Chapter Text
It had been a tough but fruitful year for the Mystic Power Rangers. But as Eddie stood there on the training platform, looking out at the vast forest their tree base looked over, the air was rife with the feeling it was all coming to a head and the fate of the world would soon be decided. He lets a smile slip as he looks out and thinks back to the start of the year, learning that magic was real and that they could wield it? And that there was a hidden world literally across the road from them filled with magical creatures? Then having to train to defend the worlds from the forces of evil. It was a lot for them to take on, but as a team they did it.
But, for Eddie it was a lot more to take in as he had found out he was adopted and his real parents are a wizard and sorceress. His mother was the rangers' mentor and White Ranger. His dad had turned out to be Koragg, the evil monster that terrorised the Rangers for the first few months until they managed to break the spell the Master had over his father. Eddie also met his cousin Claire who was a sorceress in training that lived with his mother at the tree base.
Eddie remembers when the five now friends had been selected, and how, at the start Eddie didn’t like the look of them. He had briefly met them in a record shop as he asked for directions before they were dragged into the forest by his birth mother, pretending to be an old man looking for help.
There was Xander the green ranger. Eddie found him to be full of himself, always wanting to please the ladies or get work done with as little effort as possible. Vida, or V as she likes to remind people, she was hot-headed and could have a mean streak and zero patience. Eddie knew they would clash and often did. Maddison the blue ranger and also V’s sister: she was kind and caring, always willing to listen and help. And then there was Evan, or Buck as he preferred. Eddie had found him the toughest to figure out. He was a happy go lucky guy and wore his heart on his sleeve. But ask him anything about his past and he would go quiet or try to change the subject. Which for a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve threw Eddie, but they had made a special bond and became best friends - always together causing trouble and Eddie knew he could rely on Buck, no matter what.
“Ready for your lesson, Edmundo?” His father asks. The question shook Eddie from his thoughts and made him slightly annoyed at the use of his full name.
“It’s Eddie, and do we have to? I mean we have handled everything that has been thrown at us,” Eddie states, rubbing his arm across his forehead.
“Yes, you are the light and the one greatest weapon we have against the Master, now let's train,” Ramon says as he transforms into his knight form.
“If we must,” Eddie states as he morphs into his ranger suit.
They start to fight, the metal sound echoes across the platform as they start landing sword on sword attacks, Eddie manages to land a kick flush on to his dad’s chest to which his dad laughs and catches the foot before Eddie can pull it back and flips the leg back which sends Eddie flying backwards crashing onto the floor
“I see training is going well," Buck says as he approaches Helena, the sound of fighting had caught his attention and he saw that she was watching her son and husband train
“How do you think it is going?” She states not taking her gaze off the fight
“I think you're both being too hard on him and don’t give him enough credit for the amazing things he has done already,” Buck states, flashing his smile at her and sees her stern face just look at him.
“That may be true, but you don’t have the fate of the world on your shoulders like he does, nor are you willing to make the hard choices in fights like Eddie has to,” Helena coldly states.
Buck looks at her and then back to the training platform seeing Eddie rolling on to his front. Buck wasn’t going to listen to any more of that and huffs towards her then heads back inside. Using his morpher wand he calls for his broom bike and disappears. Helena returns to watching the training.
“You need to focus more! Predict where I will be and then attack. Forget your emotions, they're holding you back. Now, attack me,” his dad says as he slaps a hand on his chest.
Eddie punches the floor and jumps up, he runs at his dad and goes straight back to attacking, trying to land a blow. But his dad blocks every shot and laughs at him, which frustrates Eddie more. He watches as his dad flips backwards and lands on a platform, looking down at Eddie and he sees his dad crossing his swords so they were overlapping.
“Son, you will not succeed if you don’t bury your emotions. You must remember that you are the light and with that, you are needed to defend the good magic in the world. So learn to focus like I had to when I was your age, or you will always be a failure,” he explains. Eddie feels anger build again at his father’s harsh words but also knows he is right. “Power of the phoenix!” his dad shouts and unleashes an energy wave knocking Eddie to the ground and knocking him out of the ranger form.
“See! Too busy thinking. You didn’t see me doing that. You are not as good as you should be. Is this all you have?” Ramon states. “Helena, I thought you said Daggeron had been training him?” Ramon asks. Looking at his wife, he leaves his knight form and Eddie could not believe what he had just heard.
“Daggeron did, but look - you two have been training non-stop and with the monster attacks getting more frequent no one has had a proper rest to re-energise. We need to rest. Eddie why don’t we have a family meal?” his mother says. Eddie couldn’t think of anything worse right now and knew she was only saying it to ease the tension.
“No, I’m going head back to town with Buck. And then we will meet the others at the record store, so we can go for ice cream and do stuff people my age do,” Eddie says sending a glare to his dad.
“Oh, Buck has already left,” Helena explains.
“He wouldn’t just go; did he say where he was going?” Eddie asks.
“I didn’t ask, he just said he had to go,” she states, and Eddie knew straight away there was something she was not saying. He knew Buck would not just up and go without a reason.
“So, it's settled then. Come Eddie, let’s eat together, as a family should do,” his dad says.
They head inside and Eddie watches as his mother waves her wand and food appears. They are joined by Eddie's cousin Claire and they dig into the food on the table.
“You know, once this is all over it will be nice to get you settled with a nice girl, Edmundo,” Ramon states, just as Eddie takes a bite. Eddie nearly chokes and watches as Claire dribbles drink down her chin.
“How about we focus on defeating the Master first, hey Uncle?” Claire says, and Eddie sends a thank you look.
Before Ramon can say anything more, Eddie's morpher goes off.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Eddie says.
“Monster attack in town. We need you here now,” Xander states.
“On my way,” Eddie says as he stands, pushing his chair back. He heads to the main landing. “Magical source, Mystic force!” he says and he morphs. Then he jumps onto his bike as he flies to join the others, still slightly annoyed at what had happened at the table. As he lands, he sees the other rangers and they move towards the monster.
They pull their magi staffs out and get ready to fight. Buck thinks back to what Helena had said and starts charging at the monster.
“Buck, wait!” Eddie shouts.
It was too late though. Buck starts firing lightning bolts at the monster who just swats them away and sends its own attack at Buck, which sends Buck flying through the air and through a wall. Eddie freezes as he watches Buck land hard but is brought back to the action as he sees the others attacking but also getting knocked down, no match for the creature. Eddie grips his shaft and charges. He knew he would need extra power.
“Red fire, dragon armour!” he shouts and the dragon appears and surrounds Eddie as he runs, forming armour round him. As he lands a blow, the creature swats him back and he goes straight back to hitting the creature, knocking it back. He lands a few more shots but his focus is taken when he turns and sees the others trying to help Buck who isn’t moving. As he turns back he is greeted with the creature landing a powerful swipe across Eddie's chest plate which sends Eddie backwards and falling to the ground. The momentum makes Eddie roll across the floor as his armour disappears and he gets up in just his normal ranger form.
“Why do you help the Master? You’re just a puppet for him, do you not know how to make your own choices, or do you have no courage to say no?” Eddie asks.
“Hmm courage, that word again,” the creature says as it disappears.
Eddie turns to the team and sees them helping Buck up as they demorph. They return to the base where they place Buck down while he is out and Claire works on healing him. Eddie watches as his cousin works on him, looking at Buck's dirty face, his blonde curls darkened with sweat.
“Hey, we're going to go on a patrol, are you ok stay just in case?” V asks.
“Yeah that’s fine,” Eddie replies.
“He’s a tough cookie. A bit silly, but tough,” Xander says. Eddie watches as his friends head out and he wanders into the main room and sees his parents glaring at him over the crystal ball.
“Eddie we saw you in the battle. You lost focus again, as you were more concerned about your friend than defeating the monster. What did I say to you about burying your emotions? We can not afford to let monsters like that get away,” his dad rants.
“Ramon, there is no need,” Helena states.
“There’s every need Helena. Edmundo these are battles we can't lose. Think of it this way Edmundo? You failed to take that monster down when you had the chance, so now when it returns it will hurt more people and maybe even hurt Buck again, or one of your other friends. And who's fault will it be?” his dad states, walking over to Eddie, his hands on his hips.
“Mine,” Eddie says, trying to avoid his dad's disapproving gaze. He knew his dad was right, and having only found them recently he wanted to impress them and not let them down. Which is all he seems to be doing.
“Exactly,” Ramon states.
“I’m going to go check on Buck, I need to make sure he is ok. I’m sorry and I won’t hesitate next time,” Eddie says.
His dad lets a huff out and his mother rolls her eyes and Eddie walks off. He walks into the medical room and sees Claire standing to the side, she had obviously heard everything his parents had said.
“I know they're hard on you Eddie, but you know it's only because we all know you are the one who will defeat the Master, and I know they love you,” she says.
“I know they have high expectations, but it’s hard to keep to the standard they expect,” Eddie says.
“It is hard, but we all have had to make sacrifices. Even your friends remember, just try a bit harder,” she says as she wanders off.
He shakes his head and walks over to Buck who is sat up and smiles at Eddie when he sees him.
“I’m sorry Eddie, I shouldn’t have charged in, I don’t know what came over me,” Buck says. “But thanks for having my back out there and keeping us safe,” he continues.
“Buck, it's fine, it’s what friends do! All I care about is that you’re ok. But we do need to talk,” Eddie says, and Buck pulls a face towards Eddie. But before Eddie can question the look he hears his dad's dull cough as he enters and Eddie storms off outside to take a breather.
“What’s up with him?” Buck asks, annoyed, as he had wanted to clear the air with Eddie but as usual something got in the way.
“He just realised he dropped the ball in that fight. We could have had one less terror walking round and he failed,” Ramon says.
“How so? He helped us and made sure we were fine,” Buck questions.
“No offence Buck, but you got sent through a wall because you decided to charge in. Eddie focused on you instead of the fight, so you’re the reason the monster got away. You should have just followed his lead. But instead you did the usual stupid thing, that you seem to love doing from what I've heard, and did your own thing without thinking of the consequences,” Ramon rants and Buck could see the resentment in his eyes and it made Buck feel uncomfortable.
“Yeah. I won’t let it happen again. I'll go catch up with the others and patrol,” he says, getting up despite knowing he was in no shape to. But he does not want to stay in the room. He gets up and heads out, not stopping for anyone who wants to talk.
Eddie stands on the training platform swinging wooden swords and trying to calm himself down from the rage he could feel inside him. As his swings hit the dummy in front of him he feels the air go cold and then a dark shadow appears over him. The Master was in front of Eddie. He grabbed his morpher.
“Eddie, I can offer you great power if you join me. Just think back to the glaring looks your father gives you. You could take those looks away with the power I can bestow upon you. I don’t want you to bury emotions, but to use your rage and anger. Combined with the power I give you, you will be able to protect the ones you care for the most,” the Master explains.
Eddie stands and thinks. The offer sounds tempting but how would the others act if they saw him with the power? He remembers how his dad was, he couldn’t do that but then he hears his father's voice coming from down the hall and the anger just rises instantly and washes all sense from Eddie’s mind.
“Deal," Eddie states.
The Master grabs hold of Eddie and takes him into the forest, where he showers Eddie in dark magic. He tells him, as his first act to show he will follow the Master and to take his father down, he has to attack a local village which will draw out his father and give him the opportunity to destroy Ramon. Eddie agrees, his rage filling his body which in turn amplifies his magic. The Master disappears and Eddie heads into the forest on his mission set by The Master where with his new-found powers he will do his Masters bidding.