Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part II of III)
As he snuck his way up onto the rooftop of a building adjacent to SPD Headquarters, Niko felt his mouth twist into a bit of a frown. He let out a sigh, then cast his gaze downward as a memory unearthed itself in his mind…
"~It's a new day, but it all feels old! It's a good life, that's what I'm told! But every single day just feels the same!~" A younger Niko sang loudly into the microphone in front of him as he shredded note after note on his electric guitar. All around him, his friends and bandmates poured their heart and soul into the song they were using as a warmup for their practice session. As the chord he'd most recently played slowed to a halt, so too did he; pausing before he sung the next line, Niko said, "Man, it just doesn't sound right…"
"Niko? Baby, what's the matter?" His wife Melody stood from her seat in front of the drums and walked up to her husband, rubbing his back while whispering soothingly in his ear. "We were doing great, why'd you stop?"
"It's not you guys, it's...me," Niko said, looking up at his wife before looking down at his mic. "Something about my voice just sounds...off."
"Your voice sounds fine to me, sweetheart. Tell ya what, why don't we just try again and we'll stop if you're still not happy with it?" With that, Melody returned to her spot behind the drum set, then looked to the rest of their bandmates and said, "1! 2! 1, 2, 3, go!"
"~It's a new day, but it all feels old! It's a good life, that's what I'm told! But every single day just feels the same!~" Niko repeated, singing the same line he'd just sang but with much more bounce to his voice. Feeling much happier with his own performance this time around, he turned to his wife and gave her a loving smile, then continued the song by singing, "~And my highschool, it felt more to me like a jail cell, a penitentiary! My time spent there, it only made me seeeeeeeeee...!~"
As his mind slowly returned to the present, Niko found himself involuntarily clenching his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white. Music had been his passion, but without his hearing, Niko just couldn't enjoy playing with his band like he used to. They had long since disbanded, and furthermore, his relationship with his wife had become strained. He still loved her, but not being able to hear her voice, her laugh...it cut him deeper than any blade. That...that was why he was determined to get back what he'd lost. He would be able to hear his own music again. He would be able to hear his wife's beautiful voice again!
...but first, SPD's C-Squad Rangers would have to be dealt with.
Snapping out of his nostalgic trance, the blue-clad thief made his way to the edge of the rooftop. He looked down at SPD's Headquarters building, glaring down at what was essentially a representation of everything he hated. SPD, the organization that had failed to keep him safe - the organization that failed to prevent him from losing his hearing and now stood in the way of him getting it back.
"No matter what it takes…" He said to himself, taking off his sunglasses and wiping a stray tear from his eye before putting them back on. "I WILL HEAR AGAIN!"
Before he could leap off of the rooftop, a hand reached out and placed itself on his shoulder. Glancing over, Niko saw Griffin, who had somehow caught up to him.
"If you go down there, you're gonna get caught," The red-clad thief warned, prompting Niko to tear away from his grip and whip around to face him.
"If that happens, that still leaves you and Esther-"
"And then we'd be at a major disadvantage! Do you have any idea how selfish you're being?!" Griffin shouted. "You're so focused on what you want that you can't see the big picture - if we don't work together, none of us will get what we want! What about my wish?! Do you even care about that…?"
Niko took a deep breath, then replied, "...so what're you suggesting? We just leave SPD alone and let them keep their Collection pieces?"
"SPD isn't going anywhere," Griffin pointed out, having calmed down in the moments following his outburst. "If anything, they'll be coming to us...so let's use that to our advantage,"
~Meanwhile, inside SPD's HQ…~
"I can't believe you allowed him to take your Morpher!" Isamu shouted, pacing back and forth as he lectured a rather terrified-looking Eddie. "You can't continue to underestimate the Fossilli Family and the Victory Rangers like that!"
Eddie opened his mouth to respond several times during the verbal assault, but eventually only replied with a meek, "I'm s-sorry, sir."
"You'd better be!" Isamu said sternly, prompting Sasha to walk over to him and place both hands on his shoulders.
"Isamu, ease up! He isn't making excuses, and he seems pretty bummed out about it. I think he's learned his lesson,"
A few moments later, John Doe shot up out of his desk, the sirens on the sides of his head blaring loudly as he turned around to face the others.
"RED ALERT, RED ALERT! We've received an eyewitness report relating to Pittoraca!"
"Go ahead, John Doe!" Captain Farukon encouraged from his desk, prompting the robot to continue.
"Right!"
With that, the robot pressed a button on his wrist, causing an audio recording to echo out of a speaker on his face…
"There's this old art gallery downtown that's mostly abandoned, I saw one of the monsters go inside!" Griffin spoke into his smartphone, using a voice-changer app to modify his voice as he recorded it. He then sent the message in as an anonymous tip to SPD HQ before shutting off the app and turning back to Niko. "That oughta do the trick!
"An art studio, huh…?" Isamu stroked his chin, and Sasha moved away from him and turned to face the Captain.
"Do you think it's him?" She asked the Captain, who stood from his desk before responding.
"It's definitely worth investigating...C-Squad, MOVE OUT!" At Captain Farukon's command, Isamu and Sasha tore out of the room, leaving behind a rather sullen looking Eddie. Seeing this, the Captain added, "Chin up, Cadet. Everyone makes mistakes - it's what we do to compensate for them that defines us."
"...Yes sir," Eddie replied, still sounding unsure of himself. Despite the uncertainty, he ran after his teammates, and together the three unknowingly took the bait that had been fed to them by Griffin…
"Now…" Pittaraco said to himself as he sat inside an abandoned art studio in downtown New Tech City, painting a strange looking picture on a blank canvas he'd found. "Which building should I turn into my next masterpiece…?"
"FREEZE!" Isamu said as he burst through the front door out of nowhere, brandishing his Delta Defender which he immediately aimed at the Fossilli Family member. "SPD!"
"What-?!" Pittoraca squelched in surprise. Meanwhile, Sasha burst through the back door and used a flight of metal steps to flank the Fossilli from the left, while Eddie rolled in through a broken window in the building's right side. "Oh no…!"
"SPD: Emergency!" The three shouted in unison, instantly morphing into their Ranger forms.
As the C-Squad Rangers brandished their weapons and surrounded him, Pittoraca said, "Man, this situation really...makes me happy!"
"Wait, what-" Before they had time to react, Pittoraca pressed a hidden button on a nearby pillar, causing dispensers in the ceiling to shoot out the purple paint-like substance he'd previously shot at them in the battle before. Within moments, all three Rangers were trapped.
"Hahahaha! You fell for it hook, line, and sinker!" With that, Pittoraca ran up the stairs and left the art studio, leaving his new captives trapped.
"Oh no, he got away!" Isamu shouted.
"Crap, not this again!" Eddie groaned.
"It was a trap!" Sasha realized, as all three of them struggled to break free to no avail.
"Yes it was!" Pittoraca shouted with glee as he ran out of the art studio and onto the streets of New Tech's downtown area. "I told you you'd be the ones caught if you came after me!"
"-Wow! So it really was a trap!" A female voice said out of nowhere, prompting the alien to look around in confusion. As he glanced up at a nearby rooftop and spotted the Victory Rangers in their phantom thief costumes, Esther added, "Looks like you were spot on as usual, Red!"
"So wait...they were bait for me?!" Pittoraca exclaimed in confusion, sounding flabbergasted. Meanwhile, Griffin turned to Niko, who eyed him with a twinkle of curiosity in his dark green orbs.
"See, we've got more tactics we can rely on, now," The red-clad thief told his blue counterpart, who blinked a few times as realization began to set in.
"You have a point there," Griffin grinned, then turned his attention back to Pittoraca.
"And now that they're out of the way, we can take you down!" With that, the Red Ranger whipped out his Dial Zord. As his teammates followed his lead, he added, "It's Morphin' Time!"
"Victorise!" They all three shouted in unison, slotting their Dial Zords onto their Morphers and tilting the barrel so that they sat on top before entering their combinations into the dials and pulling the trigger. "FIRE!"
~Victory Rangers Morphing Sequence~
"The Daring Thief! Red Victory Ranger!"
"The Dexterous Thief! Blue Victory Ranger!"
"The Agile Thief! Yellow Victory Ranger!"
"Snatching up a win at blinding speed! Victory Rangers!"
"I'm only telling you this once…" Griffin began, as he and his teammates finished their rollcall. "Your treasure is MINE!"
"CRANFOROS!" Pittoraca bellowed, summoning a small horde of the small, skeletal aliens. He then gestured up towards his foes, prompting the goons to aim their blaster pistols up at them and open fire. The Victory Rangers effortlessly dodged the barrage of incoming fire, backflipping until they were out of view before leaping off of the rooftop from the side using their grappling hooks.
"Surprise!" Griffin quipped as he glided down, gunning down Cranforos left and right. He then landed on the ground below and leapt into the fray as Niko and Esther landed beside him.
"Eat...THIS!" Esther growled as she shot a Cranforo point-blank in the chest repeatedly, then kicked off of it and vaulted over the head of another Cranforo that was behind her. Brandishing her Victory Saber, she slashed her foe in the back repeatedly before swapping to her Claw mode, which she used to grab onto a nearby streetlight. She swung around the metal pole and then released her Claw, sending her hurtling through the air towards yet another Cranforo. "Didn't see that coming, didya?!"
To her right, Niko stood surrounded by at least a dozen of the alien footsoldiers. The Blue Ranger stood his ground with confidence, ducking and side stepping out of the way of the Cranforos' incoming laser bolts whilst retaliating with some of his own. As his attackers began dwindling in number and their assault subsequently slowed, he seized the opportunity and tore through a gap in their defenses. He ran up a nearby wall, then kicked off, back-flipping while firing wildly at the remaining Cranforos.
Watching his blue teammate out of the corner of his eye as he spun his Victory Blaster around his trigger finger and effortlessly mowed through the remaining survivors, Griffin hollered, "Good job, Blue!"
"You too, Red!" Niko echoed, jabbing the last Cranforo in the abdomen with his Victory Saber as it attempted to sneak up on him. With the small-minded thugs now disposed of, the three Victory Rangers regrouped and focused their attention back on Pittoraca.
"Aw crap, this isn't looking good!" The slug-alien shouted fearfully, dashing towards a nearby stone pillar before whipping out his paintbrush. He then turned the pillar into a pile of stone spears, which he subsequently launched into the air and sent hurtling towards his foes. "Let's see how you like THIS!"
As the spears came raining down on them, Griffin and Esther hastily dove out of the way. Niko, however, stood his ground; he caught one of the spears as it flew past him, then used it in a similar manner to a bo-staff, striking the other spears and knocking them down mid-flight. Once he was done, he spun the spear around so that the spearhead faced outward, then lifted it up in his right hand and threw it at their attacker.
"Woaaaaaah!" Pittoraca clumsily shouted as he side-stepped out of the way, narrowly dodging the incoming projectile. While he was distracted with the spear, Griffin hopped back up to his feet and rushed the Fossilli Family member, front-flipping over his head and grabbing him from behind as Niko ran to join him.
"6-3-6!" A familiar electronic voice echoed out of the Blue Dial Zord as Niko placed it on Pittoraca's safe. With a metallic click, the safe opened, allowing the Blue Ranger to reach inside and procure a gray and green tiki-like object.
"Sculptor's Muse," Niko remarked, slamming the safe shut before pocketing the Collection piece. "Looks like your treasure is ours, now."
"GIVE IT BACK!" The slug-alien roared, breaking free of Griffin's grip and swinging at Niko with his paintbrush.