"You're going to wear a Daggeron-size groove into the floor if you carry on pacing," Kali murmured without looking up from her book. She was sitting at the round table inside Root core, while Jenji fed Fireheart.
"I can't help but think the worst," said Daggeron. "We've had no contact from Udonna or Claire in days."
Kali turned the page of her book. "Udonna made the promise that if and when she needed help, she'd call," she said. "It's obvious she doesn't need help."
"Isn't no news good news?" Jenji asked.
The globe jingled and Kali looked up as Jenji rushed over from Fireheart's den. The swirling yellow clouds disappeared and were replaced with dark ones, as Claire's frantic face appeared within them.
"Daggeron!" Claire cried, fear in her eyes.
"Claire!" Kali said, dropping her book and leaning forward. "Claire, where are you? Are you okay?"
"Kali, I'm okay," Claire confirmed. "But Udonna was captured by a fat blue frog."
"Hekatoid," Kali murmured.
"Claire, come back to Root core," said Daggeron.
Claire's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No! I have to save her!" she said, disappearing from view.
"Claire!" Kali yelled.
"Be careful!" Jenji called.
Daggeron turned to Kali as she pushed away from the table. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Where do you think?" Kali asked, grabbing her leather jacket. "Udonna's been taken and Claire's out there alone. I'm going to go find her."
Daggeron started to argue but cut off as the globe jingled again, and this time showed Hekatoid in the city. "Great," he grumbled, looking back at Kali.
"I'm on it," Kali said, running out of Root core. She ducked out of the dragon's mouth and ran straight into a nearby tree.
~X~
Arriving in the city, Kali morphed into her titan mode and blasted Hekatoid with a fireball. He jumped around, howling in pain before turning his glossy eyes onto her. "Sorry to interrupt," she said.
"One ranger is no match for me," Hekatoid laughed.
"Who said I was alone?" Kali asked. She looked up and grinned as the Titan Megazord dropped down from the sky, slashing at Hekatoid with its sword. The frog jumped back and the others landed beside their team-mate, just as Daggeron arrived.
Hekatoid huffed and puffed as he glared at the Rangers. "Don't try and stop me," he warned them. "I have something of value to you, and if you try and stop me, you'll never see it again."
"Trying to bargain with Udonna's life?" Kali asked. "That's a one-way ticket to hell." She reared back and blasted him with a second fireball, but missed as he shrunk to ground level, laughing about being missed.
Kali growled and ejected from her titan mode, landing on the ground opposite Hekatoid. The others landed beside her.
"You can't stop my plan!" Hekatoid laughed. "Wait till my babies rain down from the heavens." He pointed towards the clouds.
"What?" the Rangers asked, confused.
"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.
"Look closer," said Hekatoid.
Maddie looked up as the clouds parted to show clear balls of air, inside of which were tiny black larvae. "Tadpoles!" she shrieked.
"Frog babies," Xander gasped.
"Poisonous frog babies," Hekatoid corrected. "It's brilliant!"
Maddie shuddered. "Frogs? Why did it have to be frogs?" she whimpered.
Hekatoid hefted his hammer onto his shoulder and charged forwards.
"Look out!" Kali yelled, shoving Maddie aside and ducking under Hekatoid's first attack. She side-stepped and aimed a kick at the frog's stomach, but stumbled as she bounced harmlessly off.
Rushing, Maddie grasped her sister's hands and allowed Vida to swing her around. She landed a kick to Hekatoid's arm, knocking his hammer aside long enough for Nick to rush him and grab it. As Nick held firmly onto Hekatoid's wrist, Daggeron aimed a punch and followed up with a kick.
Hekatoid laughed and wrenched his arm out of Nick's grasps. He swung his hammer around and hit both the red ranger and Solaris Knight, knocking them away. He then turned his hammer onto Vida and Maddie, knocking them down as he blew hard into the staff, and emitted a loud horn sound.
Kali shook her head and pushed herself up, watching and waiting for an opening. She watched as Xander and Chip were thrown around before rushing in from behind as Nick attacked from the front. Hekatoid yelled in surprise but managed to flip both Rangers over and throw them to the floor.
"Aah!" Hekatoid said, blowing his horn again whilst pointing it at each Ranger individually.
The team clapped their hands over their ears as their vision blurred.
~X~
Kali blinked and pushed herself up as she landed on a soft bed of grass. The sky above her was still blue and full of white clouds; nothing to indicate that she or the others had left the city.
"Where are we?" Chip asked, standing up.
"I'm going to take a stab and say another strange dimension," said Nick, looking around.
"For a strange dimension it looks too much like home," said Kali.
Maddie nodded and stood up.
"Welcome, Rangers," Hekatoid boomed as he appeared over the team. "It's time to play my game."
Xander shook his head. "No more games. Where's Udonna?" he asked.
"Play my game or you'll never see her again," Hekatoid said.
Kali scoffed as several Styxoids and Hidiacs appeared on the opposite side of the field. "Piece of cake," she said.
"I'm not done explaining the rules," Hekatoid chided. "You only have until the clock runs out." He pointed into the air where a clock materialised.
"No problem," said Vida.
"Let's do it," said Nick.
The others nodded and charged into the throng, picking off Hidiacs and Styxoids left, right and centre. Kali ducked back to avoid the edge of a sword and kicked a Styxoid in the chest as she flipped over. The second she landed, she felt her muscles seize up and she found she couldn't move.
"I can't move!" said Xander.
"Me neither!" said Maddie, struggling against the invisible binds that held her.
Kali whipped her head around and glared up at Hekatoid. "This is cheating!" she yelled.
"My game, my rules," Hekatoid laughed. "Time's running out, Red Ranger."
"Then I'm playing this my way!" said Nick, summoning Fireheart and combining with him to the form his Red Dragon Fire Ranger mode. Wielding his batons through the air, Nick took out several Hidiacs at once, before destroying the rest with a burst of firepower.
The last Hidiac fell just as the countdown hit zero and the others were released from Hekatoid's spell.
"Thanks, Fireheart," said Nick, as the dragon flew away. He turned to the others as they re-grouped with him, and he then turned his attention to Hekatoid. "We played your game, now where is she?"
Hekatoid shook his head. "The game's not over yet," he said. "Let's see how you fare against more formidable opponents."
He snapped his fingers and the world blurred again.
~X~
"What do you think he meant when he said 'more formidable opponents'?" Chip asked, taking a few seconds to get his bearings.
Kali stiffened and looked around. "I think he means that," she said nodding ahead to were several shapes were materialising out of thin air. Once they solidified the team gasped as they found themselves standing opposite them.
"It's us!" said Chip, looking from one ranger to the next.
"Clones?" Xander asked.
"Let's see you defeat yourselves," said Hekatoid, appearing above the battle.
Vida hesitated. "We can't fight ourselves," she said, shaking her head. "We're going to be evenly matched, and we have to remember that this is his game, he controls the rules."
"Then let's not follow his rules," said Kali, stepping forward. "Change it up."
"How do we do that?" Chip asked.
Kali grinned and rushed forward, ducking under her clones arm and swinging her fist at Chip's clone instead. The yellow clone stumbled in surprise and then aimed a high-kick at Kali, causing her to duck.
"I get it," said Maddie. "We know our own moves, but we don't know each others."
Chip grinned. "Yeah, we may train together, but we don't know which combination of moves we're each going to use, or in which order we use them. The clones won't know what hit them," he said. He balled his hands into fists and rushed forward, ducking under his own clone as it turned to face him, and slamming his foot into Xander's clone.
"Hey!" Xander whined, dodging around Vida's clone and blocking a punch from Kali's.
"They catch on fast," said Nick, blocking a kick from Maddie's clone and flooring Xander's. He felt oddly satisfied by the action, and quickly pushed the thought out of his mind as Kali's clone collided with him.
Flipping over Nick's clone, Kali unhooked her magi staff from her belt. "Sword mode!" she called, spinning around as she landed and colliding it against the clones. She felt slightly guilty for taking out her best friend's clone but quickly reminded herself that he'd probably do the same to her own.
"That's cheating!" Hekatoid wailed.
Flipping over to avoid a hit from the green ranger clone, Kali stabilised herself just as Maddie cried out from somewhere nearby. She spun around and found her friend on her knees beside three dice.
"What the hell -?" Kali asked, running over.
"They turned them into dice," said Maddie.
Kali looked up to find the Clone Rangers at full strength, while they were three Rangers down. "Chip and I'll deal with them," she said, nodding at the clones. "Maddie, try and figure out a way to turn the others back."
Maddie nodded and Kali run off to help Chip.
"Come on!" said Chip, blocking his own clones' magi staff. He stepped back as the green ranger clone swung his axe down the middle, separating the two yellow rangers, and braced himself from an attack from the red clone.
"Not so fast!" Kali yelled, blocking the red clones attack with her sword. She pushed it up and away from Chip and kicked the red clone in the chest, before slashing at the green clone with her sword.
Chip sighed and fired his crossbow at his clone.
"Oh! Let me go!"
Chip and Kali looked around, stunned to find Maddie wrapped in a giant frog's tongue. "Maddie," they called, earning themselves double attacks from the others clones.
"No! Stop!" Maddie said, struggling to break loose. She dug her feet in and clenched her hands into fists. "Enough is enough! Galwit Mysto Nermax! Ha! You're going back to the pond! Tidal Wave!" she announced, firing up her lion staff and unleashing a stream of water that sliced through the giant frog.
Sharing a look, Chip and Kali nodded and morphed into their own legendary modes.
"Code One, Lightning Bolt!" said Chip, holding his staff above his head. Two strands of lightning slammed into the yellow and black ranger clones.
"Code One, Inferno!" Kali called, following his lead. She twirled her staff around her and then held it above her head, swinging it down and the Red and Green ranger clones.
Hekatoid whined as the trio of Rangers regrouped. Cheering at their defeat.
"We've beaten your stupid games," said Kali, looking up at the frog. "Now take us to Udonna."
"As you wish," said Hekatoid, snapping his fingers.
~X~
Kali shivered as she, Chip, and Maddie appeared inside a dark, dingy cave. There was very little light, and the light that was there seemed to be coming from a pale green stone in the wall.
"Return our friends," said Maddie, holding out the three dice.
Hekatoid grumbled and snapped his fingers. The three dice glowed and Vida, Xander, and Nick reappeared.
"Are you guys alright?" Kali asked, helping Vida back to her feet.
"Yeah, thanks," Vida nodded. "Where are we?"
Kali shook her head and stepped forward, her hand tightening around her lion staff as she looked up at Hekatoid. "We had a deal. Give us back Udonna," she yelled.
"You want to see your beloved?" Hekatoid asked, side-stepping and revealing a stone ledge behind him. On the shelf, unconscious and trapped inside a vine cage, like some strange prized item, was the white sorceress.
"Udonna!" the team cried.
Hekatoid laughed. "She's my prize!" he told them, stepping between them and the ledge again. "And you'll look wonderful by her side."
"We are not collector's items," said Kali.
"You'll pay for this, toad!" Chip yelled.
The others nodded and held their lion staffs up. "Code five!" they called. "Manticore Megazord!"
"Now give her back!" said Chip.
The team swung down with their staffs, slashing the Megazords' sabre against Hekatoid. He groaned and stumbled as the Megazord powered up for a second attack.
"Full power!" the rangers called. They held their hands over their console's, and the intricate symbols glowed as power surged throughout the whole cockpit.
Recovering, Hekatoid turned to the team and held up his hammer. He blew into the staff and a soundwave passed throughout the cave.
"Legend Striker, Spin Attack!" the team shouted, blasting Hekatoid with a torrent of flame.
With Hekatoid down the Manticore Megazord turned to Udonna and carefully lifted the cage into their hands.
"We got her," said Xander, sounding relieved.
"Be careful," Nick warned.
"Yeah - she shouldn't have gone off alone," said Chip.
Kali shook her head. "I knew something like this would happen," she said.
"We have her back now," said Maddie, soothing the tension. "That's what's important. I'm just glad she's okay."
The others murmured their agreement as Kali gasped, stiffened, and then whirled around. "No!" she yelled, raising her hand to block the blob of black tar that arched through the air, but her reaction time was off and the blob collided with Udonna's cage, causing it to disappear.
"Udonna!" the others cried, looking around to see the cage appear in Hekatoid's possession.
"You snooze, you lose," Hekatoid laughed, darkly. He spat more goop at the Megazord, knocking it off balance. "I'm out of here." He declared, opening a portal and stepping through.
"Stop!" the team yelled.
Forcing the Megazord to its feet, Kali lunged for Hekatoid, missing him by a second as he disappeared through the portal.
"She's mine again!" Hekatoid called, disappearing from view.
To Be Continued...
