IV. Power Rangers In Retrograde - Mystic Force – Lovey Force

(Based from summaries from Ranger Central)

Emerging from the shadows the Clawbster surprises a man leaving work, with but a blast of energy from his eyes the poor victim is turned to stone, just the latest in a line of such victims of the last few days.

At the Rock Porium we find Madison filming Chip as he cavorts about, price gun in hand.

"Fear not loyal costumers Count Discount, Defender of the Bargain Bin is here to save you!"

"Wait! Wait!" Xander comments snatching the price gun from Chip as he begins marking price stickers all over Chip, "Here, here, here, annnnnd one here." he says with a final sticker on Chip's forehead, "Now you really are Count Discount!"

Madison and Chip chuckle before Maddie moves to corner Nick in Toby's office.

"Wow you just can't catch a break," Toby places a hand on Nick's shoulder sympathetically.

Slimegirl Nick sighs, before noting the camera, "Maddie get out of here."

She lowers the camera. "S-Sorry."

Toby, "Relax Nick she was just doing one of her bits."

Nick sighs, "I know its just…Look Maddie I'm sorry alright."

She nods, "I should have announced myself I just didn't want to interrupt your meting." She looks worried over to Toby, "You not going to Fire Nikki over what some monster did?"

Toby smiles shaking his head emphatically, "Of course not."

Nick and Maddie give a relived sigh.

"Just need to figure out what you can do that won't melt a hole in the product...or walls."

"Walls that's it!" Chip dances in, "She can paint the walls! The exterior is always in need of a good coat but we're always so busy here."

"I can give her a lift in my truck, she can sit in the bed, and we go get paint together," Vida adds as she enters.

"Great idea team!" Toby smiles, "Vida, Nick get to it. I'll call ahead and get the supplies preordered you just have to go in and pick them up."

"Okay…" Nick says unsurly.

"There has to be a monster among our ranks who can beat those damn Rangers!" Morticon fumes.

"I can defeat the Rangers!" a red monster covered in spikes steps out, pushing Hidiacs aside, "Manticore the Mighty."

Morticon scoffs, "The Mighty Dancing Fool, ha."

"My powers of dance will destroy the human world and make the rangers putty in my hands just you watch!"

Morticon looks to Koragg, "Give this fool a chance, I'll enjoy watching him fail!"

Koragg huffs.

"You okay back there Nikki, the wind not too much?"

"It's fine," The muted voice of Nick calls back causing Vida some concern, Glancing back she doesn't see Nick through the rear window and quickly pulls over, eyes wide as she gets out running around to the back looking for slime trails.

Nick rises up from the cab with a confused look, "Get a flat?"

"Your voice was soft though you might have fallen off."

"No the wind did knock my head off but I caught it...and eventually just sort of melting into a half puddle to get away from it, once I was below the trunk level I was fine."

Vida grouses, "I should have though of the wind, brought the top."

"It's alright, really you guys don't need to baby me."

"No one's babying you Nick your in a strange place physically and we don't want you hurt."

"That's babying me!" she exclaims frustrated, "if I need help I can ask, I'm an adult jut like you not your little sister you have to protect!"

"Nick...I'm sorry."

"Just drive."

Vida a bit flustered nods and returns to the cab, "O-Okay."

Rootcore

Udonna is watching a replay of the previous battles, notable the one with Nick turning into the 'Training Ranger.'

"That was pretty cool," Clare smiles as she waves around a training Morpher, "Hey Udonna could you teach me the spell code for that…"

Udonna looks to her apprentice with unease, "There isn't one...what Nick did should be impossible."

Clare just laughs it off, "We're witches we do the impossible everyday, don't be jealous just because she discovered a spell code you don't know about."

"You might be right about that Clare," Udonna smile warmly, "Besides I should be looking into other issues about young Nicole."

"Like?" Clare looks over curiously.

"Like why she seems to attract transformation magic, or her hesitation to be a Ranger."

"Can the crystal ball show you a Ranger's past?" Clare says confused.

Udonna looks thoughtful.

Vida slows to a stop, eyes wide, the store they were looking for was just ahead but it looked more like a concert, music was playing, people were dancing, they looked exhausted, ready to drop but were still dancing.

"V?" Nick spoke up as she bubbled to full height, only to turn and see Vida, nearly transfixed exit the cab and start to dance toward the main group.

Sliding over to V she tried to pull her away as he body rippled unpleasantly, Vida hissing as Nick's acidic hand breaks her out of the trance. "Owch!"

"S-Sorry, I should have..."

Vida was already tapping her foot so she quickly ran back to her truck dragging Nick along.

"What's the panic?"

Vida jams her fist into Nick's body as she starts to tap the wheel and speed toward a tree.

"Vida! Vida! Viiiiiiiida!"

"Rangers there's trouble at the hardware store," Udonna warns the other Rangers.

Sharing a look Xander is the first to call out, "Sorry Toby we'll be right back something came up..."

Chip ducks in, "Oh and don't go to the hardware store."

Toby looks confused, "What? Who? Hey! Where are you going!?"

But the Rangers are already gone.

Nick picks herself up off the grass, her uniform now spread across the landscape as her slim coleuses. She looks around nervously for Vida and hears a soft groan. Rushing over she finds Vida not far from her truck, which his stuck half inside a tree, the other half nowhere to be seen but Nick can guess it was back at the hardware store as there's no debris or damage.

"That was a stupid idea V."

Vida smiles as Blecker helps her to her feet, "It worked though."

Nick gives a half lidded smirk and points to the truck, "Eh 50% of the way."

"MY TRUCK!"

"Relax, there's no debris so its probably just stuck between the two trees," Blecker jabs Vida softly "Besides it was your driving that got us here!"

"We need to go back and beat that monster!"

"What monster?" Nick says confused.

"The one that making everyone dance!"

Nick rolls her eyes, "Right cause that's your job, jealous much."

"No you don't understand, he's making them dance, if not for your acid I would have joined them…and...and I don't think I'd even stop if I was dead."

Nick shivers, she only got a glance but the people dancing did look exhausted…

"But how?"

Vida smiles, "We out dance him."

Udonna stares at her crystal ball intently, an image flashing across its surface of a younger Nick in morning, and older woman whispering into his ear before turning into some kind of monster and passing on. She had stopped there. There was a limit to what you should used magic for and she had crossed it. She had to tell Nick.

"Vida, Nicole...the other Rangers..."

"We know!" Vida shouts back into her Morpher, "Thanks to Nikki I escaped but don't send the other Rangers there! We have a plan!"

"We're here Udonna!" Green announces over a split signal, "Now to stop the mon..."

"Ranger's don't!" The signal cuts off both ways as the crystal ball is filled with dark mist.

"This isn't working," Nick grouses as Vida helps pick her up off the grass, "I'm just not as athletic as you are."

"You need to be, we need to be able to out style that monster."

"A couple weeks ago I was a 250 overweight man, I may have lost some pounds joining this team, along with my man hood but I'm still not close to you guys!" Nick shouts frustrated. "That is when I'm not turning into a centaur or a slime monster"

Vida hugs her friend, ignoring the sizzling of her clothes.

"I can't even touch any one without burning them!" Nick starts to cry tears of green acid before running off. "I'm useless!"

"Nick wait!" Vida tries to run after only to find her leg snared by a coil of water and turns to see, "Maddie?"

The sisters embrace.

"What are you doing here?"

"When the boys and I got to the hardware store we started to fall under it's spell, I tried to drag the boys off but they got pulled under its influence...I saw you and Nick weren't there so I tried to find you."

"But how did you resist?"

Maddie looks away ashamed, "I was recording it with my camera," she pips up defensively "At first I just saw a huge moss pit and I couldn't help up, guess I was more focused on filming then the spell and that let me escape it."

Vida smiles, "Your camera may have just saved us all, I think between the 3 of us we might just pull this off."

Maddie tilts her head confused, "Pull what off."

"The Great Dance off!" Vida smiles, "Now come on we have to find Nikki!"

Nick finally stops running as she starts to come apart collapsing into an indistinct puddle, a puddle that starts to cry, "Useless."

"Only of you give up," Alexis wanders out from a crop of trees and play with the puddle with a stick, watching it burn and dissolve into the mass as she absently tosses rocks, berry, anything really into the puddle as she takes a seat next to it.

"Who...what are you,"Nick asks? "I mean what village, what species?" she sighs "I must really ruin the image you have for the Mystic Force, an inert puddle of acid that can't even safe her town."

"You're only human,"Alexis smiles, "we all have our limits."

"Human, ha! Look at me!"

Before Alexis can respond a group of Hidiacs surround them, without thinking Nick morphs taking back her human form as the Training Ranger but her movements are sluggish, wide, telegraphed. She's exhausted and starving.

"I am," Alexis smiles, "Even though your body is at its limit you saw someone in trouble and without a second thought leaped into battle."

"I mean, it's my job as a Ranger, and Guardian of the Forest, and Briarwood." Nick is knocked down, out of her morph and splatters into a puddle. Groaning as she tries to pull herself together.

"Come on body, come ooooooon."

Alexis smiles, ducking and weaving the Hidiacs attacks countering with palm strikes and disarming blows before she takes out a Mystic Morpher, "This time let me protect you."

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

Catching the transformation Blue and Pink's own fight with their own Hidiacs rolls into the area with Nick, the puddle still trying to pull herself together just as they see Alexis transform.

"You! Your the Other Red Ranger!" the sisters say together.

Rolling into the fight, and the team, she aids in driving back the unified Hidiac horde who just seem to keep coming.

"Come on," Nick bubbles, "Pull it together man, your friends need your help."

Worn out, exhausted, hungry, Nick tries to transform again hopping it will reunify her body. But instead something else happens.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

Suddenly the Hidiacs are assaulted by an army of….small Rangers, some bigger then others, one about he size of a child, the others action figure or doll size, all training silver, join the fight. All becoming small tornadoes. With the help of the other Rangers the Hidiacs are defeated but Nick explodes into even more puddles and lies inert.

Alex powers down and smiles summoning with her own Mystic Morpher a large jar, "Come on girls lets collect our friend she deserves a rest."

Without and objection Vida and Madison nod.

"Udonna! Udonna!" Madison charges into Rootcore with the Nick jar in her arms.

Udonna beacons her over to a pot, Vida and Alexis right behind, "Pour her in, this was going to be lunch but I think Nicole needs the nutrients more."

Madison nods and nearly drops the jar as she fumbles to pour all of Nick into the cauldron…

"Nothing happening."

"Give her time," Alexis and Udonna say together.

"We can't wait, the others..." Vida protests.

"Are in more danger if you run in half cocked," Alexis interrupts Udonna before she can speak.

Udonna now circling the new girl, curiously, "Red's never been a woman before...let alone two in the same age."

Alexis smiles knowingly, "Never?"

"Not in the Mystic Force," Udonna shakes her head confidently.

Alexis smiles, "Don't worry, you could say I'm something of an oddity...think of me as a predecessor...or successor. In any case I wasn't born in this Era, but I'm here now and want to help."

Udonna nods as if those cryptic words made total sense, Madison and Vida just gather around the cauldron watching.

"Let me help speed things along," Alexis smiles as she plucks a hair from her head along with Madison and Vida, braiding them as the girls glare at her.

"Hey!"

"Trust me!"

"Why should we trust you, we don't know you!" Vida protests.

"She helped protect Nikki, that's a pretty good judge of character right there."

Vida reluctantly agrees with her sister as Alexis moves around Rootcore collecting ingredients here and there.

"Getting pretty tired," Green notes as he keep dancing, even as a couple people outright collapse.

"Need to get out of here, but can't stop dancing..." Yellow groans as a couple cars pull up, and more people, notably news staff are enthralled. "Look out about letting your transformation fall the news just got involved."

Green groans, "Just great."

As Yellow dances over trying to pick up the exhausted people and dance them over to a bench to rest Green dances over to the news, putting a hand over the microphone.

"No Audio. We don't want this going viral."

"A Power Ranger! Quick give me the scoop."

Green smarmy's, "Should be pretty obvious mate, evil monster, magical dance. Look we don't need more victims but we need to tell people to stay away."

"How do we do that, live captions are done back at the studio!"

"Oh that's easy," Yellow dances over with a dramatic spin and takes out his Mystic Morpher, "Text them the warning, then roll camera."

The anchor woman nods and starts texting, even as the two move deeper into the crowd, Green and Yellow doing their best to keep them at the edge.

Toby hurries about dealing with customers since his entire staff left, fuming internally, when the news comes over his radio, "Local hardware store is home to powerful Pied Piper monster, authorities are asking all citizens to steer clear."

Toby pauses, turning up the radio as it goes into more details, his mind reflecting back to Chip warning, 'How did he know?'

Rock music cuts through the flutes and drums of the monster as a stage appears as if by magic, and on that stage is 4 rangers, Blue, Pink, Silver, and Red, but their suits are different flaring skirts, a large bow, visible hair and more of a mask them a helmet making them look more like a team of magical girls then Rangers.

"Po~wer Rangers," they start to sing. "Mystic Force!"

The four struggle to stay standing, let alone dancing and singing, even as the crowd turn their way, and their dancing slows.

"No one interrupts my show!" Manticore howls as he smashes one of the Hidiacs drummers making him fall over and break the melody, further strengthening the Rangers performance as the crowd start to turn several sitting down to rest, still tapping their feet to the Rangers' music.

Manticore storm over and starts to dance in front of the Rangers, Blue dropping to her knees but Red and Silver help her back up, "Your energy will be mine!"

"Our energy is only going one place, to all the civilians you robbed it from!" Silver exclaims, fist balled as she smash Manticore hard across the face, "And you call yourself a musician."

"Nikki," Vida whispers trying to pull her back but Nick is boiling over.

Manticore holds his face where he was slapped as the other three keep dancing, "Why you little..."

"Girl? Was that it! Id rather been a little girl then an ally of a monster like you."

She turns Manticore head around to face the audience he drained, "They came for your music but look at them, they can barely stan..."

Manticore smiles, "That was the plan!"

Tears stream down the side of her mask, "You're heartless! You have great talent and you waste it with torture."

Green and Yellow stagger over to Silver trying to pull her away but are exhausted themselves and can barely make it behind the stage to let their morph fall and for them to collapse onto the ground.

Manticore pauses, "Y-You really think I have talent?"

Before Nick can respond Necrolai flies in knocking all four ranges down, Nicole in particular demorphing from all the stress her body, now human again, has endured, she lies face down, completely broken.

"Forget these little girls, Manticore you have a job to do!"

Manticore pauses, then looks back to the people who are too exhausted to run, "You're right."

Madison, guarding her face with her cape whispers softly, "No..."

Vida punches the stage, hiding her own face, "All that practice for nothing..."

Only Alexis stands up unbidden and watches, ready to fight.

The people begin to stand, and then run, Necrolai scoffs, "W-What are you doing?"

"Returning the energy I stole."

"W-Why?"

Manticore smiles and pulls Nick to her feet, "Because that's not what music is about, is it Silver Ranger."

She smiles collapsing into his arms.

Necrolai hisses and claws at Nick's back laving nasty marks.

"Get her to a healer," Manticore growls as he faces Necrolai, "You're mine!"

"You're not alone!" The White Ranger arrives in a flurry of snow, along with the Red Ranger/Phineas.

In another whirlwind of snow the Rangers are gone, along with the stage leaving Phineas and Manticore to fight side by side against Necrolai. The battle begins in earnest, The Red Ranger even blasting off one of Necrolai's arms but she just laughs, regrowing a new one.

"I am queen of the Vampires, Immortal, unbeatable and you think a flesh wound like that would stop m-"

Manticore grabs her other arms and smashes her face first into the ground, "No but we can make you hurt!"

Necrolai groans as the Red Ranger renews his assault with his sword. The fight going back and forth, and while most of the people have fled the Reporter is now filming, with full audio.

"When all seemed lost the monster at the root of the problem switches sides after an impassioned speech from the Silver Ranger. Now a second Red Ranger is helping him fight the forces of darkness."

"Eric?" Wes Collins stares at the screen as he looks over to his partner leading the Silver Guardians, "Did you hear that?"

Eric just smirks, "Bout time a Ranger team got a second Red Ranger."

"But the Silver Ranger, that's just a really weird coincidence. A Silver Ranger is helped by a Red Ranger double. It kinda sounds like us."

"Not every Silver ranger is inspired by the Silver Guardians Wes," Eric smirks.

"I know just thought it kind of funny...Besides the Silver Ranger kinda reminds me of Lightspeed Rescue for some reason."

"It's the helmet," Eric laughs.

Necrolai falls back, her Hidiacs defeated and the two warrior closing in on her. "You win this round, but Morticon will not take this betrayal well Manticore! Count your days!" She says before flying off.

"I really don't know how to say sorry enough, I promise I'll stay here and just practice my dancing."

Nick sighs, "Yeah well you were a real jerk so it's going to take some work to earn back the city's trust."

"I know! I'll work hard!"

Chip whispers to Maddie, "He's a monster not like he'll ever be able to just go back into town."

"Shhhhhhh."

"I'm more curious about you," Xander smiles looking Alexis in the eyes, "You got a place to stay? What's your story? Have any other Ranger friends?"

Alexis flusters a moment and takes Xander's hand, "I'm flatered but my work comes first."

"Which is?" Vida asks conspiratorially.

As Alexis makes small talk Udonna takes Nick off to the side, "Nicole."

She sighs, "It's just Nick, not Nikki, not Nicole, just Nick, Nikolai if you want to be formal, or Blecker. Don't know why but a lot of my friends just call me Blecker, Not Mr. Blecker just Blecker."

"I'm sorry Nick," Udonna says softly, "I have a lot to apologize for it seems."

Nick looks to her uneasily, "What did you do."

Udonna leads Nick to the crystal ball and replays the scene "The Crystal ball can view the present...and the past...I was curious about you..."

Nick scowls, "So you decided instead of asking me you'd just spy on my history!"

"I made a mistake, as soon as I saw this I stopped, its why I wanted to talk to you, to ask forgiveness."

"Who's the lady?" Xander muses.

"Is that your..."

"Oh Nikki I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," She growls trying to cover the crystal ball but its already too late as they see his mother transform before passing away.

"Woah!"

"Dude!"

"Woah!"

"Cool!"

Alexis pus a comforting hand on Nick shoulder, "You want to talk about it?"

Nick huffs and starts to storm off, shifting into a similar form as her mother, "What' there to talk about! I'm not human! I'm as much a monster as Manticore here! Now leave me alone!"

"Nick!" Manticore runs after, "Wait!"