On Master Xandred's Junk, the latest Nighlock, Epoxor, was smashed into the deck as Xandred went into a violent rage. He was furious to see his latest Nighlock return to the Netherworld without news of victory, or even any kind of noticeable progress. He hadn't even managed to injure any of the Rangers in his attack.
"You just came running back here like a coward?" Octoroo asked him, somewhat hypocritically since he was, indeed, a coward himself and rarely if ever took part in any real battles on Xandred's behalf.
"I'm sorry; they came at me too fast! I wasn't ready!" He stammered out in panic.
"Enough!" Xandred roared, drawing his sword. "I will not tolerate such cowardice. It is time for you to taste my steel!"
"Perhaps that would be a little...hasty." Serrator commented, placing his weapon on Xandred's and lowering it. Xandred just glared at him, unable to fathom why he would dare to defy him. Serrator just looked to Epoxor. "Why, I'm sure he has a larger plan at work."
Epoxor didn't know what was happening. All he knew was that one of Xandred's inner circle was offering him a way out, a stay of execution by indicating that he had some kind of grand scheme. Of course he didn't, he had basically just panicked, fired off some of his glue and ran for the hills before the Rangers could turn him into confetti. He nodded frantically.
"Yes, yes, of course I do, I..." He paused, struggling to think of what he could propose as a plan.
"Why, it's simple, but really quite ingenious in its simplicity." Serrator drawled as he turned to face Xandred, starting to piece together something of his own. This inept, bumbling excuse for a Nighlock could provide the distraction he needed to continue to set his own plans in motion. Xandred had kept him annoyingly close recently, and it had been a while since he had a chance to speak with Dekker. "He has glued two of the Rangers together, which means that now two of them are out of commission."
"Uh...yeah, exactly!" Epoxor stated.
"I'm sure that with his talents, he could render the others just as helpless." He suggested.
"Why don't you go back to the human world and glue some humans together?" Octoroo chipped in, suddenly realising that he could try and get some of the glory for himself. "That will draw the Rangers out for sure. Then you can capture all of them in your glue!"
"That was...uh...exactly what I was thinking!" Epoxor stated, getting back to his feet. He smiled as Xandred put away his sword, realising he had just escaped a rather gruesome end. "By gluing those two Rangers together, I created a sticky situation!"
Xandred, Octoroo and Serrator just looked at each other, falling into a deathly silence. Serrator eventually just sighed.
"Even I can't defend that." He groaned, turning and slapping Epoxor as hard as he could, sending him flying out of the Junk. "Just go and rehydrate, then go to the human realm and cause some misery! And if you make any more inane sticky puns, I'll destroy you myself!"
As Epoxor disappeared into a gap, Serrator got up.
"While you keep track of his successes, I have something I must attend to." He told them. "I will be back later."
As he left though, and Xandred went to his chambers to rest, Octoroo cast a critical eye after Serrator. He was getting sick of his sneaking about and his scheming. He didn't know how it would affect his own agenda, and any unknown factor was something that was unacceptable in his view.
"What are you up to?" Octoroo asked rhetorically, before heading off after Serrator, aiming to spy on him and see just what his little side project was.
Back on the farm, Serena was in the barn, doing some exercises to pass her time. Her mother had left her about fifteen feet of slack on the chain, meaning that she had some freedom to move around to continue exercising, but certainly nowhere near enough to mount any form of effective escape attempt.
She didn't have much else to do, and was trying to train as the time ticked slowly by, but she found herself unmotivated, and she was exercising half-heartedly at best. Since he had left, all she could think about was what her father had said to her.
Heading back to the corner that had been set up with her blanket, she sat down, folding her arms on her knees, and rested her head on her folded arms. She couldn't help turning over in her mind what her father had said to her.
He had called her selfish, accused her of not thinking about what others had done for her, and he had screamed at her for failing to consider what her actions would do to others.
She found it hard to remember a time she wasn't angry. She had been angry ever since Stephen had been murdered at Serrator's hands. It was all she could think about, consuming every inch of her being. It fuelled all of her actions since the day she watched him being carried out of the door with all of his belongings to vanish forever. It was something that just fuelled her rage.
She could recall her battle with Serrator. She remembered vividly the battle, every blow, every cut. She remembered the humiliating defeat he handed her, leaving her on her knees, waiting for the final blow that never came. He taunted her, telling her that he wouldn't even grant her the release of death, and leave her to live with the consequences of her actions.
It was then that her tears began anew. She could now remember clearly every thought, every feeling that she had then. She knew that sacrificing Cody was wrong. She knew her actions led to the entire city, thousands of people being placed in danger, but more than that, she remembered one thing. Disappointment, she was disappointed that he had let her live. She was so close to the end, so close, just one cut, and she would have been with Stephen again, then all the poison, all the rage, it would all have been over. More than that though, it would mean that she would no longer miss him. She looked up as the barn door opened, and her mother came in, and started clearing up the pieces of the broken bowl. She paused though as she looked and saw her daughter with tears streaming down her face.
"Mom?" She asked, her lip quivering. "I...I'm..."
She made her way over, grabbing her daughter as Serena broke down, wrapping her arms around her in return.
"I miss him mom, I miss him so much!" She sobbed between desperate gasps of air. "It hurts! It hurts so much!"
"I know it does." Her mother replied, holding her tightly as her daughter finally broke down, letting out all of the pain that had been driving her to self-destructive rage.
"I just want it to stop!" She whimpered. "Please, forgive me."
Serena just wept into her mother's shoulder as she held her daughter, beginning to tear up herself. She never wanted her girls to be in pain, she never wanted to see them cry, and she hated herself for what she had done to Serena, holding her against her will, but in the end, she was glad that finally, her daughter was able to let someone else take some of the strain.
Back at the Shiba House, the Rangers arrived back after the battle. Mike and Kevin stumbled and lurched in the door uncomfortably, bouncing off the walls as they went.
"Stop pulling me!" Mike moaned.
"Ow, my wrist doesn't bend that way!" Kevin retorted.
"That's my foot!" Mike screamed, beginning to hop. Mia had gone through before to put a couple of stools near each other, so they could sit down. Walking around seemed to be causing too many problems for them, and since they were stuck this way, she knew who would be left to clean up after them. Mike and Kevin both sat down and twisted the bindings into as comfortable a position as they could, leaving them looking straight at each other.
"If this wasn't such a problem, it would really be kind of funny." Emily commented.
"Screw that, it is kind of funny." Antonio chuckled. Mike and Kevin just glared at him. Jayden turned to Antonio.
"See if you can figure out what this stuff is made of." He told his boyfriend. "Maybe that'll give us some idea how to get it off."
"Maybe if we just destroy the Nighlock?" Emily suggested with a shrug. "It seems to work with every other Nighlock's curse or spell."
"We'll call that plan B." Jayden told her. "I'd really rather not face that thing again without a full team if we don't have to."
Antonio started to check it out, seeing if he could figure it out. He tried using a probe, but it wouldn't penetrate. Failing that, he tried to remove a sample with a scalpel, but again it wouldn't cut.
"Well, it's odd. It's kind of flexible, but it doesn't seem to stretch or cut." Antonio told them. "It's like some kind of glue or rubber, but it's not like anything I've seen."
"Maybe it's time we tried the big guns." Mia suggested, heading out of the room. She came back in a moment later, carrying a circular saw.
"Whoa!" Kevin and Mike chorused together.
"It's Ji's, its titanium edged." She told them. She handed it to Antonio. He just shrugged.
"It's worth a shot I guess." He stated. "Alright guys, hold still."
Not really having much option if they didn't want to lose a hand, they did as they were told, holding their hands clear to give him as much clearance as possible. Antonio plugged in the saw and started it up. He closed in as carefully as he could, but as he touched it to the bonds, he struggled. Some smoke and sparks shot out of the saw after a second or so, and before he could shut it off, the blade shot out, flying spinning across the room, before lodging in the wall a little way over a terrified Emily's head. The Yellow Ranger just gulped as she shifted away from it.
"Alright, bad idea." Antonio muttered. "Sorry Emily."
"Alright, so we know Spin Swords and saws don't work." Jayden sighed. "Maybe we can do something with symbol power?"
"It doesn't feel like there's any plant life in this." Mike commented.
"No water either." Kevin told them. "Not normal water anyway, my symbol power doesn't work on Sanzu water."
"There are no natural earth elements." Emily said, still quivering in terror from the experience of almost ending up with a permanent centre parting. She could feel from the corner where she was curled up on the couch. "I can't release it."
"My symbol power's no use here." Mia told them. "I could cool the air around them to make the bonds brittle, but not without causing serious frostbite."
"My symbol power's useless too." Antonio said with a shrug. "I guess that just leaves you Amigo!"
"NO!" Mike and Kevin screamed together. They could see where that would end up. Even presuming Jayden could burn or melt off the bonds, he couldn't do so without causing serious injury. Jayden shook his head.
"Don't worry, I won't risk it." He told them. "Alright, if we're out of options, I guess that means you two are on the bench."
"What?" Kevin and Mike screamed.
"No, you can't bench us!" Mike protested.
"We can do this!" Kevin added.
"Well, at least they agree on something." Mia responded, comforting Emily as she ran a hand over the top of her head once more, just to confirm that the saw blade had in fact missed her.
"Look, you guys are both great, but like this?" Jayden asked. "You need to be in synch for this to work."
"We can get in synch!" Mike stated. "Right Kev?"
"Right!" Kevin agreed. "We just need a little practice."
Jayden looked to Antonio, who just shrugged. None of them were particularly convinced this was a good idea. Jayden finally relented.
"Alright, we'll give it a shot." Jayden stated. "Everyone out to the training yard."
With that, they all went out to the training yard, Kevin and Mike getting up a little awkwardly as they went. Jayden just shook his head as he watched them.
"This isn't going to end well is it?" He asked Antonio.
"Well, we always have plan B." He reminded him as they left the room.
In another part of town, Cody and Spike were in the comic book store, looking through the selection of new releases. Spike was flicking absent-mindedly through some of the stuff on the shelves, not even registering what he was looking at. While he was into comic books, they were really more Cody's thing than his.
He didn't dislike Cody, in fact, he was one of his best friends, but he had to admit feeling a little less like he wanted to be around him now that he was going to be taking Vicky to the dance. He had accepted that he had left things too late to ask her himself. He had taken so long to figure out that he liked her, that Cody had already asked her. Now, all he could do was sit back and watch them, and try to find a way to get by. Cody let out a small laugh as Spike was lost in his thoughts.
"Wow, I didn't know that was to your taste." He sniggered. Spike furrowed his brows, before looking down at what he was leafing through. It was copies of My Little Pony. Spike recoiled away from them like they were on fire. "Dude, you seriously spaced out there."
"I guess I did." Spike muttered. "I guess I just don't see anything that appeals."
"Are you nuts?" Cody asked him. "Justice League, Ultimates, Black Panther...this section's a goldmine!"
"I guess I'm just not feeling it today." He muttered. "Can we just go?"
Just then, they heard a scream. Seeing a red glow, Epoxor appeared and threw over a stand. As people started to run away, Cody and Spike pulled back into cover.
"That thing..."
"Nighlock." Cody corrected him. "I heard it on the news, they're called Nighlock."
"What's it doing here?" Spike asked. "What could it want here?"
Cody looked up, seeing Epoxor starting to fling a strange goo at people. Some of them got stuck to each other, while others ended up stuck fast to the floor or the walls. He even grabbed one terrified sales rep and threw her up, gluing her to the roof.
"Alright, we need to get out of here!" Cody told him, realising this was way more than either of them could handle. Come on Spike, run!"
As they ran though, Epoxor launched a huge glob, taking them both down. As he ran off into the mall, Cody got up, but found his left leg held fast. He looked down, seeing it was stuck to Spike's right leg by Epoxor's adhesive.
"Oh crap." Spike muttered. Cody started pulling at it, finding that the binding wouldn't budge, not even an inch.
"Alright, there's nothing I can do." He commented. "It looks like we're stuck."
Spike just gave him a withering look.
"You did NOT just say that." Spike muttered. Cody just looked a little sheepish.
"Sorry." He replied, helping Spike up. "Come on. We need to...um..."
It was then that they realised they didn't really have a plan.
"Maybe my dad has something that can cut this stuff off." Cody suggested.
"Your dad's place is miles away!" Spike complained. "How do we get there like this?"
Cody just wrapped an arm around Spike's shoulders.
"Well, the sooner we start, the sooner we get there." He replied. "Come on, it'll be just like a three legged race."
Spike reluctantly put his arm around Cody's shoulders as they started off, stumbling at first, trying to find their pace.
In another part of the mall though, Mal was just heading to the food court. A couple of kids were with him, and thanked him as they all left. He went into the food court, and strolled up to his favourite stand.
"Welcome to the chicken shack, how may I serve you?" The girl behind the counter asked him in a vaguely familiar voice. The skip of her cap was pulled down, covering a large part of her face. He looked to the menus.
"Alright, I'll have two pieces of the extra spicy, with coleslaw and..." He looked to her, and saw she wasn't looking at him, concentrating on the till. It was then that he noticed something was familiar about the little of her face he could see, and he squinted. He caught sight of her name badge. "Melanie?"
"Would you like a drink with that?" She asked, gulping as she heard him say her name. He shifted to see her better, and could see that it was indeed her; it was Melanie, the head cheerleader, the girl that had been dating Spike up until about two months ago. She was the ringleader of the girls that tormented most of the school. To see her here, it was something he never expected.
"Melanie, what are you doing here?" He asked her. She just sighed and looked up.
"I'm performing brain surgery, what does it look like?" She snapped sarcastically. She started to shift a little nervously, pulling her hat down again. "I work here."
"Why?" He asked her. "You're in with the rest of the rich crowd! Your house is only a few blocks from Spike's!"
"Look, do you want this damn meal or not!" She yelled.
"Melanie!" The supervisor called over. As she turned towards him, she started to grovel; it was something Mal had never seen from her before.
"Mr. Cormier, I'm sorry!" She pleaded. "I know..."
He was just waved her towards him, and from the way he looked at her, Mal could tell that she was in serious trouble. He doubted employees were allowed to go off at customers like that. Just then, he heard something behind him, and turned around to see Epoxor attacking some of the food court customers. Before he could run though, it fired a glob of its glue at him, launching him over the counter. As he started to come around though, he felt something around his neck. He started to sit up, but was stopped from doing so, like it was attached to something. He could hear a groan.
"Get off me would you?" Melanie muttered. As he tried to roll off, he found it awkward. He only went so far. He could hear her making kind of a gargling sound. It was then that he saw the reflection in a refrigerator. He and Melanie were held together, back-to-back, by the neck.
"Melanie, grab my arm." He told her. He reached back; taking her arm and helping her sit up with him. She sighed.
"Alright, what is this thing?" She complained, grabbing the thing around her neck. "I can't...I can't get it off!"
"I can't either." Mal told her, pointing to the refrigerator. Melanie looked to the reflection and rolled her eyes.
"Great." She muttered as her co-workers and everyone that could ran away. "This is just great."
"Hey, you aren't exactly the first person I'd choose to spend time with either." Mal snorted in response. "But for now, I guess we're stuck here!"
"Fan-bloody-tastic." She sneered.
They both crossed their arms defiantly, unable to go anywhere, their only hope being that someone would come and release them eventually.