Code Busters

Clare smiled to herself, stooping down to collect berries and herbs for several potions that Udonna needed. The woods were serene and silent except for the occasional chirping of the birds, just like always… just like she thought it would be, unlike Udonna who was anxious about letting her go out of Rootcore all by herself.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, a strong gust of wind.

"Clare, look out!" A voice cried out and she ducked right in time as the rangers flew above her in their Mystic Racers.

"Sorry, Clare!" Nick shouted, apologising from above before turning to Vida. "Come on Pinky, keep up!"

"No one calls me Pinky!" Vida growled.

"Go get him V!" Xander cheered as the pink witch chased after him, before overtaking him.

"Who's in the lead now, Nicky boy?" She teased him.

"That'd be me!" Chip yelled as he sped past her.

Xander, Madison and Neil brought up the rear, Madison and Neil firmly holding on to their racers and taking occasional glances at the forest beneath them, careful not to fall while Xander hovered nearby them, not feeling enthusiastic enough to chase the other three.

"Dismount!" Nick yelled as all of them reached above Rootcore. They leapt off their racers, landing gracefully on their feet, before demorphing.

"You do know, that could have killed us if we weren't morphed." Neil noted. Madison nodded hurriedly.

"Don't be so morbid, you guys!" Xander teased.

"Yeah, we are freaking superheroes!" Vida exclaimed, still feeling the rush of the chase. "Own it, guys!"

"We will, the day you embrace pink." Neil muttered underneath his breath so that only Madison could hear, who giggled.

"Very good, rangers." Udonna walked over to them with a beaming smile. "That's enough mystic racer training for today."

Vida and Chip looked at each other with dismayed expressions. "Not fair! Oh, come on, just one more lap around the forest?"

"Yeah, I was just getting warmed up!" Vida agreed. "I wanna see what this bad boy can do!"

"I am afraid not." Udonna told them firmly. "It's time for elementary incantations!"

Everyone gave disparaging sounds except for Madison and Neil.

"Ugh, boring!" Xander moaned.

"Hey, I think that sounds kinda interesting." Madison frowned at others.

"Me too!" Neil agreed.

"Mate, it's studying!" Xander protested.

"But studying magic!" The white wizard said.

"Neil, studying magic is still studying." Nick reminded him sourly. "I thought I was done with memorising once I graduated high school."

"Casting spells without knowing proper incantations can be dangerous." Udonna warned them. "Not to mention, the monsters you face are masters of dark magic having centuries of expertise while you six are just starting out on this path."

"About that, why choose us to be rangers instead of people of this realm who have known about magic since forever?" Neil asked. "Not that I am not happy that we are superheroes, but –"

"It is a valid question, one that I owe you all answers." The elderly witch agreed gravely, turning to enter Rootcore.

They followed her inside.

"Sit." She said as the rangers took seats around the small circular table where Udonna kept her crystal ball, which clouded before showing visions of the past.

"Since the dawn of time, the mystic realm has been a sanctuary for those who seek shelter from danger and persecution. From all over the planet, magic users escaped to our realm, especially during the time you humans called "Salem Witch Trials". And to protect those who seek our refuge in our home, there were warriors-"

"Power Rangers?" Chip piped up.

"No Chip. Our protectors have existed since before our realm got access to the secrets of the Morphin Grid." Udonna told him, smiling lightly. "The warriors called themselves the Mystic Force, an alliance of magic users and magical creatures who sought to protect one another from forces of evil."

"Wait. I thought Mystic Force was just the name of our team? Like you know, how every ranger team has a team designation like Dino Thunder and Ninja Storm?" Neil asked.

"Oh no, young wizard. Mystic Force is much greater than just a single team." Udonna told them proudly. "It was once a legion of warriors."

The crystal ball showed armies of mystic warriors, both human and non-human fight against demons and monsters.

"But that all changed when the Master first rose thousands of years ago. He decimated our armies, slaughtered our knights and stripped our most powerful allies of their magic with just a snap of his fingers. His power was absolute and his darkness corrupted the realm, creating demons and creatures of the night."

Then, an image of three figures, each covered from head to toe in robes, standing before a woman appeared.

"Then powerful beings called the Tribunal of Magic imbued a brave witch with all the good magic in the universe… a power known to one and all as the White Light."

The woman transformed into a powerful witch with white hair and silver robes.

"She was the first Mystic Mother, leader of the light. She shared her power with her chosen thirteen champions, giving each of them dominion over different elements- fire, water, earth, forest, air, sun, moon, frost, metal, lightning, thunder, shadows, and spirits. They were the first Mystic Force rangers. With their combined power, they sealed the Master in the Underworld. They passed on their powers through the wands you wield now."

"Thirteen…" Madison mused. "There are only six of us."

Udonna sighed. "The wielder of the spirits, the purple mage betrayed us to the Master. He is the one you now know as Koragg the knight Wolf."

"Koragg is thousands of years old?" Chip asked. "He doesn't look older than… Well, we never saw his face so yeah, we don't know."

"What about the others?" Nick asked.

"The wielder of the other wands as well as the wands themselves were lost in the last war against the forces of underworld twenty years ago." She said morosely. "As for your predecessors, only the blue, pink and yellow mystics survived aside from me."

"I am sorry." Madison said to her. The others nodded empathically.

"But there must be others who are better at magic than us, right? What about those of the Mystic Realm?" Neil pressed.

"There were. On the edge of the Cimmerian Forest, there is an academy called the Mystic Academy. I used to teach there along with Gale and Amaya, the former pink and blue mystics and the headmistress was none other than the current Mystic Mother herself. Promising magic users from all the realms train there to be the next generation of Mystic Force."

"Ooh, it's like Hogwarts!" Chip perked up. "I wanna go there!"

"I am afraid that it's not possible anymore. The Academy was the first place the forces of darkness attacked after breaking free." Udonna sighed. "The Mystic Mother cast a powerful spell, sending myself, Clare, Xenotome and the mystic wands to Rootcore moments before the entire academy vanished along with everyone in it."

"What? It's destroyed!" Chip asked shocked.

"Yes." Udonna answered. "As it stands, we are the last of the Mystic Force and the only chance both our worlds has of stopping the darkness."

"That's heavy!" Nick said downcast. "If the bad guys took out an entire school of warriors, what chance do we have?"

"Xenotome foretold five from the magical realm becoming the next Mystic Force." The white witch said simply. "I never placed much faith on prophecies before, but as it stands, it's the only hope we have now."

As the severity of the situation dawned on them, the rangers looked at each other.

"Do not worry, rangers." The white witch said. "Destiny led you at this junction for a reason and I have every faith that we will prevail."

After a lesson of the basics of spellcasting, Xander slumped his head on top of his textbook.

"Time for a break then." Udonna said, bemused. "Fifteen minutes and then, we will go ahead to actually casting spells."

"Hey Udonna, I was thinking. The Mystic Racers are amazing but now that we are Power Rangers, don't we get lots of other cool stuff too?"

"Aw yeah, I mean no one's more excited than me to finally get to wear a cape!" Chip joined her.

"Finally?" Xander perked his eyebrow. "If I remember, you used to come to school with a pillowcase pinned to your back."

"Yeah, that was last year, mate…" The others laughed as Chip blushed.

"Well anyway, Vida's right! We are official superheroes now." Chip said quickly. "Where's the rest of the vehicles, weapons and gadgets that we get?"

"The Xenotome has the spell codes that will give you more power." Udonna told them.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's bust it open, load the codes and get our booty!" Vida said excited.

"Aye, Captain Rocca!" Chip saluted and the others looked at him. "What? She sounded like a pirate and I just went along with it."

The others cackled while Udonna shook her head fondly.

"It does not work that way Vida. As you perform heroic deeds and grow as rangers, the Xenotome will reveal the spell codes, when the time is right." The sorceress told them bemused.

Vida sighed but then she caught Chip's eye and both of them grinned conspiratorially at each other. Madison, and Neil exchanged knowing glances and exasperated sighs on seeing them.

"They are up to something, aren't they?" Madison whispered to them.

"Yupp." Neil replied.

"And we can't stop them, can we?"

"Nope."

"Hey guys, there's something we need to do. We'll catch up with you guys later." Vida said as she and Chip rushed out of Rootcore.

"There they go." Madison shook her head.

"Man… look at all these incantations!" Xander said, looking down at the book he was holding. "How is my brain supposed to fit in all this information?"

"Why don't you let me help you with that?" Madison pointed her morpher at him. "Cranior magnus!"

A jet of blue light hit Xander and his head enlarged. Maddie and Nick burst out laughing at that.

"Now you have lot more room!"

"And I thought he had a big head before!" Nick snickered.

"Wait. Is this safe?" Neil asked, narrowing his eyes. "For all we know, this can cause a medical emergency."

"Yeah, I checked everything." Madison said, a little offended that he thought she would cast a spell without checking do's and don't's. "The spell is basically a glamour spell. His head has not actually enlarged. It just looks like it has."

"Very funny…" Xander told them with a tight smile. "Madison, if you wouldn't mind…"

The blue mystic nodded, waving her morpher and dispelling the glamour, reversing Xander's head to it's previous form.

Neil smiled at the green mystic.

A few hours later, Neil nudged Madison awake as she slumped her head against her book.

"Tired of studying?" he asked her.

"You wish!" She shot back. "I was drowsy because I couldn't sleep properly last night."

"Nightmares?" His voice dropped.

Madison nodded.

"I got them too. It was kind of a memory of the time the hidiacs were thrashing us, except the belief in magic thing didn't work." He said. "But that's all it was. A nightmare. We are superheroes now, Maddie."

"I know. It's just scary. Those things look ugly."

"Uglier than frogs?"

"Ugh. Why did you need to bring that up. Yes but don't hold me to that the next time Vida decides to throw a frog at me."

"Guys, I'm starving!" Nick interrupted them. "Let's call it a day!"

"Yeah." Xander agreed. "Had enough studying for today."

Madison and Neil nodded. After returning their books to the shelves they took them from, they headed out.

They took a shortcut by passing through a tree and exiting in the middle of the city, near the malls.

"Let's call the others." Xander said.

"Already texted them." Madison said, keeping her phone back in her pocket. "They left me on read."

"What do you think they are doing? They disappeared on us the whole day." Nick noted.

"I don't know but when my sister gets that crazy look in her eyes, it usually means trouble."

Just then, a black blur whooshed past them, landing in front of them to reveal a female bat humanoid. Black leathery wings extended from her back and two large fangs hung out from her mouth.

Neil's eyes widened. There was no mistaking what this creature was. She was a vampire!

"I'll show you trouble!" She cackled.

"Who are you?" Nick asked.

"I am Necrolai, dark mistress of the Underworld."

Xander stepped forwards. "I will handle this one."

"Seriously, Xander. Not again!" Neil muttered.

"Hi. Xander Bly." He introduced. "Whatever's the problem here, I'm sure we can just talk this one out."

"You wish!" Necrolai snarled, firing a blast of dark energy at him, forcing him backwards. Neil caught him before he fell.

"Not big on conversations, I see."

"Or maybe it's time to accept that Plan Xander doesn't work?" Madison told him as they reached for their morphers.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

As they transformed, Neil and Nick charged at Necrolai with their magi staffs in sword mode.

The vampire queen dodged their attacks and grabbed their arms, shoving them to the ground. She bared her fangs at them, only to be splashed by a wave of water in the face. She turned to glare at the blue mystic who had her wand pointed at her.

Necrolai turned towards her, just as vines shot out from the pavement, intwining around her legs and holding her in place.

As she broke free from the vines, she was immediately hit with an arc of fire followed by crystallised shards of ice, which forced her back.

"Enough games!" She slammed her foot on the ground and a wave of black energy radiated out, throwing the rangers backwards.

Her wings flapped open and Necrolai took to the skies, blasting the rangers with dark energy before swooping down towards them.

"Look out!" Nick yelled, barely dodging another blast.

Necrolai cackled, circling around them.

"Let's go for a ride!" Necrolai sneered, lunging at them and grabbing hold of all four of them effortlessly.

They struggled against her hold as she continued to were now out of the city and in the woods, deep in the mystic realm.

"Hungry!" A loud voice said as they saw a giant monster, the size of mountains, nearby.

"Patience, Mucor!" The vampire queen soothed. "Dinner is on the way!"

"Let us go!" Nick demanded. Madison gasped in horror seeing the monster.

"Good Riddance!" Necrolai cackled, as they hovered Mucor. The slimy beast opened their mouth.

"No!" Neil yelled, right as Necrolai let go of them and they plunged right into the belly of the beast.

Thankfully their suits protected them as they swam through the digestive juices of Mucor's belly.

Nick pointed his morpher at the velvety walls, shooting a stream of fire, which was had no effect and was quickly put out.

"Ew!" Madison squealed, grabbing Neil's hands, who wasn't faring any better.

Xander winced beside him as they waded through the slimy green fluids.

"This is a nightmare!" He groaned.

"I have an idea! Can't we use one of those transportation spells to get out of here?" Neil asked.

"Yeah, let me remember one. I know I studied them." Madison tapped her helmet, trying to recollect the spell. "Got it!"

"Noita trop elet afas!" She said, pointing her staff. Blue light streamed out of her staff and started to whirl in a circular motion. Runes and symbols started to appear and formed a spell circle, before becoming a portal.

"You did it!" Nick said happily.

"Yeah!" Madison panted, slacking against the white ranger's arm. "I feel exhausted though."

Neil held her tightly as the four of them waded towards the portal only for purple lightning to strike the portal, causing it to close.

"NO!" Madison yelled.

"What happened?" Xander looked around bewildered.

"Guys, look." Nick pointed at the stomach walls where purple runes flashed at them.

"These are dark runes." Neil said, remembering what he had read earlier. "It will cancel any spell we have of getting out of here."

"So, we are stuck here?" Madison asked tearfully.

"No we will get out of here." Xander promised them earnestly.

"How?" Nick asked dryly.

"Chip and Vida." Madison said. "They will save us."

Just then, their morphers began to beep.

"Speak of the devil!" Xander smirked, answering it quickly.

"Guys, this is Chip, where are you?"

"We are inside the belly of the beast." Nick told them. "You two need to be careful. I think he has room for seconds."

Xander nodded at them as the call ended. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound and the rangers noticed that the fluids were rising and them along with them.

"Hang on, guys!" Xander told them, grabbing hold of Neil and Madison as they were thrown outside the monster, landing on the ground outside.

Neil landed on top of Xander and was grateful that he was wearing a helmet because he was blushing furiously.

"Sorry." He mumbled, rolling away from him and sitting up.

"Don't be." Xander said, pulling himself in a sitting position.

They stared at each other and he supposed it could have been mildly romantic if they weren't covered in slime from the monster's belly or wearing coloured spandex.

"All right, it worked!" Vida said, hurrying over to them and both turned away instantly.

"Ew!" Madison complained, looking at the green slime covering all of them.

"I'm covered in monster muck!" Nick grimaced, wiping the slime from his helmet and shrugging it of his arms.

"I can help with that!" Vida said and raising her staff and a strong gust of wind hit them, wiping the slime off their suits.

"Look at Chip!" Neil pointed at the skies. They looked as the yellow ranger stood on top of his mystic racer, transformed his staff into a crossbow, shooting the monster with bolts of lightning. The monster grumbled, yelling as they collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"That was awesome!" Neil yelled, running over to high five his friend as he landed beside them.

"Nice work!" Xander looked at him appraisingly.

"Great job, Chip!" Nick told him, clapping his shoulder.

"Yeah, you two saved us!" Madison said, hugging her sister.

"Just doing our job, right V?" Chip said, turning towards the pink ranger.

"All in a day's work!" She agreed.

Suddenly, the ground shook and the monster arose once again.

"I'm no afraid of him!" Chip swore stubbornly.

"Say that after you were in his disgusting belly, mate!" Xander snorted. "Come on rangers!"

"Strong as a Tree, Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Serene as the snow, White Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the wind, Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the sea, Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as lightning, Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as fire, Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Power Rangers Mystic Force!"

They stood proudly, empowered by the power of the elements.

Their morphers started to chime and they flipped them open to find a new spell code.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Madison asked.

"A new code!" Vida exclaimed.

"I get it now. This is what Udonna meant." Chip realised. "Real heroes are born in the face of real danger. Amazing!"

"All right rangers! Let's do it." Nick said as they punched in the new codes and casting the spell.

"It's Titan Time!"

"Mystic Minotaur!"

"Mystic Garuda!"

"Mystic Sprite!"

"Mystic Mermaid!"

"Mystic Snow Lion!"

"Mystic Phoenix!"

"Ancient Power, Mystic Titans!"

Neil looked down at his body and saw himself as a giant white lion with turquoise mane and fur. They had transformed into giant zords!

Mucor sent another blast of dark energy at them.

The Snow Lion titan roared, emitting a sonic wave that obliterated the blasts.

The other titans surrounded the monster, attacking him from all sides.

Madison swung her trident, creating a tidal wave, drenching the monster. Chip flapped his wings, letting out bolts of lightning that struck him.

Nick struck him with his sword while Xander attacked with his axe, sending the monster tumbling down.

"This power is incredible!" Nick said amazed.

Vida took to the air, transfiguring herself into a volleyball, falling into Xander's hands, who tossed it to Maddie, who smacked the ball with her tailfin, sending it to Chip, who caught the ball with his wings, charging it with electricity before tossing it over to Neil, who headbutted it towards Nick, who leapt over to kick it at Mucor.

The titans watched as flames circled around the ball as if it was a falling meteor before striking Mucor, destroying him completely. The ball rolled on the ground, transforming back to Vida.

"That was a bit doozy!" She said as the rangers gathered around her, cheering as they won their first battle against a monster.

Udonna smiled at the rangers.

"I am proud of all of you and you have only begun to tap into the potential of the Mystic Titans." Udonna told Madison, Neil, Xander, Chip and Vida as they gathered inside Rootcore.

"Yeah, but now that the green freak is gone, right? So it's all good in the woods?" Madison asked.

"Well, let's hope so. We don't know if it was the same creature that attacked Clare," Xander mused.

"Nick's looking into that." Udonna told them.

Just then, their morphers chimed and they looked at each other.

"I'd say he found it." Neil perked his eyes as they flipped their morphers open.

"Guys, I think I found what we were looking for!" Nick voice came through as the crystal orb showed the morphed red mystic ranger running from something that burrowed through the ground, following him.

"Called it." Neil said as Madison elbowed him.

"What is he running from?" Xander asked.

"I dunno but he needs help." Vida told them as they took out their morphers.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" They travelled through the trees, appearing in midst of the forest where Nick was trying to draw out whatever was chasing him. A giant worm broke through the ground as Nick fell over.

Xander took out his axe, right on time to slice the worm, saving Nick from being gobbled up.

"Thanks man, I owe you one." Nick sighed in relief as the green ranger helped him up.

As the others ran around to them, the ground shook as eight vermiform heads with a common body burst out of the ground, glowering at them.

"What is that?" Madison asked horrified.

"Whatever it is, it looks mad!" Nick said as they ducked one of the heads.

"Hey guys, I got a new spell code!" Xander realised, checking his morpher.

"We do too, apparently." Neil said as he, Chip, Madison and Vida flipped their phones open.

"Udonna said that the titans had more power." Vida said.

"Let's find out." Neil said, the five of them punching in the codes.

"Mystic Titans!"

"Mystic Titans, Dragon Formation!" Except Nick, the others started glowing, before they hovered in the air and fused to form a large dragon.

"How cool is that! Hang on everybody, I am ready to ride!" Nick leapt onto the dragon as they lunged at the worm. "Let's bury that worm!"

They dodged the monster's attacks, before they got a clear shot.

"Dragon Blast!"

The stream of magical fire split into smaller jets, each of them hitting each head of the worm, making it flail wildly, trying to extinguish the flames.

"Alright Rangers, let's get fired up!" Nick commanded, jumping off the dragon as they opened their jaw, releasing a ball of fire. Nick swerved, slamming the fire ball with his foot, sending it hurling towards the monster.

He jumped back on the dragon as the fireball hit the centre of the worm, destroying it.

The Mystic Dragon fragmented into the individual titans as they cheered.

Hope you guys liked this chapter and please review.