The Hellhound's Return

Light Source, Part I

"Not so fast!" Kali yelled, blocking the red clones attack with her sword. She pushed it up and away from Chip and kicked the red clone in the chest, before slashing at the green clone with her sword.

Chip sighed and fired his crossbow at his clone.

"Oh! Let me go!"

Chip and Kali looked around, stunned to find Maddie wrapped in a giant frog's tongue. "Maddie," they called, earning themselves double attacks from the others clones.

"No! Stop!" Maddie said, struggling to break loose. She dug her feet in and clenched her hands into fists. "Enough is enough! Galwit Mysto Nermax! Ha! You're going back to the pond! Tidal Wave!" she announced, firing up her lion staff and unleashing a stream of water that sliced through the giant frog.

Sharing a look, Chip and Kali nodded and morphed into their own legendary modes.

"Code One, Lightning Bolt!" said Chip, holding his staff above his head. Two strands of lightning slammed into the yellow and black ranger clones.

"Code One, Inferno!" Kali called, following his lead. She twirled her staff around her and then held it above her head, swinging it down and the Red and Green ranger clones.

Hekatoid whined as the trio of Rangers regrouped. Cheering at their defeat.

"We've beaten your stupid games," said Kali, looking up at the frog. "Now take us to Udonna."

"As you wish," said Hekatoid, snapping his fingers.

~X~

Kali shivered as she, Chip, and Maddie appeared inside a dark, dingy cave. There was very little light, and the light that was there seemed to be coming from a pale green stone in the wall.

"Return our friends," said Maddie, holding out the three dice.

Hekatoid grumbled and snapped his fingers. The three dice glowed and Vida, Xander, and Nick reappeared.

"Are you guys alright?" Kali asked, helping Vida back to her feet.

"Yeah, thanks," Vida nodded. "Where are we?"

Kali shook her head and stepped forward, her hand tightening around her lion staff as she looked up at Hekatoid. "We had a deal. Give us back Udonna," she yelled.

"You want to see your beloved?" Hekatoid asked, side-stepping and revealing a stone ledge behind him. On the shelf, unconscious and trapped inside a vine cage, like some strange prized item, was the white sorceress.

"Udonna!" the team cried.

Hekatoid laughed. "She's my prize!" he told them, stepping between them and the ledge again. "And you'll look wonderful by her side."

"We are not collector's items," said Kali.

"You'll pay for this, toad!" Chip yelled.

The others nodded and held their lion staffs up. "Code five!" they called. "Manticore Megazord!"

"Now give her back!" said Chip.

The team swung down with their staffs, slashing the Megazords' sabre against Hekatoid. He groaned and stumbled as the Megazord powered up for a second attack.

"Full power!" the rangers called. They held their hands over their console's, and the intricate symbols glowed as power surged throughout the whole cockpit.

Recovering, Hekatoid turned to the team and held up his hammer. He blew into the staff and a soundwave passed throughout the cave.

"Legend Striker, Spin Attack!" the team shouted, blasting Hekatoid with a torrent of flame.

With Hekatoid down the Manticore Megazord turned to Udonna and carefully lifted the cage into their hands.

"We got her," said Xander, sounding relieved.

"Be careful," Nick warned.

"Yeah - she shouldn't have gone off alone," said Chip.

Kali shook her head. "I knew something like this would happen," she said.

"We have her back now," said Maddie, soothing the tension. "That's what's important. I'm just glad she's okay."

The others murmured their agreement as Kali gasped, stiffened, and then whirled around. "No!" she yelled, raising her hand to block the blob of black tar that arched through the air, but her reaction time was off and the blob collided with Udonna's cage, causing it to disappear.

"Udonna!" the others cried, looking around to see the cage appear in Hekatoid's possession.

"You snooze, you lose," Hekatoid laughed, darkly. He spat more goop at the Megazord, knocking it off balance. "I'm out of here." He declared, opening a portal and stepping through.

"Stop!" the team yelled.

Forcing the Megazord to its feet, Kali lunged for Hekatoid, missing him by a second as he disappeared through the portal.

"She's mine again!" Hekatoid called, disappearing from view.

To Be Continued...