The Alternates – Mystics of a Different World
Earth 62
2006
Briarwood
A portal appeared in the middle of the woods, not far away from an ensuing battle between that world's Mystic Force rangers and the forces of darkness led by the Knight Wolf, but not near enough to be noticed by anyone.
Nick Russell the Red Mystic Ranger of Earth Prime came out of the portal. He looked at the familiar surroundings as the portal closed behind him. He was on top of a cliff overlooking a valley where he noticed a monster and a small army of hidiacs fighting what appeared to be his team alongside Koragg.
He quickly shook his head. This was not his team. From what the Red Emissary had told him, this reality was close to his own but different at the same time and though it appeared to be his team down there, it could very well be total strangers underneath those suits.
He quickly teleported down from the cliff but took cover behind some trees to scope out the situation without being seen.
First thing that caught his eye was that this version of Koragg had dark green armour instead of purple, a fur collar around his neck and a crimson visor, all of which made him look far more intimidating than Koragg.
He turned his attention towards the rangers.
To his surprise, the red ranger wore a skirt, which made him certain that it was not him. Well, it could be a female version of him, but he let the thought slide. Clearly, he was spending too much time listening to Chip talk about comics. He should not jump to conclusions and keep an open mind. From what Udonna had told them about the multiverse, anything and everything is possible.
The red ranger was not the only one who had an inverted gender in comparison to his own team. The pink ranger was a guy, the green ranger was a girl and another ranger who wore gold armour was a girl. Her armour resembled that of the core five and her helmet bore the symbol of a Pegasus, instead of being a feminine version of the Solaris Knight, which was intriguing. From what they knew, there had been a Gold Mystic Ranger in the first War but their morpher had been destroyed. Daggeron's morpher drew on his own magic and forged a connection to the Grid, which was why his armour was different from their own.
The final difference was the presence of a seventh warrior, who fought alongside the rangers but clearly was not a ranger himself. If it were not for the good magic Nick sensed and that he was fighting with the rangers against hidiacs, he could have been easily mistaken for a monster.
Nick frowned. It was not hard to guess this was a warrior who had an ancient mystic mode but what perplexed him was that his form was an exact replica of his father's ancient mystic mode, down to the weird antlers, the only difference being that while Leanbow had a mostly crimson clad form with a purple cape whereas this warrior seemed to be a mostly white form, with a red cape. He wielded a crystalline sword that seemed to be cut from a glacier and a shield which also seemed to be made of ice.
"You will fall by my blade, rangers!" Not-Koragg bellowed, tossing aside the red ranger, and directing his ire at the yellow ranger.
"Don't you get tired of the same catchphrase, Malachite?" The yellow ranger drawled, blocking the knight's sword with his magi staff. Nick's eyes narrowed. There was no doubt that it was Chip's voice, yet he never thought he could hear such malice and contempt in his words.
The yellow ranger forced Malachite back with a strength Nick didn't think he possessed and quickly turned his staff to crossbow mode and relentlessly fired a barrage of energy arrows at the knight, causing sparks to fly across his armour and sending the knight staggering backwards.
"Enough!" Malachite growled, raising his shield as it let loose a wave of green magic that blasted the yellow ranger back as well as destroyed the nearby hidiacs without a second thought. He saw Chip demorph as he fell.
"I created you, young wolf." He snarled, dragging his sword along the ground as he approached the yellow mystic, who tried but failed to get up. "I had hoped you would join my pack but that was a mistake, which I will finally rectify today."
"No!" The red ranger screamed, trying to come between them but her path was blocked by an army of hidiacs. The other mystics were similarly blocked by the monster and other foot soldiers.
Nick didn't understand a word this Malachite was saying but it was evident that Chip was in no condition to fight back and the other mystics would not be able to stop him from destroying Chip. He knew that the Red Emissary had told him to not interfere in any battle and only recruit the red ranger of this universe when the other rangers were gone, but though this was not his Chip, but he could not in good conscience allow him to be destroyed.
"Not so fast, you Koragg wannabe!" He yelled, coming out of his hiding spot.
Malachite almost broke his neck as he turned around to look at him. The battle stopped momentarily as all the fighters looked at him. He saw the mystic warrior in Ancient Mystic Mode almost drop his sword on seeing him.
"You!" Malachite said in disbelief, before looking back and forth between him and the mystic warrior. "What trickery is this? And how do you know that name?"
"This ain't no trickery, buddy and you aren't destroying my friend anytime soon!" He said firmly, pointing his finger at the knight before quickly taking out his mystic morpher and raising it to the skies. "Legendary Source, Mystic Force!"
As a golden spell seal traversed through him, directly transforming him to the Red Legend Warrior.
He charged at the knight, striking him with his lion staff.
"No matter who you are, I will defeat you!" The knight charged, blocking his staff with his shield.
"Can't say I have missed these chats!" Nick retorted, pushing back against the shield, forcing the knight back and before he could attempt to block him again, he struck him with his staff.
"Code 1!" He turned the dial on the lion staff to 1, and felt his elemental magic surge into the staff.
"FIRESTORM!" He yelled, directing his staff at Malachite, just as the lion's maw opened wide and let loose a fierce inferno that slammed against him.
The knight screamed in pain as the magical flames threatened to breach through his armour.
The arachnid themed monster and the hidiacs rushed to his aid, only for fiery tendrils arise from the flames that enveloped the knight and lash out at them, destroying them.
"NO!" Malachite yelled, raising his shield and the Master's eye shined brightly, letting loose a blast of crimson magic that extinguished the flames.
The knight heaved a sigh, looking up at him even as black smoke hissed out from his body.
"Your magic is strong, interloper but it is nothing in face of my Master's might!"
"Funny, you look like Koragg but have none of his honour." Nick mused, aiming his staff at him. "Your words do not scare me. I have faced a Master of Evil before but light magic always prevails over the dark."
"And he is not alone." The gold ranger said as she and the other mystics gathered behind him.
"You may have won this battle, Mystic Force but I will be back!" Malachite swore as a purple spell seal appeared underneath him and he disappeared.
Nick shook his head, demorphing even as he felt the other rangers look at him.
"Chip!" The other red ranger yelled, rushing over to help her friend up. "Are you okay?"
"I am…" He reassured her weakly before smiling at him. "Thanks to him, whoever he is."
"Yeah, who is he?" The pink ranger asked in an Australian accent, which immediately gave away his identity.
"Xander?" Nick asked.
The pink ranger demorphed, confirming his suspicions.
"How do you know me?" He asked, before turning to the mystic warrior. "Is he your twin or something, mate?"
"No. Not to my knowledge." The warrior said, demorphing and Nick took a step back on realizing who he was. The mystic looked exactly like him but was wearing a knight's attire – a brown vest over white robes, like his dad usually did.
The other rangers also demorphed.
The blue ranger was Madison. The green ranger looked like Clare, except she was dressed in normal human clothes- a green jacket over a black shirt and denims instead of a gown and she had short brown hair instead of long blond locks like she usually did. He stopped himself in time from blurting out her name. From the battle, it seems it was before Imperious' defeat and finding out that Koragg was Leanbow. Given they had not utilized the legend warrior powers, it might even be before they had got it. From what his counterpart was wearing, it was possible that he was the one raised in the mystic realm and Clare was the one who was lost in the mortal world.
He had already intervened enough, but he would really mess up the timeline if he revealed what he knew though it would probably save them a lot of time if he did, but then again, it might make things worse. Even if this Malachite was a former mystic like Koragg was, the rangers could not afford to hold back against him, which they surely would if they knew he might be a former ally brainwashed to be evil. He needed to let things happen as they should, like Red Emissary had warned them all.
"Who are you?" His doppelganger asked.
"And how are you the red ranger?" He turned seeing Vida carrying Chip. Her hair had a streak of red and she was wearing a red frock underneath a Rock Porium shirt and matching red headphones around her neck. "I am the red ranger."
Nick shouldn't really be surprised seeing Vida as the red ranger given how stubborn and determined they both were, but it felt weird seeing her in red.
"It may sound a bit strange but I am Bowen…" He said, facing his doppelganger. It felt weird introducing himself by his birth name instead of his adopted name, but it was the only way he could avoid more confusion. "Like I am guessing you are but-"
"You are from a different universe!" Chip said excitedly, grinning widely.
"Yes." Nick smiled at him, feeling he was talking to his own Chip.
The gold mystic frowned at him. He was momentarily taken aback by her beauty. She was an attractive Indian woman with dark hair, wearing a golden version of the mystic uniform.
"If you are from another universe, you shouldn't be here, much less intervening in events." She pointed out. "But I am glad you did. We are in your depth for saving one of our own."
"I know." Nick nodded. "I am going to get an earful for doing what I did from the Red Emissary, but I couldn't let anything happen to Chip, even he is not my Chip."
"Oh, you know me in your universe? Am I a ranger there too?" he asked excitedly.
"You are." He laughed. "Actually, most of you are."
"Most of us?" Vida asked. "If you are red, that means I am not one?"
"Actually, you are." He grinned. "You are the pink ranger in my universe. Chip and Maddie are yellow and blue just like in here. Xander is green."
"But I have no idea who you guys are." He looked at Clare's doppelganger and the mystic in gold.
"Pink!" Vida spluttered in disbelief. "Please tell me the other me is not a shallow valley girl obsessed with shopping and looking pretty! I hate pink!"
Nick laughed.
"Don't worry. The other you is just as cool as you are." He reassured her. "And she used to hate pink too."
"Used to?" Vida raised her eyebrow.
"Now all of her hair is dyed pink." He said and the other mystics, especially Madison, Chip and Xander burst out laughing while Vida's eyes widened to the point Nick was worried, they would fall out.
"What!" She yelled in shock.
"So, I am not a ranger?" Clare's doppelganger interrupted Vida's outburst, rolling her eyes. She spoke confidently instead of being the nervous wreck Clare usually was, before she came into her own.
"Sadly no." He lied through his teeth. Technically he was only lying by omission. Clare wasn't a ranger exactly, even though she was a part of their team and a powerful sorceress.
"My name is Krista Mills." She introduced herself.
"And I am Roshni Runetail." The gold mystic introduced herself. "You mentioned the Red Emissary. There are legends of beings with that name and if they have sent you here, it means your mission must be of paramount importance."
"It is." He told them gravely. "I was recruited by her a while back. An evil entity called the Messiah has invaded the Morphin Grid with an army of brainwashed rangers, and the Emissary thinks the only way to stop him from destroying all of existence is by gathering an army of red rangers across the multiverse. I was sent here to recruit your red ranger."
"So, you need my help?" Vida asked.
"If reality is threatened, I think we should all help." His doppelganger spoke up.
"As much as I appreciate that, the Red Emissary told me that only the red rangers can defeat this threat." Nick said firmly, turning to Vida. "So, are you in?"
Vida paused before grinning.
"You saved Chip. The least I can do is help you save all of reality." She said, stepping towards him.
"Thank you." He said earnestly, taking out the Transportal device Alex had given him.
"What is that thing?" Bowen asked, peering at the small white device that looked like a television remote control device.
"It's a transportal device one of our allies gave us." He said, clicking it and opening a portal in front of them. The other mystics jumped back in surprise at the wormhole that appeared.
"Impressive…" Bowen breathed.
"A dimensional gateway without any magic!" Roshni said in awe.
"We need to go now." Nick told them.
"Are you sure we can't come?" Madison asked, looking at Vida with concern.
"If the Emissary said only red rangers can aid in this quest, it must be for a reason. We must trust in her judgement." Roshni said.
"Right." Nick said. "These things apparently create portals through space and time, so to you guys, Vida will be coming back before you even realize she is gone."
Madison nodded, turning towards her sister, and wrapping her arms around her. "Stay safe, sis."
The other rangers joined the hug.
"Don't make me come after you." Krista said.
"Give them hell, V!" Xander grinned.
"I will." She promised before turning to Chip.
"I wish I could come with you, V." He pouted.
"I know." Vida smiled.
"I am jealous. Reds always get the cool missions." Chip continued.
"That's why I am Red!" She said smugly before grabbing Chip's collar and pulling him down for a fierce kiss.
Now that was something Nick did not see coming. While there was certainly something between Chip and Vida back in his universe, neither of them had acted on their feelings yet.
She let go of him leaving Chip breathless while Vida smirked, making a V sign with her fingers. "Don't miss me too much once I am gone, guys."
Nick saw his counterpart smile at Vida.
"Fight with honour, Vida." He said earnestly.
Nick bit his lip from laughing. He could see his father, Udonna or Daggeron say stuff like this. If he were not sure before about Bowen being raised in the magical realm, he was now. He contemplated briefly asking him about how growing up in the forest and probably being raised by his mother was, but he stopped himself. He was happy with his life and not only did he have amazing parents who loved him like he was their own, he also reunited with his birthparents. Life had gifted him with two sets of parents and he was grateful for it. Though he was curious, he did not need to know about his counterpart's life, nor did he have the time to spare.
"May the Magical Source protect you." Roshni said. Nick frowned. So this woman was also from the magical realm. He made it a point to ask his parents and Daggeron if they knew about any Roshni Runetail or a gold mystic ranger once he got back home.
"I am ready." Vida said, looking at him.
"Alright." He smiled, before waving at the other rangers and his counterparts. "It was interesting meeting you guys."
"Thanks for saving me, again." Chip said thankfully.
"Don't mention it." Nick shrugged it off, smiling at him. "What are friends for, if not saving alternate universe versions of themselves?"
"Let's go." He said to Vida, beckoning her forward.
Vida jumped through the portal and he followed her, the portal closing in on itself behind them.
Hope you liked this one-shot, which will tie into my "Forever Red 2" story, and please review.
The rangers of this alternate reality are from my other fic "Mystic Force: A Different Destiny" where Udonna was chosen to be the Gatekeeper instead of Niella and she sacrificed herself to seal the Gates. Bowen was raised in the magical realm by his aunt while Clare was lost in the human world. If you guys are interested in knowing more of this universe, check out that fic. :)