Purple

Homecoming Woes Part Four

It was the early evening, but nobody was coming for donuts. Not even with the big HOT'N FRESH! sign glowing in the window of the shop. It was hard to believe a few weeks ago that there was a giant crater in this general vicinity. After the rangers fought that giant... gold thing, the hole haphazardly sealed up but still present, then after plenty of tests and inspections, the go ahead was given to remodel the building. For whatever reason, Krispy Kreme had a really big investment in being in Angel Grove. So that was... odd. Still, after the world became aware that they could be murdered by space witches and rock monsters at any given moment of the day, people tended to stop coming for donuts after a specific time. Like... sunset. Monsters liked the night time right?

Ricky leaned against the counter, doodling on the spare receipt paper with a blue ballpoint pen. Everything was done. Floor was clean. Donuts were out of the oven. It was just so damn boring out there. He finished scribbling a smiley face onto the weird creature he was doodling (it was a monster that looked like a weird purse with button eyes), then tapped the pen against the table as he huffed, looking out the window at the neon sign across the street. A new smoothie place. Ernie's Juice Bar. Wasn't open yet but someone in Angel Grove's government was looking to make this area a tour boon. They already had signs up marking it a historic site, detailing the attacks. Capitalism at its worst.

Still, the longer Ricky stared at the neon lights, the blurrier everything seemed to get. He squinted for a moment before he realized that it was just a fog rolling in.

'Weird.' He thought to himself. He didn't recall any bad weather on the news. But they didn't live too far from the ocean, fog wasn't too out of the ordinary. But something about this fog made him uneasy. A weird sinking feeling hit him in the bottom of his stomach. Suddenly he felt a cold chill move throughout his body.

Then the lights went out.

"What the f..." Ricky said, looking up at the dead bulbs in the ceiling. Okay, this was not normal. Krispy Kreme was like... a big business right? It wasn't like they just didn't pay their light bill. But that was when he heard it. A small, cackling voice, carrying through the room as if it were dancing on the wind.

'Lead me to the crystal.'

Crystal? What? That was... Ricky had to be hearing things.

'I said lead me to the crystal. OR PERISH!' Still a whisper, but more threatening this time. Ricky still didn't understand. He just gulped down a lump in his throat and slowly backed toward the kitchen.

"You disappoint Madame Woe." The voice sounded... full. Like it was right behind him. Ricky turned to see a ghostly white figure in a white dress. Dripping bluish black hair and some sort of ornate fixture on her head with a center jewel on her forehead. Ricky gasped as he looked at the strange woman, backing the other way away from her.

"Y-y-you aren't s-s-supposed to be b-back here. E-employees only." He said, pointing to the sign on the wall. The woman just cocked her head before smirking with her blood red lips. Then, like some sort of demonic snake, her jaw started expanding, revealing rows and rows of teeth and a swirling vortex in the middle.

A flash of blue light sent a shockwave through the room. The unearthly woman let out a demonic howl as she flew back, smashing through the exit door and rolling onto the street. In the center of the room, propping himself up on one knee was him.

The Blue Power Ranger.

He stood slowly, rising like the coolest hero you could possibly imagine. Ricky didn't know what to say. And once the ranger gave him a stern look, he... jumped up and down and laughed.

"I did it! I did it! It worked!" He said in a gleeful voice, fist bumping the air like a child. Ricky reached out to thank him, but he stopped his hand.

"Please sir, do not touch me. I uh... I don't like that. You're welcome though. For the saving your life thing." He said, holding his hand in front of him as a blue energy lance materialized. He lunged forward, calling back behind him to Ricky as he ran.

"Back to action!"