Hypercharged

Synopsis: Continuing after Rangers in Black. Magica de Spell, toiling in her quest to find the Number One Dime, feels rather weak. Magica seeks to gain Donald's Uncle Scrooge's new energy potion (co-created with the help of Prof. Ludwig von Drake) to drink for herself.  In the midst of things, Uncle Scrooge is captured and ransomed. The sorceress's price: the Energy Potion In a b-story, the Rangers, the bots, the Playhouse gang and the Toons watch home movies at the House of Mouse.

Chapter 1—Frienemies Unite

Magica de Spell had been watching Scrooge McDuck from afar for quite some time through Lena. Lena hadn’t done this voluntarily and she felt horribly guilty taking advantage of her friend, Webby, who looked up to her as a role model. Webby liked her adopted brothers, but only Lena understood her as a ‘gal of adventure’ and a ‘chick who feared almost nothing’. Lena had broken Magica’s hold on her but even though Magica had been betrayed by her unwilling acolyte, she had sent a more servile spider to scope out what Scrooge had been up to.

‘Why is he so peppy ? Even moreso than usual ?’, she asked, having used most of her power to create this tiny aracnadroid. Most of her power had been drained but she figured it was the best use of her dark talent. Through the droid’s eyes, she saw Von Drake creating a potion that gave the geezer vitality.

‘Seems that Dr. Drake gave Scrooge the formula for that secret elixir. Hmm. If I can capture him, ransom him, I’ll not only gain the location of the number one dime from him by force, but also have the means to get that potion into my gritty mitts !’, Magica vowed to herself while laughing maniacally. She would have to do so, and soon. Her energy levels were next to nothing. Even though she didn’t like collaborating with anyone, she sought the help of Ma Beagle and her dunderheaded Beagle Boys.

‘Once I get my hand on that Dime, I’ll be inexplicably rich. Whatever I gain from my fortune, you’ll gain half of. I guarantee you. Magica de Spell never goes back on her word.’, she said, by phone. Ma Beagle, clearly the more vivacious of the two, was more than glad to help her ‘frienemy’ out. It wouldn’t be too much longer that Scrooge would be in Magica’s stronghold and no one to call upon to help him, or so Magica believed. But even the miser had an ace up his sleeve. As a good boy scout, he was always prepared. He knew there was a beacon he could press that he carried around in his pocket. It would set off an alarm and awaken Beakley and Duckworth. Launchpad would enlist the help of one Darkwing Duck, a good friend and confidante. Yet even the caped crusader would need more assistance to deal with the armada Magica would prepare after imbibing some of the elixir she ‘borrowed’ from Scrooge’s secret stash.

Chapter 2—Meanwhile in Angel Grove

The Rangers were enjoying an idle day, which was quite unusual for them, given their typical fare on any other day of the week. If it wasn’t a charitable event, they were frequenting hospitals, cutting red ribbons, receiving city keys and making public motivational speeches at schools. All of these events could be socially daunting and draining, but all of them handled these situations with alacrity, poise and contagious positivity. Everyone was savoring a day of down time to simply relax and catch up on sleep watching a movie at the House of Mouse until a distress call came in from Zordon.

‘Power Rangers ! Something terrible is happening in Duckberg.’, Zordon began.

‘Wait. The Duckberg ? Like from my childhood Duckberg ? To think we were just watching The Treasure of the Lost Lamp ! I never thought this place would be REAL !’, Zach said, unable to keep his Disney geekiness to a minimum. He was fanboying harder than any of the other Rangers, but to be fair, all of them were Disney fanatics, so hearing this made them a bit excited.

‘Of course it is. We’ve been to Toontown before. What makes you think that any other location would be make believe ?’, Roger surmised.

‘Touche.’, Adam responded. He and the others had been gnoshing on healthy snacks during the film and the credits had begun to roll so nothing important had been missed. Besides, all of them had seen The Treasure of the Lost Lamp at least 11 times, so they had it memorized by heart.

‘Sorry, but we’re being hailed by Zordon...’, Kat began.

‘I understand. If I am needed, I may come along on your journey too. If it is who I think it is, we may be in for a doozy of a fight.’, Mickey began, his usually cheery tone ominous. They wouldn’t know what was happening or who was responsible until they arrived back at HQ, where Zordon would answer all of their burning questions.

Chapter 3—Briefing From Zordon

Zordon began giving them the skinny about what Magica DeSpell had been up to. Apparently, she had gotten a hold of Scrooge’s energy elixir and he had been held hostage. The Number One Dime was still held in a location that only Scrooge knew and he wasn’t about to give the cryptic locale to anyone. The only people who knew of it were Huey, Dewey and Louie. Even Webby and Lena knew but they couldn’t be swayed by Magica’s powerful necromancy. They ached to retrieve their Uncle and felt powerless to do so. Luckily Darkwing and Gizmoduck had been recruited but the previous fight had left them out of commission. They needed more muscle. That’s where the Rangers would have to step in and see just how impressive Magica’s evil talents were.

‘As you’d expect, you’re dealing with Magic. I would recommend taking Doctor Strange, Zatana, Scarlet Witch, Professor X and Quicksilver with you. Any other magicians would be your best boon, but I’m sure you were aware of that.’, Zordon stated, astutely.

‘I’m coming along with you. The more of us that fight together, the better off we’ll be.’, Alpha 5 chimed in, pleasantly. For a bot that was about to go into quite possibly the most intense magical combat he had ever experienced, he was doing so with a jovial attitude and aplomb.

Chapter 4—Bracing Themselves

With help from the Themascirans, the Rangers, the bots and the whole crew had been teleported to Duckberg, straight to Magica’s lair. The specs had been analyzed earlier by Shuri and Magica was about to face down a massive hoard of benevolence.

‘You could make this much easier and just tell me where the Dime is !’, she kvetched.

‘Oh choke on a broomstick, Magica.’, Scrooge insulted. The nephews stuck their tongues out and Webby taunted the witch, incensing her more. Everyone held their position to wait for the necromancer to make her next strategic movement.

Magica used ropes like snakes to entrap anyone that moved or dared detract her. She used a truth incantation to divulge the location of the Dime, but the triplets bit their tongues.

‘Keep trying to be silent ! There will be a time you need to speak and I will become UNSTOPPABLE !’, she cried, triumphantly.

Stephen loosed the ropes and white magic began to have the upper hand. It was like a scene from Enter the Dragon. Fists were flying, people were parcouring off the walls and people were literally getting the snot beaten out of them. It was hard to tell who was winning since bodies were literally flying all over the place. Yen Sid, who had been napping earlier in the day, had heard this from his Kingdom in another dimension that was yet unnamed.

Yen woke up and groaned.

‘Seriously. They have 7 magicians involved in quelling this witch and yet that’s still enough. And she still doesn’t have the Dime...Troubling. They are all putting forth a worthy concerted effort but it falls short. I’m tired of this skirmish. Time to join the strife.’, Yen said to himself.

The magician’s hat that he had placed on the mantle of his fireplace had remained so for eons and had begun collecting dust. He coughed when he smacked the dust off it and placed it upon his aged head. Even though he was old and grey and millennia stacked in his favor he was still youthful in his movement and graceful as he commanded to be dressed for battle.

Chapter 5—ENOUGH !

Swirling with enough electricity to take down at least 27 city blocks, Yen appeared, looking slightly miffed.

‘I can hear you from my dimension, you know.’, he growled.

‘You...speak ?!’, Micheal squeaked, surprised that the wizard was so eloquent. It shouldn’t have come as a shock to him but Yen had always been the silent type. He let his gesticulations do the talking for him. He was one of those sages that could use his mind to create magic rather than his words. All other wizards couldn’t even compare to the type of power he had. Magica was starting to look quite a bit pale. She knew she was lost. Even if the location of the Dime had been uttered, against the din of the chaos she hadn’t heard where it could be found.

‘I cannot fight. Not any longer. I have spent my magic.’, she said, ultimately defeated. Having come into the skirmish fully charged and leaving empty was highly disappointing. Yen hadn’t even had to lift a finger. Scarlet Witch looked amused.

‘I have to give you credit, Sid. You are quite the wizard.’, she said, in awe. Even Enchantress, who might’ve been considered a villainess, had helped in this regard. She didn’t overstay her welcome, particularly with Thor close by. She knew he had moved on with a physicist, so she had to be content being single for awhile. She was fine with it and honestly, couldn’t have been happier.

Battered and bruised, the Rangers limped to their savior and thanked him. Even the magicians were looking a little worse for wear.

‘Give us time to recoup. We need this respite, and you do too.’, Stephen suggested.

‘We already know. We’re gonna take it easy for a while.’, Adam acknowledged. Since it was getting closer to Christmas, they would probably visit their Kadic friends at the Lodge like they had every year prior. It had become somewhat of a tradition that they all savored and relished.

Epilogue

Although everyone returned to their original universes, they came together during the Holidays. Christmas and Hanukkah were merged this year as well as Kwanzaa and Ramadan. There were even Wiccans celebrating the solstice and old Norse friends enjoying Yule and Balder's Day. That was mainly because Valkyrie and Thor were there relaxing right along with them. It was reassuring to see the Thundergod lounging about like other humans. Loki had fit right in with the kids playing games and acting pretty much like he typically did.

It was a pleasant holiday and it would continue until January 6^th, also known as Epiphany. In Belle’s native France, it was also known as Three Kings Day. Some of the American bots weren’t familiar with the practice of laying out hay for the Magi’s animals to be left presents but it was quite a spectacular treat. There were feasts, singing, wassail to be drunk and merrymaking to be done. Many children were seen and tons of hearts were uplifted in the January cold. 2020 had come and the new year was rife with possibilities.

To Be Continued…