her approval Kimberly seemed to be about to say something when all five heard the unmistakable sound of a sword leaving its scabbard.
Turning around, they saw a dark Ranger. His armor was predominantly violet, although there was gold on his breastplate and around his heels and wrists as well as the color of his belt; in addition there were silver designs on his upper and lower body armor, while silver was the only color on his thigh armor and silver snarling wolves were on his upper arms. Wherever there weren't any of those colors there was black, including the back of his helmet.
The front of his helmet was violet edged in silver with an eye-like visor. In his left hand he held a large, oblong shield that was violet, silver, and black. In his right was a silver and violet sword with a gold hilt. Even Kimberly seemed taken aback. Pointing his sword at the Rangers the newcomer proclaimed, "So you managed to defeat Morticon's Hidiacs. But can you defeat me- Koragg, the Dark Wolf?"
In the central room of SPD Command Center Nick was watching all of this. He didn't have audio, but the sword spoke loud and clear as far as he was concerned.
He exhaled, stressed.
"Come on, Bridge, where are you?"
Next time on Power Rangers Mystic Force: Will Bridge arrive in time to help out his teammates? What will Koragg do to the Rangers? Will more Hidiacs attack Angel Grove? Will Vida adjust to being the Pink Ranger any time soon?
Well, we all ought to know the answer to that last one- nope.