Chapter Hunter - Vindicated
Disclaimer: Nope. I never owned the Power Rangers and never will. The story presented here comes from my imagination.
Thanks again for the reviews! Really appreciate them! Glad you guys are enjoying the story.
Whoot we come to Hunter, an episode I looked forward to writing. Just needed to find the time to do it. I had planned out this chapter to write from the beginning. Hopefully, the changes in their relationship makes it good. Had a lot of fun writing this chapter.
A couple guest responses,
Read and find out what a scene between Nick and Vida/Udonna/Leanbow could be about. Read the previous chapters, some of them have implied that they can happen. Rock Solid and Heir Apparent.
After this fanfic, I might write one more story/oneshot about Nick and Madison. If I'm doing a story, it won't just focus on them. I will say that the premise of the story/oneshot involves previous rangers giving advice to whatever current team of rangers. If I'm doing a story, I need a fellow writer for sure. Too much I don't know and I don't really have time. I also don't want to make characters OOC.
Haha, for Chip. He actually didn't know. He just randomly shouted. Chip's that loud haha. Sorry for putting him under a bus.
Personally, my favorite was In Space but Mighty Morphing holds a pretty close 2nd in being the original. Favorite ranger is Adam. My favorite real life actor (wasn't asked but made me like the ranger more), Jason's actor (he's really humble about being a power ranger and realized he was a huge role model; that's good character right there). Nope, I stopped watching Power Rangers after Mystic Force; (that was when I started high school and I needed to focus more). I don't plan on watching it again because I tried and cringed watching it. I tried a random episode each season but ended up stopping after 10 minutes in. Favorite villain wow. It's tough. I like Ransik. He redeemed himself and understandable.
Chapter Hunter - Vindicated
"Normal conversation"
'Thoughts'
"flashback conversation"
The next day
Unfortunately, both Nick and Madison were both swamped with work that they never had the opportunity to talk about what had happened at the park. Nick was called to Rootcore for some training with Fire Heart while Madison closed up Rock Porium. Nick did tell Madison they would talk the next day about what just happened before leaving off to Rootore.
Nick heads to work, a little eager. He remembers what happened the day before and smiles knowing that it was very likely for Madison to feel the same way he felt for her. ' I can do this. I will talk to Madison and we'll see what happens. It's been looming over me what this is.'
As Nick enter work, he is bombarded by Toby who asks him to come to his office for a private conversation. Worried, Nick goes in and sees the rangers hold up a trophy for him.
"Congratulations!"
Nick was confused.
Toby announces "To the first ever Rock Porium employee of the month!" The rest of the rangers cheer. Toby shakes Nick's hand.
Slightly embarrassed, Nick thanks them and mentions he couldn't have done it without the team. The team claps and slowly walks out. Madison lingers behind which Nick notices. He was going to take this opportunity.
"It's amazing."
"Looks like you finally found your groove at Briarwood." Madison responded. She smiles at him remembering the events that happened yesterday.
The red ranger notices her smile and he joins smiling. He was thinking about the same thing. He starts. "I told you before I didn't have any real friends." He pauses, remembering how much he thought he would always be a loner. "But now…" He pauses; he wasn't sure how to continue. He could say a bunch of things like he found her or love.
As if know what he wanted to say, she continues quietly, "But now you have." She gazes at him.
He nods, silently agreeing with her. 'That is more fitting. Friends, family, and a possible girlfriend now.' Nick looks back. He begins biting his lower lip. He asks, "Do you have time now? We should talk about yesterday."
She nods.
However, both of their morphers rang. They both sigh and Nick says, "Nevermind." He looks apologetically toward her. She nods in understanding but points at the morpher. Nick nods understanding that they had a certain responsibility to fulfill. For now, ranger duty needs to come before their personal interest.
Monster Fight
Well, instead of rangers fighting the monster, three rangers were actually hiding from Oculus, the second Terror who prided his hunting skills. Xander and Vida had already been shot down and had been demolecularized. Nick was limping around and Madison had just seen her sister disintegrate before her eyes and was worried about Nick. Chip saw both rangers' current condition and realized he needed to step up and remain strong. He closes his eyes to think of something to do. The important mission right now was to protect Nick, one of their own.
Chip says, "Come on. We need to keep moving to make it hard for him. We'll get the others back. We just need a plan." He was trying to think like an archer in this situation to calculate the Hunter's next move.
Madison had looked at both Nick and Chip. She was surprised by Chip's resolve and remembered why they were in this situation. The rangers needed to protect Nick to destroy the terrors. She nods. "Let's keep going." She helps Chip support Nick in the city. 'I don't want to lose someone I love.'
As they trek across the city, Nick stumbles again. 'Man, I can't do anything right now with my leg busted up. But, I'm putting Chip and more importantly Maddy in danger. What can I do?' He looks at them and sighs. "Wait! Stop a second!"
The blue and yellow ranger both stop. Chip points his head toward the area to Madison to indicate he'll check the surroundings. Madison would keep talking to Nick to make sure he's ok and continue to encourage him. Chip knew Madison was best suited for that.
"Nick, we can't stop." 'We have to keep moving to get away from him.'
"I'm going to surrender." 'Just to protect you. I don't want to lose you.'
The other rangers couldn't believe what was being said.
"What!" Chip yelled.
"You can't! We're a team!" Madison followed.
"It's me they're after." 'Why can't they see it? I need to do this to protect you all.' "If I give up, it'll save Xander and Vida."
"If it's you they're after, then it's you we have to protect!" Chip responds reassuringly. Nick acknowledges.
A shot was heard.
Madison, hearing it first, reacts and yells "Watch out!". She shields Nick, taking the hit.
Nick cries, "Maddie!"'This is what I wanted to avoid. Maddie getting hurt or worse.' He reaches for her. She reaches back, but before they can make contact, she evaporates.
Chip realizes the situation and winces. He knew there was something going between the two. He would console his leader, but first.
"Come on. Let's go". Chip grabs him, forcing him to walk along. He grimaces, noticing that Nick was just limping along half heartedly.
Nick's thoughts. 'This was what I wanted to avoid. What good am I being the Light if I can't even protect my friends? Being the Light puts my friends in danger. That's just as friend. What happens if they find out Maddy is my girlfriend?'
After getting to the woods
Chip and Nick reach the woods without any attacks. They take a break, hiding behind tree.
Chip looks at Nick and realizes his head is looking down. Chip sympathizes with Nick. "Listen, Nick. Don't beat yourself up."
"You wouldn't understand."
Chip looks exasperated. "Maybe not. But we all wanted to be in this situation. All of us made this choice to protect you." There was something he wanted to imply.
Nick looks at Chip furiously, "Maybe I don't want to be protected. I should turn myself in."
"Look, It's like the movie Spider-man 2 [1]." Chip says, hoping to cheer his friend up. Nick looks a little confused. Chip's fascination with superheroes could not come at a worse time. "Peter Parker pretends he doesn't love Mary Jane to protect her from his enemies that he made as Spider-man. At the end, after she finds out that he's Spiderman and he loves her, Mary Jane chooses to be with Peter Parker, knowing the risks if his find out she's his lover. We knew the risk as rangers. We choose to protect you. There's no point in giving up." He hoped that would help end Nick's nonsense about giving himself up.
Nick grimaces. He enjoyed the movie, but at Chip's words, he begins to compare Madison to Mary Jane. It did seem very applicable right now. Maybe, he would follow the same footsteps as Peter did. This was real right now.
Chip, still noticing his internal struggle, continues. "Do you think giving yourself up would be what Xander, Vida, and Madison want you to do?" He looks away, not knowing what else he could say to convince his friend. He hoped him hearing Madison at the end would help.
Unfortunately at this moment, Chip gets shot.
Nick sees him gets shot and realizes something. 'Why should I trust the bad guy that he'll give me back my friends? I should fight and get them back.' Angry at himself for wanting to give up, he decides to finally fight for his friends and rescue them.
After Battle
After using his newly found Battlelizer and defeating Oculus, Nick runs back to the woods hoping to find his friends. He hears a shout.
"Nick, over here!" Madison shouts excitedly.
He smiles. He loved hearing that voice. He turns and sees the other rangers all back to normal. Excited, he starts to run over. As he approaches them, he remembers the events that happened to them.
'I need to protect Maddy. I can't let her get hurt or even worse killed because of me. I don't know what to say later if we talk.' When he approaches them, the smile he had becomes half-hearted.
Madison notices and wonders, 'What happened when I was gone? We're safe now.' She knew she was going to talk to him about this. She looks at him and prepares herself for the conversation they would have later.
At Rock Porium
Madison had noticed that Nick went to Toby's room and was by himself. She took the opportunity to go in.
'I'm ready to talk.' She was ready for whatever would happen next. She hoped she would be brave to confront it. Hopefully, something good will happen after this.
"Hey." She calls in and closes the door.
Nick tenses up. 'Shoot. Uh…. I was hoping to do this later.' "Hey". He answers unenthusiastically.
"I know we had a rough day today, but we need to talk. About yesterday." She smiles and approaches him as if she was unaware of the awkwardness Nick was in.
"Oh." 'Man. She's killing me here. What do I do? Hopefully, she doesn't have feelings for me.' He hoped. He didn't want to break her heart. He steps back to get away.
She laughs nervously. She wasn't sure why but thought it was kind of ironic. She was normally the shy one. She gets closer to him, limiting his movements.
When Nick was cornered, Madison smiles and begins to blush. "You wanted to say something yesterday but kind of left it hanging?"
Nick was getting nervous. "Uh… That was -" He pauses. He wasn't sure what to do. Lie and protect her or tell the truth and risk her life.
Seeing the nervousness, Maddy decides to be the first one to break the ice. "I have a feeling what it is. I really like you, Nick. I might even love you." She stares at him, waiting for him to confirm her suspicions.
Shocked, Nick thinks. 'Dammit. That's the thing. After what happened today, I can't have my enemies know I'm in a relationship. I guess I'm gonna have to break her heart. Her life over my personal happiness.' "Uh… sorry, Madison." He pauses and looks away from her unable to lie straight to her face. "I don't like you like that." 'Why is it so tough being a power ranger?' He couldn't bear to look at her.
However, after waiting what felt an eternity, his face is pulled to look at her face. Madison's eyes begin to water. "Look at me and say that again." she whispers as if she didn't believe him.
He pauses. 'I don't want to say that again when I actually do. It's heartbreaking.' "I'm sorry. I don't- " He is interrupted by Madison suddenly kissing him on the lips.
Surprised, Nick tries to get her off, but his body didn't follow his orders. He instinctively holds her closer to him instead, deepening the kiss with his tongue.
Madison's suspicions were correct. Inwardly, she smiles for trusting her gut and other people. She was enjoying this kiss that he was getting into. 'You don't like me like that huh?'
Eventually, they both need to breath. Enjoying the hint of wintergreen in her breath, Nick finishes what he was going to say, "I really like you too." 'Dammit. That's not what I wanted to say. That's a slip'
Madison smiles. She sniffles a little bit, happy he actually said it.
'Alright. I can still save this. Just explain.' "Listen. We can't be -"
"I know what you're going to say. I'm like your Mary Jane." Nick looks at her wondering how she knew. She notices and says "I talked to Chip when we got to work."
Flashback
At work, Madison talks to Chip. "Hey Chip?" 'Chip's the only one who maybe has a clue what happened after I was gone. Maybe he knows why Nick wasn't as happy as he was this morning."
"Yeah Maddy?"
"What did you say to Nick after I … well…. Disappeared?" It was kind of awkward to say that she kind of died.
"I told him to not treat us as Mary Jane in Spider-man 2."
Madison was confused. 'What does that have to do with-'
He continues. "Well, not that exactly but that was the point. He kept wanting to give himself in. Kind of like in Spider-man 2, Peter doesn't confess his true feelings to Mary Jane to protect her. But MJ chose to be with him, knowing the danger. It's kind of like us. We knew the danger."
Madison laughs. 'Chip would use the superhero movie to explain the situation. Oh!' It dawned to her. 'What if Nick thinks like Peter? That could be why he seemed so hesitant in talking to me.' She reflects what happened today. 'Actually, he already thinks like Peter. He wanted to protect us the entire time.' She begins to get nervous.
"Thanks Chip. Thanks a lot." She says hesitantly, and looks down, not knowing what to do with the future conversation she was going to have. She bites her lip, knowing Nick might lie to her.
Chip looks at her. "Just be brave Maddy. Do what MJ did at the end." She looks to him in confusion. "It's obvious on both sides Maddy. Just show him you don't care about the risks. Besides, you're a ranger. You were already in danger to begin with."
Laughing and feeling relieved at such a reasonable argument before she became really insecure, Maddy says "Thanks Chip. That helped a lot."
"It'll work out in the end. We power rangers always find a way to work it out." Chip smiles at her to reassure her.
Nodding, Madison decides to prepare herself. She knew she was going to have a tough time with Nick.
End Flashback
Nick stares at her while Madison laughs. "What's so funny?" He asks.
"You think that me being your girlfriend puts me in more danger. I'm already in danger just because I'm a ranger. More wouldn't hurt." She silently thanks Chip for already making such a reasonable argument for her to use.
He pauses. "I don't want to lose you Madison. They'll target you more to get to us." He voices his fears but couldn't help agree with what she had said. 'It's just a matter of more threats.'
"So what do we do now? We both have feelings for each other, but we're both in danger." She asks. 'Although I still would want to be in a relationship, Nick seems adamant about it.'
Nick responds, "I don't know." He looks confused.
Madison closes her eyes and remembers Daggeron's advice.
"Just be patient. The right one will come along." [2]
'Looks like I'll continue to be patient. He will eventually come along. I don't have to worry about my feelings or him liking me back now that I know he at least likes me the same way.'
"I'll wait."
"What?" He asks. 'That could… actually work. We don't date now and it's just between us. Nothing really changes other than we know how each other feel.' He smiles at that. It felt good being released from that stress and drama and even better that it was mutual.
" I'm happy to know we both like each other. I feel released knowing that. Granted, I wish we would date right now, but I agree that our lives are complicated right now." She says the last part hesitantly. 'I think we would still make it work even with this going on. Maybe he'll realize the same thing.'
Nick smiles. "Yeah. I feel free too." He randomly remembers what the theme song to Spider-man 2. He laughs, "Haha. I'll make sure I'll ask you out this time." 'Maybe our first date should be to rewatch Spider-man 2. Just us two.' He continues, " It should be the guy who asks. I'm kind of surprised at the shy girl who broke out of her shell " He grins at her. 'That was spontaneous of her to kiss me. Guess I shouldn't make fun of her.'
She blushes. His previous words, "Yeah. She's a wild one" echoed in head. He'd mock her if she told him. It didn't seem like he fully realized it.
"I just did what Mary Jane did in the movie." She tells a half truth and looks away, now losing her previous courage.
"Hmm. Maybe I kind of remember it wrong. Let's watch it again when we have time." He jokes and emphasizes the last part, implying something else. She nods, catching what he meant at the end.
With the awkward silence and having some closure, she turns to go. "Hope to talk to you soon. Later Nick." As she walked to leave, she thinks back to the kiss, blushing at the thought how she started it.
Nick nods. "I hope you don't have to wait too long." He calls out to her. Somehow, he felt that she wasn't referring to actual talking. As she leaves, he begins to hum 'Hope dangles on a string… like slow spinning redemption…'
Episode Finish
I made sure this chapter was finished before posting it this time. I think I learned my lesson.
[1] Don't own Spider-man 2 also. Don't own Vindicated by Dashboard Confessions, the song and theme of Spider-man 2. I got the idea using this song/movie while I was listening to my playlist about 2 weeks ago (during which I was writing the Light) and I was like oh yeah Spiderman-2. Then I remembered parts of the movie and I was hm that actually has something I planned to do.
[2] This quote was in my version of Long Ago.
Chip got a chance to redeem himself. He messed up last chapter and almost messed up this chapter. In his defence, he was actually trying to get Maddy and Nick together with what he said that. It's just that in Nick's current state of mind he focused what Peter did in the movie. Chip's deceptively perceptive. Besides, I don't like to throw people under the bus. Chip was chosen to be thrown under the bus the last time because I felt he could redeem himself this chapter.
Yeah, there's an actual kiss scene. The way I wrote it was meant to be a surprise. Sorry, if you guys wanted some juicy details. I like to keep some people on their toes and I wanted the kiss to be spontaneous. ;)
So what do you think?
Please leave a review. Thoughts and comments.
Up next. Hard Heads (which I didn't plan as a have to do episodes) and then Mystic Fate.