Five Miles

[DarkStarShadow]

First off, I'd like to thank Kai and Houka Ozu, with the help of Toad, for inspiring this lovely fic. Hats off to you three. ;)

The title of this fic was inspired by the quote "You never truly know someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes." You'll see what I mean as I go along. :D




Chapter One: First Step


"Every journey begins with the first step."







It was a lovely Saturday afternoon in Briarwood, and our heroes the Power Rangers were in the town park, enjoying the day off that their boss, Toby, had graciously given them.

“You know what? I’m glad Toby’s too sick to run the shop today. It’s such a nice day to catch some sunrays.” Xander commented to Chip and Vida from his place underneath an oak tree. However, Chip and Vida were too busy paying attention to their game of chess; rather, Vida was too busy getting a lecture from Chip about her horrible gaming.

“You said to castle, so I castle, and I still lose!” Vida said, throwing her arm up.

“Well, you castle, then you break the formation.” Chip replied, setting up the castling placement on the chessboard in front of Vida. “You do the worst break-up, too…you break it up with the pawn in front of the king…a bishop in the right row could just slip in uncontested, take your rook, and completely leave your king defenseless. It’s an easy checkmate if you’ve got a spare rook on the attack…” Chip went on, illustrating his point using the pieces at a dizzying pace.

“Why are you so damn worried about being precise at this damn game?” Vida replied.

“Because I’m hoping to be accepted in an elite tournament one day…I have to be at the top of my game.”

Xander sighed; Chip’s incessant prattling was driving him nuts. He looked through the catalogue he had taken off the coffee table before leaving the house and grinned.

“Oh Chip…” He said slyly. “They have quite a few new action figures this month down at Brookston’s…”

“Action figures…?” Chip said, suddenly shutting up and turning around. “Which kinds? DC? Marvel? Speak to me!” He nearly flew out of his chair at Xander, who in turn pulled the book closer to him.

“Down, boy, down!” Xander said. Vida chuckled as she watched the scene unfold. She then turned her head to watch Nick and Madison across the way.

Nick was kneeled down next to his bike near the edge of the park, giant tool box open, jacket sitting on a short branch above him.

“So…how often do you work on your bike?” Madison asked shyly.

“Once a week I give it a tune up, like I am now.” He replied, checking the oil level. “You gotta take care of this baby, or you’re gonna end up with a big pile of metal and rubber.”

Madison smiled, pointing to the bottle of Dasani in the tool box. “Get thirsty often while working?”

“Oh no, that’s for my engine.” Nick replied.

“Oh.”

“This engine’s almost like a tree in a desert…” Nick said. “It loses a lot of water quickly.”

“I see.” Madison said.

“So…did you need something from me?” Nick asked as he checked the oil gauge.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to join me in a game of Frisbee.” Madison said, shyly holding up a Frisbee.

“Gimme a few minutes, and then I’ll be done.”

“Okay…” Madison replied, sounding disappointed. She spotted Chip harassing Xander. She smiled and walked over.

“Lemme see! Lemme see!” Chip shouted, reaching for the magazine. Madison walked up behind Chip, grabbing him softly by the collar.

“Leave Xander alone, Chip.” She said nicely, which made Chip stop flailing.

“Okay…” Chip replied, sounding defeated.

“Oh, Maddie, I saw this nice dress that I think you’d like.” Xander replied, handing her the catalogue. Chip whimpered quietly as Madison looked through the magazine. “Page 215, the blue one.” Madison looked, then scoffed.

“If that girl bent over, you’d practically see her underwear and her breasts!” Madison replied.

“You’d look nice in it!” Xander replied. Chip looked up.

“I agree.” Chip replied, grinning. Madison sighed, dropping Chip face-first to the ground. “Ow!”

Chip reached up and grabbed the catalogue out of Madison’s hand, quickly looking through the toy section. He scowled, tossing the catalogue at Xander. “You lie!”

“Whoa, calm down…” Xander said, closing the catalogue up. “It’s just a bunch of toys…”

“I’ve been waiting for the new sound action JLA toys for the last three months, and you got my hopes up!” Chip pouted. “I mean, even if Wonder Woman makes sounds that imitate her Invisible Jet…it’s still a collectible!”

“Seriously…toys.” Xander replied. “Toys…are for kids.”

“Not funny.” Chip said. “I can promise you that I’ll get you for this.” Chip replied, giving a serious look.

“Ooh, I’m scared…” Xander said, giving Chip a look. Chip then lunged at Xander, who quickly took off running.

“Get back here!” Chip shouted, running after him.

Madison laughed as Nick walked up to her.

“Hey, you wanna play some Frisbee?” He said.

“Sure!” Madison said happily. Just as they prepared their game, their morphers went off. Madison sighed and answered as the rest of the group ran up to her.

“Rangers, there is a monster running around the forest.” Udonna said.

“Why out in the forest? Did it find some villagers or something?” Chip asked.

“That’s the odd part; it’s made no effort to attack anybody, or to even look for targets. It’s just running around the forest.”

“We’ll check it out.” Nick said, sounding as confused as the rest of the group was.

The Rangers found the monster singing happily as it wandered around. It stopped once it noticed it had an audience, and turned around to observe the crowd.

The creature wore a white porcelain face and neck shield that prevented any facial structure from being seen, and the only sort of face it had was a wild painting of an angry demon’s face. The rest of its head was adorned in long, wispy spikes resembling black bamboo poles split down the middle. Its body, as Chip would’ve normally pointed out had he not been too busy staring in amusement, was dressed in a costume usually given to warlocks in horror movies; a long flowing black robe with a giant collar and long, wide sleeves. In its hand was a long metal pole. The mask magically changed from an angry design in red, orange, and black to a cheerful face painted in blue, green, and pink.

“Why hello there, creatures…” It said cheerfully; its genderless voice sounding like it was echoing in the mask.

“What are you doing out here?” Madison asked.

“Better yet, who are you and what do you want?” Nick shot out.

“My name is Transavomusa; but feel free, my audience, to call me Muse.” Muse bowed. “And my purpose…is to bring myself joy…maybe I can bring myself joy using my new audience…”

Xander walked forwards. “Hi there, the name’s Xander.” He said with a wink. “You seem like a friendly creature, and we’d hate to hurt you, so maybe we could all come to some sort of agreement as to what we can all do to make this painless for all of us.”

Muse giggled and blushed. “Oh, a charming audience member!” The face then changed to its fiery glare as it rammed the end of its pole into Xander’s stomach, knocking him backwards into the rest of the group. “I HATE CHARMING PEOPLE!”

“Let’s Ranger Up.” Nick said, reaching for his morpher. The rest of the group complied. They then synchronously punched in 1-2-3 into the morphers before setting the tips of their morphers in wand mode to the symbols on their gauntlets.

“Magical Source, Mystic Force!” They shouted, swinging their morpher arms like windmills before pointing the wand tips to the sky.

“Galwit Mysto Ranger!” The morphers cried out in a triumphant voice as it transformed the Rangers into their suits.

“Yay! My audience got dressed up for the show!” Muse said, clapping. “So, I’ll put on an extra special show!”

Muse quickly swung its pole, creating a line of fire between itself and the group. “FIRE! Fire…okay, that’s not impressive.” Muse put a hand to its chin as its face outlines turned completely grey and soft.

“Let’s end this!” Nick shouted, changing his wand into a sword. The group all nodded, then charged all at once.

“Wait! What are you doing? You’re supposed to be enjoying my show!” Muse shouted. The face changed back to red. “How dare you attack me!”

Mere moments before they struck, Muse held up its staff, then pulled it apart, creating a giant fan shield which the Rangers bounced off of violently, causing sparks to fly from their uniforms as they were knocked out of their morphs.

“Now sit down as I perform my favoritest trick of all time!” Muse said as it looked around for something. “Uh oh…my bag is gone…I’ll have to improvise…” The Rangers slowly got up as Muse opened up the fan as far as it would go. “Here I go! You ready?”

Muse waved its fan, shouting “Presto Festo Espirto Levio!”, causing the Rangers to glow white once the fan touched the ground. Once Muse lifted the fan, the white light culminated into white orbs, which shot over into Muse’s giant fan. The Rangers’ heads hung down and they dropped to their knees as Muse began to play around with the orbs, tossing them back and forth.

“Juggle, juggle, juggle…souly souly juggle…” Muse said happily as it tossed the white orbs of light around. After a minute, Muse noticed that its audience was comatose. “Oh, that always happens!” Muse said, stomping its foot on the ground. “Fine, no more show!” Muse shot the white orbs back into the Rangers, knocking them backwards into unconscious. “See if I ask any of you to be in my audience again…”

Muse walked off just as Daggeron arrived.

“Guys, wake up!” Daggeron said, shaking them. None of them, however, woke up. They didn’t even respond. Daggeron checked to see if they were alive, which they were the reported back.

“Any idea with what I should do, Udonna?” He asked.

“We have a few spare rooms that we can let the Rangers stay here until they wake up. Then, if anything happens to them, we can easily tend to them.”

“Good idea.” Daggeron said. He then made quick work of transporting the Rangers back to Rootcore.

[Angelfox]

Interesting start...

[Impy]

Kuh-ray-zay good, hon.


...Maddie needs to get in that dress and drop a pencil or something immediately. >_____>

[hasso_opitz]

K. Sleeping demon, they sleep. I wonder if it will develop into each ranger overcomes their own dream, wake up, and help Daggeron? Probably wrong.

[GreenNinja]

Nice start. Love the bit with the nod to Madison and Vida's (and Syd and Z's) Sound Figures and how they lack important things, like voices.

[hasso_opitz]

Nice start. Love the bit with the nod to Madison and Vida's (and Syd and Z's) Sound Figures and how they lack important things, like voices.
ooooo I missed this, what part was it in?

[DarkStarShadow]

ooooo I missed this, what part was it in?

Chip pouted. “I mean, even if Wonder Woman makes sounds that imitate her Invisible Jet…it’s still a collectible!”

there.

[hasso_opitz]

there.
Thanks.

[DarkStarShadow]

And now the fun begins.

Chapter Two: Completely Different

"Now it's time for something completely different."








The Rangers slept through the rest of the day and into the night. Naturally, the denizens of Rootcore who weren’t unconscious were worried, but Clare, knowing how everybody in the group seemed to spring back from bad injuries, continued to keep a happy disposition about the ordeal.

She even stayed up extra late to sweep the main room in order for the next day. At around three am, she heard the sound of footsteps trudging down from the second floor bedrooms. She smiled and turned around to find Xander coming down the stairs like a zombie, eyes struggling to stay open.

“You’re alive!” She shouted, running up to Xander and hugging him.

“Wha…? Why…why wouldn’t I…be…?” He asked groggily, still mostly asleep.

“You guys have been in a coma all day!”

“We…were…?” Xander asked.

“Don’t you remember?” Clare asked, helping him into a chair.

“A little…everything’s kinda hazy…maybe I just need some more sleep…”

“You wanna sleep down here?” Clare asked. “I can pull out the couch…”

“Sure.” Xander said with a warm smile. “Could I have a glass of water or something…?”

“Of course!” Clare said, pulling out the couch and pulling a few blankets off the back of it for Xander. Xander got up and walked to the couch, tossing himself onto it and pulling his cape tightly around him, ignoring the blankets. Clare walked back in with a glass of water, which he sat up and began to drink.

“Do you feel any better now?” Clare asked.

“A little.” Xander replied, taking a long drink and finishing the glass. He then handed the glass back. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

“I remember a little bit…you still want to know…?” Xander asked, sounding slightly more awake.

“Of course.” Clare replied.

“It’s flashing in and out, like an old movie…we were in the park…I was there, in the grass…there was running…I was chasing…being chased…something like that…we got called to chase the monster…and we got there…I was on the left, no right…center…? No, no…the monster attacked me…it looked, felt painful…and we attacked…we got knocked back, and then the fan…and then I remember feeling like I was floating…does that make any sense?...but the next thing after that is here.”

“Interesting.” Clare replied. “You should go to sleep…I mean, you’ve slept a lot today, but you look really tired, so…oh, just sleep.”

Xander nodded and curled up on the couch, quickly falling asleep.

The silence of Rootcore that followed was abruptly shattered at sunrise by the piercing scream that only Madison could do. Xander sat up and blinked and Madison ran down the stairs. Once her eyes locked onto Xander, they widened for a moment, then narrowed in malice. She charged at Xander, grabbing him by the collar and tossing him to the floor. She raised her fist in preparation to give him the worst beatdown of his life.

“Whoa, calm down Maddie!” Xander said, holding up his hands.

“Who are you?” Madison shouted. “What do you want from me?”

“What?”

“Who the hell are you?” Madison screamed. “What did you do to me?”

Chip was the next to run down. “What the hell is going down out here?” Chip said, confused.

Xander stared as Chip came down and grabbed Madison, pulling her off.

“What’s wrong with you, screaming like a banshee and waking me up? Have you gone completely postal?”

“Wha…what?” Madison asked, giving Chip a confused look.

Xander stood up quietly, a confused look upon his face. He poked Chip lightly against his temple.

“Ow, what was that for, Xander?” Chip said, giving him a dirty look.

“Oh, you’re not a figment of my imagination.” Xander replied. “Something’s up here…”

Vida was the next to arrive, walking down to the main hall in an unusually calm manner.

“What’s going on here?” She asked. She noticed Chip looking at her in a horrified manner. “You okay, Chip? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.” Vida laughed softly.

Xander looked between Vida and Chip. “Hmmm…” He sat back on the couch as Nick arrived, rubbing his eyes with his right hand and yawning.

“What’s all the noise…? I’m trying to sleep, and all I hear is yelling, and fighting and-” Nick took one look at Madison, and he gasped heavily. “What the hell…?”

Xander laughed as he looked downwards. “I get it…”

The other four looked at him. “What?”

Xander looked up, a wide grin plastered on his face. “How about we play a little game…?”

“Right now isn’t the best time for games, Xander.” Vida said.

“Oh no, hear me out.” Xander said, holding his hand up. “Since we all seem to be confused, why don’t we all go around the room and introduce ourselves? That way, there won’t be any more confusion.” He said, smiling again.

“Not a bad idea…not a bad idea at all.” Vida said, crossing her arms and nodding.

Xander pointed to Chip first. “Why don’t you start us off?”

“You forgot who I am?” Chip scoffed. “I’m Vida, you jackass.”

“Don’t worry, I believe you.” Xander said, looking a bit scared.

Whomever who was in Vida’s body was next. “Well, I used to be Nick…” He then nudged the person in his body. “Mind telling me who you are?”

“Well, this’s gonna be odd…but I’m Madison.” There came a sour look from Madison’s body.

“Wait, if none of you are Chip…then that means he’s in my body…” Madison said, looking slightly disturbed. “Oh god, my life is ruined…” A sigh was preceded by the hanging of Madison’s head and the placing of her face in her hands.

“Don’t worry, Xander…” Vida, in Chip’s body, said, frowning as she walked over and hugged Xander, who had caused Madison’s body to erupt in tears. “We can fix this…”

“Well, let’s not waste any time here blubbering over things we can’t control.” Nick, in Vida’s body, said. “Let’s figure out what we’re going to do for the time being.”

“Okay…where do we start?” Chip, in Xander’s body, said, standing up.

“I’ll go out and look around for that Muse…thing.” Vida said. “It’s probably still in the forest…I’ll sneak around, maybe jump attack it and knock it out. Good idea?”

“Go for it.” Nick said. Vida grinned and ran out after sitting Xander down in a chair.

“I think to first thing we should do is sort’ve set of a system of communication…” Nick said. “How’re we gonna talk to each other? By whose name will we call each other?”

“I say go with who the person really is.” Chip said. “I’ll call you Nick, you call me Chip. I mean, it’ll take some getting used to, but I think it’ll end up being easier for everybody.”

“You two fine with that?” Nick asked. Xander and Madison nodded. “We’ll let Vida know when we see her again.”

“Okay, what now?” Chip said.

“What’re we going to do now?” Madison, in Nick’s body, asked. “I mean…do we just avoid everybody until this is all over…?”

“We can’t.” Chip said. “Even if we wanted to, it would look pretty suspicious if we never, at the very least, went home until this was over.”

“Well, I don’t know where Nick lives…” Madison said weakly.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute…we can’t go to each other’s houses…” Nick said, giving Chip a look.

“Well, we can’t go to the homes we’d normally go to. I mean, my mom would be a little suspicious with Xander showing up at her door…and I’m pretty sure Maddie can’t go home in your body.” Chip replied.

“My mom wouldn’t mind Madison visiting…” Xander said.

“Well, that’s your mom.” Chip said. “We’re talking about us as a group.”

“Do we still go to work…?” Madison asked.

Xander’s eyes widened. “What about today? We’re already…” He went to look at his watch, but realized that Madison didn’t wear watches. “Dammit. Chip, what time is it?”

Chip looked down at his watch. “It’s 11:45 am. We’re nearly three hours late.”

“Oh, fuck it today.” Nick said. “Sundays are slow. Toby’ll be fine.”

“We can only hope so.” Madison replied. “I’d hate to get fired…”

“We won’t get fired.” Xander said.

“Toby’s out of his mind,” Chip replied. “we’ve driven him insane with our constant unreliability; what’s an entire day to him? If he hasn’t fired us yet, he’ll never fire us.”

“…Point taken.” Xander said. “So we go tomorrow?”

“Yup. We go to the homes our current bodies belong to tonight, and we all go to work in the morning.”

“I tell ya, this is quite possibly the craziest thing we’ve ever done.” Xander said.

“Why don’t you come up with a better idea?” Nick asked, giving Xander a look.

“Wait…wait.” Madison said. “What will we do at work? I mean, I can’t go around calling Nick by his name…Toby will think I’ve gone nuts.”

“Hmmm…” Chip mused. “Well, in public, we’ll just have to be self-conscious of whose body we’re in.”

“Yeah, remember, Geek Boy, you’re in *my* body.” Xander said. “You can’t go running around insanely with a blanket tied around your neck fighting imaginary monsters anymore.”

“I don’t do that all the time!” Chip replied defensively.

“Well, since you’re telling him what not to do in your body, I’m telling you to not dress like a whore in mine.” Madison commented.

“Your definition of ‘whore’ and my definition of ‘whore’ are two different things, Madison. I’ll try to uphold yours, but I’m sure as hell not guaranteeing anything.”

“Ugh…” Madison sighed. “Well, try hard.”

“Hard…? Sure.” Xander replied. Madison sighed.

Deep in the forest, Muse continued on its journey to find a good audience. Necrolai approached the monster, smiling widely.

“Oh! An audience!” Muse said cheerily. “Do you have any friends? I love doing gigs for crowds!”

“Ah, I’ve found you at last…” Necrolai said with a shrilling laugh. “My Master requests that you join his own audience.”

Vida poked her head out from up in a tree, watching the situation. “Why would Necrolai be asking Muse to join the Master…?” She grinned. “Only one way to find out…” She leaped from the tree branch, yelling as she fell towards the ground. She mistimed her landing, and she fell to the ground on her right side. “Ow…” She then got up, dusting herself off.

“Oh look, it’s the Yellow Ranger…” Necrolai said. “A little off today with your playful antics, are we?”

“Hey!” Vida shouted. “I’m the…” She then realized she was in Chip’s body. “I’m the…one who’s taking Muse with me!” She rebounded, pointing at Muse.

“Oh! A fight over my act!” Muse said, giggling. “I’m suddenly so popular!”

“You’re gonna fix us, you giggling maniac, or I’m gonna break limbs!” Vida threatened.

“Since when did the Yellow Magician have any sort of backbone…?” Necrolai mused.

“Oh no! Scary!” Muse said, looking frightened. “RUN AWAY!” Muse turned its fan into a pair of coconut halves and banged them together as it ran away into the forest at a ludicrous speed.

“Oh great! Muse ran away!” Necrolai shouted as she turned around. “I’ll see you again, Yellow Ranger…” She snapped her fingers and disappeared into a portal beneath her.

Vida sighed. “Man…that was close.” She sighed. “Well, guess I’ve got nothing to show for the bruised shoulder…” She began to head back to Rootcore. “Chip’s gonna…he’s gonna ask how high I was in the tree…ugh…”

The rest of the day was devoted to getting the basics of each other’s lives down, such as important phone numbers and names, home addresses, and rough outlines of each other’s days. As night fell, the group dispersed, going to their temporary homes. Nick decided to hand his bike over to Madison for the time being with a heavy heart, hoping that she would know how to operate it without crashing.

Luckily, Madison made it to Nick’s house just fine after the first few wobbles and near-accidents, but she felt completely nervous and afraid. She parked the bike, walked into Nick’s room, and locked the door.

Nick’s room was nearly spartan in manner; nothing but a bed, a night stand, and a dresser lined the room, and even then, the dresser top was bare besides essentials, and the night stand only had a lamp and an alarm clock on top. Plain white curtains lined the only window in the room, and the only hint of color lied in the red wallpapered walls and the red blanket on his bed.

“So…dead in here.” Madison said, lying back on the bed. The bed itself was almost as stiff as a board.

Almost six blocks away, Chip nearly died as he walked into Xander’s room.

“Holy crap.” Chip said as he closed the door and locked it. “It’s almost what I thought Xander’s room would be like…in fact, I gotta say it’s like he stole my mental image to decorate…”

The room was painted green, with posters of various supermodels and blonde bombshells in suggestive and almost lewd poses and clothes plastered on the walls. There was a large mahogany armoire in the corner farthest from the door, next to the bed. A smaller dresser with a mirror attached sat across from that on the other side of the bed. There was also a door that led to a walk in closet, along with a door for a medium-sized personal bathroom. The sink inside was covered with tons of bottles, jars, and cans of things he had never seen before.

“God, he’s got more crap than my mom.” Chip said, picking up a small jar of pomade before sitting it down.

The mahogany four post bed, despite it being late summer, was topped off with a thick green comforter, and equally fluffy green pillows. Chip resisted the urge to start jumping on it, and opted instead to drop gracefully onto it, which he nearly sunk into it.

“God, it’s like a hotel…a really expensive hotel…” Chip kicked off his shoes and curled up on top of the sheets. Just as he had gotten comfortable and almost passed out, his morpher rang. His eyes shot open. “Who in the hell…?”

He answered the phone. “Hello…?”

“…Chip?” It was Nick’s voice, which Chip quickly reminded himself that it was actually Madison calling.

“…Maddie?” He replied.

“Mhm. I accidentally called your phone, and I got Vida…she went off about how her shoulder was killing her, then we said goodnight and stuff. I’m just calling to see how you are.”

“…You never call me at night. What’s wrong?” Chip said, quickly using the morpher to turn off the light.

“I…I don’t know. I just feel awkward in here.”

“You should see Xander’s room. It’s like my mom’s room, only there’s more beauty products and it’s green.” Chip joked. Madison laughed softly.

“Nick’s room is pretty barren…I tried looking for another blanket, but there’s nothing in here.”

“I wish I could go over and visit…but Xander showing up at Nick’s house would be quite the interesting topic.”

“Yeah…” Madison said, sounding like she was pained to hear it. “I miss you already.”

“Same here.”

“I’m afraid, though.”

“About what?”

“That Xander’s doing horrible things to my room…to me.”

“Ten bucks says he’s checking you out in a mirror.”

“Twenty says he’s completely naked doin it.”

“Forty says Nick’s joined in with Vida.”

“God, the horrid mental images.” Madison sounded completely grossed out.

“As long as he doesn’t do anything else to you…anything…inappropriate…I wouldn’t worry. In fact, if I was stuck as you, I can bet you that I’d at least check out what you gripe about.”

“Oh, thanks for trying to make me feel better.” Madison flatly replied.

“Well, that one time you griped about your hips being fat or whatever…you’re always so self-conscious…if you feel bad, and what you said was right, I’d try hard to help you out.”

“Well, that’s sweet of you.” Madison replied. “…I’m never going to get used to this.”

“Me neither.” Chip replied.

“I mean…hearing Xander’s voice…being sincere and sweet? It’s so…disturbing.”

“Here, I’ll try harder to be Xander.” Chip cleared his throat. “Hey pretty lady, I’m a hungry little koala and you’re my little eucalyptus leaf. Get over here soz I can eat you whole.”

“That…was horribly inaccurate…” Madison replied, trying not to laugh. “But I don’t think I’d put it past Xander to say something like that.”

“Neither would I.”

A minute or so of silence filled the line, then Madison spoke up again. “Chip?”

“Yeah…?”

“I fear tomorrow.”

“The only thing to fear is fear itself. And Xander in your body, but we can deal with him.”

“It’s going to be miserable.”

“I’ll help you through it. I promise.”

“Thank you, hun.”

“Any time, babe.”

“Goodnight.”

“Sleep well.”

“Not on this bed, I won’t.”

“Try for me?”

“Of course.”

“Goodnight, Maddie.”

“’Night, Chip.” She hung up.

“Poor Madison…” Chip sighed as he closed his morpher up and passed out.

[sushimonster724]

Good Job...I can't wait to read the rest of it...:023:

[GreenNinja]

My brain laughed hilariously and then exploded...both from the laughter and trying to keep straight who was who.

[Lin Date]

Very nice.

[DarkStarShadow]

My brain laughed hilariously and then exploded...both from the laughter and trying to keep straight who was who.

For those of you who are confused:

Character -> The body they currently inhabit

Xander –> Madison
Nick –> Vida
Vida –> Chip
Madison –> Nick
Chip –> Xander

[J-Ranger]

The second part was really creative and quite funny. Well done.

[DaisiChain]

I think your story is awesome!

That chart helps to keep track of who's who.... it was getting confusing...

Now, Xander and Nick are at the same house... trapped in girl bodies.... where is this chapter?? ;-)

[DarkStarShadow]

Woot for updates. Nice to se ya'll again.



Chapter Three – Step Outside

“Once you step outside yourself, your flaws stick out with ease.”

Madison was the first of the crew to wake up the next morning, and she panicked a bit as she looked around and realized that she was in Nick’s room. She sat up fast and jumped out of bed; she hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothes Nick had been wearing yesterday, so she knew exactly what was going on. She sat back down on the bed and sighed deeply.

“So I wasn’t just having a nightmare…” She muttered. She then looked around looking for Nick, then realizing that it was her voice. She sighed again. “I’m not going to get used to this.” She stood up and walked into the bathroom next door to Nick’s room. “This is going to be awkward…”

A few blocks away, Chip’s ears were violated by a blaring guitar and a high-strung voice screaming song lyrics.

“Workin’ like a dog for the boss man
Workin’ for the company
Bettin’ on the dice I’m tossin’
I’m gonna have a fantasy…”

Chip thrust out Xander’s hand to connect with the alarm clock, instantly shutting off the song and grunting into the pillow. “I. Fucking. Hate. Aerosmith.” He then scrunched up his face and drove his head into the pillow, trying to force himself awake. “God, I feel so tired…” Chip said, getting up and yawning. “Xander sleeps like a damn rock…” He rubbed his eyes and slid out of bed, walking into the bathroom and slowly waking up. “I’m gonna need some caffeine…or something…” He muttered as she shut the door behind him.

Vida yawned as she woke up. The smell of cinnamon filled her nose, causing her to jolt up. Chip’s stomach grumbled, and Vida groaned. “Food…or shower…?” She said, sitting up. “Shower, shower…or I’ll forget to do it later…” She got up and walked towards the bathroom, trying to keep from making a mad dash downstairs. “Must…shower…” She whimpered as she slunk into the bathroom to get ready for work.

As soon as she finished up and got dressed, she ran as fast as she could downstairs. A woman in a housedress smiled. “Geez, Charlie, you nearly left burn marks this time!” She joked. As she turned around, her large orangish-brown bun bounced around the back of her head. “You want a cinnamon bun? I just freshly made them, and I know how much you like them…” Her tone was reminiscent of a 50’s TV mom, which grated a bit on Vida’s nerves. It seemed so superficial to her, although she was sure that this was normal and accepted by Chip.

“Sure, mom.” She replied, trying to fit into the character of a typically polite-to-adults Chip. The woman stopped midway in her movement, then stood up straight and stared at Chip in shock.

“Did…you just call me…mom?” She asked, her tone dropping.

“Did I say something wrong?” Vida asked, cringing up in preparation for a beating of sorts.

“No, it’s…” She put the tray of cinnamon buns on top of the oven. “you…never called me mom before.” She said, walking over to Vida. “That…that means a lot to me.” She hugged Vida, which creeped Vida out a little.

“Oh…well…okay…” Vida was unsure of what to say. She heard a car horn honking outside. “Oh, there’s Xander…” The woman replied, letting go of Vida and walking back to the cinnamon buns. “Here, I’ll pack two and you can give him one.” She wrapped the gooey sticky buns in their own wax paper envelopes before she gently placed them both into a brown paper bag. “Have a good day at work.” She kissed Vida on the cheek and sent her out to greet the real Chip, who was sitting outside.

Vida sat down and sat the bag of cinnamon buns. Chip seemed to have an unusually upsetting demeanor about him; he looked like he was either anxious or agitated. Vida, being only somewhat trained in reading body language, was unsure which it was, but she knew that he was obviously rattled up about something. “About time.” He spat.

“Sorry about that.” Vida replied. “Your mom’s a bit loony this morning…she packed us cinnamon buns and stuff.”

Chip gave her a vicious glare as he began wildly pulling out of the driveway. “She’s not my mother.”

Vida gasped. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Chip replied unassuringly; he floored the car down the open road. Vida clinged to the armrest and the door handle.

“Geez, Chip, do you even have your license?” Vida shouted.

“Yeah, got it last year. I just don’t have the money to buy a car.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t buy video games and comic books, then.” Vida giggled. Chip didn’t reply; he was focused on driving. Vida almost felt like jumping out of the car and brooming it to Rockporium.

Xander woke up last with a large yawn; stretching and sighing. He jumped out of bed, forgetting that he was now Madison for a moment and thinking he got lucky the night before. The bedroom door opened. “Hey Xander.” Xander turned around and saw Vida’s head poking in the room. Xander jumped.

“What’re you doing here?” Xander asked.

“Um, because Vida lives here.” Nick replied.

“Who are you again?”

“I’m Nick.”

“Oh.” Xander sighed. “God, this’s confusing.”

“I know, but I’m slowly getting used to it. It’s not too hard; I mean, we’re all pretty much ourselves, persona-wise…we’re just in the wrong bodies.”

Xander froze. “Oh god…Chip’s in my body, right?”

“Yes, yes he is.” Nick replied, sounding annoyed.

“Oh god, why?” Xander said, grabbing the sides of his head. Nick walked in and walked Xander into the bathroom.

“Get washed up and ready for work, and stop panicking…” Nick began rattling off.

“This is a nightmare!” Xander screamed.

“Shush.” Nick said, laying a hand over Xander’s mouth. “Now bathe and relax.” He slapped Xander’s ass, then walked out, locking the door behind him. Xander stood there, shocked.

“Well, that was awkward…and yet randy.”

Madison took a while to figure out how to properly ride Nick’s motorcycle before driving off to Rockporium. Toby had opened up shop that morning, so she parked in the back lot and walked inside.

“Nick, you’re early!” Toby exclaimed as he looked up from the cash register. “You wanna help me out by sorting through that box over there and putting those records in the proper genres?”

“Sure, not a problem.” Madison replied with a smile. She then realized that neither smiling nor cheery responses were what Nick would do. “I mean…yeah…” She corrected, dropping her voice a bit and walking over to the boxes.

Chip and Vida walked in next. Vida walked up to Madison. “Please tell your man that he needs to calm down while driving. He nearly killed us twice.”

“Hey Toby!” Chip exclaimed, giving a wave. “How’s the cold?”

“You’re kidding.” Madison replied. “He’s like, the best driver on the planet.”

“Oh, I had a stomach virus, one of those 24 hour things. Probably something I ate. Anyways, I’m feeling great today.” Toby replied.

“Well, I think it’s my fault…did you know that he doesn’t live with his mom? I didn’t…” Vida replied.

“You didn’t call her ‘mom’, did you?” Madison gave a concerned look.

“That’s good to hear, Toby. You want some coffee? I really need something…” Chip said, wandering towards the back of the room.

“Yeah, just a cup of straight black, would ya? I’m beat already just being up this early.”

“What if I did…on accident…?” Vida replied. Madison hung her head low.

“God, I know what you mean…I feel like I’m dragging my feet this morning…” Chip replied.

“Should I apologize?” Vida asked.

“Hey Chip! Don’t just stand around gossiping over there, help Nick out and do something so that I can justify paying you.” Toby said.

Vida picked up the box of records and carried it over to the rack Toby wanted organized. “Here, easy work.” Vida said, winking.

“Yeah.” Madison replied. “Take care of this, okay?”

“Got it.” Vida replied. Madison walked over to Chip, who had taken to Xander’s chair and was bouncing his leg waiting for the coffee to brew.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked.

“Bad morning.” Chip replied. Madison gave him a look.

“Liar.”

“What? What do you wanna hear from me?” Chip snapped. Madison leaned back a bit in shock. “Sorry…”

“Seriously, what’s wrong?” Madison asked, sitting down in front of Chip.

“I…I didn’t wanna drive home this morning.” He replied quietly.

“I see.” Madison said softly, frowning. “Sorry about the thing with your aunt.”

“Now I have to deal with that, too. I can’t blame Vida, but I want to.” He replied, still talking in a hushed tone.

“Don’t worry…this’ll all be over soon…we’re gonna find that Muse and fix everything, okay?” Madison hugged Chip and smiled. Toby cleared his throat loudly, snapping Madison and Chip out of their world and back into reality. Madison panicked and let go of Chip.

“Listen you two, I’m cool with you two being touchy feely on break, but not on my time.” He said. Madison walked back to her post, embarrassed that she messed up.

“I’m just waiting for the coffee, boss.” Chip replied. “I can hardly keep my eyes open this morning.”

“Maybe there’s some cosmic disturbance going on…a lot of people I’ve seen today, including myself, are tired…”

“Nice shot, Maddie.” Vida muttered as her and Madison organized the records. “Now Toby thinks that Nick and Xander are gay boyfriends.”

“Well, I can’t say anything on Nick’s part, but Xander…I won’t defend him.” Madison said, grinning evilly.

“Neither you nor Nick look sane when you do that.” Vida replied.

“I know, isn’t that the point?” Madison winked.

“God, you’re so girly…you need to be broody and emotionally unattached to everybody around you.” Vida joked.

“Oddly enough, you’re doing pretty good so far…”

“I thought I was too calm.” Vida replied.

“No, no…you’d be surprised how demure he is. I’m pretty surprised he keeps up with his insanity all day.”

“I see…” Vida replied.

The front door opened and everybody looked up. Nick came walking in first; his demeanor and attire near perfect to Vida’s everyday style. “Hey Nick, Chip, Xander, Toby. Sorry we’re late, Maddie took forever to get ready.” Nick said. Even the way he talked seemed to emulate Vida’s normal speech. Vida was impressed; Nick was pulling this all off masterfully.

Behind him walked in Xander; looking so radically different that Madison had to restrain herself from tackling him to the floor and beating him senseless. He had put Madison’s hair up in a bun and clip, and he had apparently taken one of Vida’s tank tops to wear underneath her uniform, which itself was improperly buttoned and took advantage of the tank top’s revealing nature. He had then put on a pair of blue jean capris and a pair of Vida’s knee-high boots. As a final touch, a touch of clear lip gloss, eyeliner, and mascara had been applied to Madison’s face, making the whole ensemble look like some cutout from a fashion magazine. It seemed like it took forever for Xander to walk in, and Chip couldn’t help but stare and stand up, shoving his hands in his pockets nervously. Vida looked up and nearly jumped. “Stunning.” She replied. Toby looked up and did a double take. “Madison?” He asked. Xander turned around.

“Yeah, boss?” He asked.

“Okay, just checking.” He replied, going back to his bookkeeping next to the cash register.

Madison watched in anger as Chip’s eyes followed Xander walking around. She grabbed the now empty box beside her and tossed it, hitting Chip in the head and knocking him back in the chair. “Hey Xander, I need you to take that box out for me. Thanks.” She said in a somewhat angry tone.

“Hey kids, get along now.” Toby said. Chip picked up the box and took it out back, grabbing a cup of coffee for himself and Toby on the way back.

“Thanks.” Toby said, taking a sip. “Perfect. This’s some good coffee.”

“You’re welcome.” Chip said, walking back over to the chair.

Xander sighed as he was quickly assigned to record sorting with everyone else. He was used to lounging around. He watched as Chip slumped into his chair and started drinking his coffee. Xander panicked and marched up to Chip.

“Put. The coffee. Down.” He said angrily.

Chip looked up to face Madison’s cleavage coupled with an angry face. It was an awkward combination, but he managed to deal with it. He then realized that, at this moment, he was ‘supervising’ Xander. The revenge module in his head kicked in and he grinned happily. “Excuse me?” Chip replied.

“Drop the coffee. Last thing I need you giving me is stained teeth.”

“Stained teeth should be the least of your worries.” Chip snipped, taking a sip of the coffee.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Xander replied, giving Chip an angry look.

“I know your stupid little fear that you have. I wouldn’t tempt me to do something that would make your worst fears come true.”

Xander’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“Is this about the figurine thing the other day? If it is, I’m sorry…”

“No, no…don’t grovel now. It won’t help you. Just don’t make me feel like I gotta do something…insane…and we’ll be cool. We cool?”

Xander sighed deeply. “We’re cool.” He replied, defeated.

“Good. Get back to work.” He said, waving Xander off.

Twenty minutes later, Chip was ready to go as he blasted a metal track over the PA system and rolled around the room in an office chair from the back room.

“Keep the pace! Let’s go!” He shouted as he pushed himself backwards across the length of the store. Xander stood and glared, and Chip retaliated by smacking him on the ass with a rolled up newspaper. “Just because you look pretty, Maddie, doesn’t mean you can’t work. Move it!”

Xander glared. “C’mon, get moving. No exceptions here…” Chip rolled off and greeted Nick and Vida, who were over organizing the bargain bin. “Nice work, you two.” He then noticed that a Metallica album had been tossed in with a pile of Beatles albums. He pulled it out and shook it. “Ah ha! You’re slacking!” He mock scolded. “Chip, you organize the records. Vida, you make sure he’s putting them where they’re supposed to go.”

“You got it!” Vida and Nick replied.

Toby, who had moved into his office for further bookkeeping purposes, walked out to check and make sure his employees hadn’t left yet. He watched as Chip rolled over to Madison, who was over at the cash register, and began bagging the newly bagged merchandise. “So all he needs is a cup of coffee…huh…” He muttered. Chip looked up and spotted Xander, who had yet again stopped working. “Madison…” Chip scolded, walking back over to Xander. “Hmm…my employees…they’re working…this is…this is wonderful!”

Madison glared at Xander; he was making her look bad. She grabbed Chip by the arm. “Could you work the register for me?”

“Not a problem.” Chip replied. Madison walked up to Xander and sneered. Xander looked back, oblivious to the problem.

“Do you need something?” Xander asked.

“I need you to stop being a lazy whore and get some work done.” Madison said softly. “You’re in my body; you need to respect my work ethic. Do something.”

“I don’t do this. This isn’t my job.”

“No, it’s mine, so start doing it.” Madison walked back over to the register and began muttering to Chip. “God, he’s lazy.”

“I’ll keep him in order. Go help out the customers; I’ve got the register for ya.”

“Thanks, hun.” Madison replied, walking off to help a woman sorting through the collection of rock magazines.

Xander became entranced as a young woman walked into the store. The girl blazed past him, giving him a disturbed look. “What, nerd?” She said as she walked up to the register.

“Can I…help you?” Chip said. He too recognized the girl as the head cheerleader from school. The girl leaned on the counter, showing off her assets to Chip.

“You could…help me, in a way.” She said, twirling her long black hair in her fingers. “See, I just dumped my loser boyfriend…”

“Sorry to hear that. You two were a real…couple.” Chip nearly gagged to say such a thing; they were the stereotypical pretty boy quarterback and sexy lead cheerleader couple, connected by their beauty only, with no real attraction.

“So, I was wondering if you could help me out…”

“I don’t think I could help hook you up with the head linebacker, if that’s what you mean.” Chip said, trying to be nice.

“You’re funny! I like that.”

“Glad you do.”

“Anyways, I was just wondering…” She began twirling her hair around faster. “I know your friends are always dragging you down the popularity pole, especially the spazzy Cape Boy and all…”

“He’s not a spaz.” Chip said, insulted. “He just…escapes reality often.”

“How nice of you to say.” She replied. “Anyways…I was wondering if you’d like to go out on a date with me tonight.”

Chip kept from laughing. “Sorry, but I’m seriously not interested.”

“Oh well, your loss.” She scoffed. “I was just trying to do you a favor.” She stormed out. Chip looked up to see Xander giving him a frightened and enraged look. He stormed up to the counter.

“What the hell did you tell her?!” Xander growled through gritted teeth.

“She wanted to go on a date, and I declined.”

“How could you?! I’ve been making advances for weeks, and you screw it all up for me!” Xander shouted, slamming his fists on the counter.

Chip grinned evilly. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Xander’s eyes widened. “Now, if you’d like to man the register, that’d be nice. I gotta step out for a moment, so if you could be a doll and do that for me, that’d be nice…yeah…” Xander stared at Chip as he left his post. “Be back in five, Toby!” Chip shouted as he walked out the front door.

Xander sighed deeply and began his work at the register.

Leelee entered roughly a minute later and began looking around the store. She began to watch the Rangers, noticing little nuances which drew suspicion into her mind.

Something isn’t right…Nick is being all quiet and nervous…Chip is all…not running around insanely…Madison is agitated, clearly…and Vida is silently working by herself…did I get sucked into an alternate universe of sorts…?

Chip walked in with a bag from the comic shop down the street, and Xander’s eyes widened as Chip flung himself into the big orange lounge chair and began to pull out what he had bought: the latest issue of The Flash. “Finally…” He muttered as he leaned back and began reading. From Leelee’s viewpoint, Xander had just took a step into geekiness and Madison looked like she was about to rend him limb from limb for it.

God, Mom would love to hear about this… Leelee left the store without so much as a goodbye.

Chip swiftly read through the comic and finished off the book faster than the rock song blasting above him could play. He set the comic back softly into the cardboard backing and sighed happily. Toby watched as he then walked over to a customer and showed him over to the right section. Toby grinned. “I see…” He then walked over and tapped Chip on the shoulder. “Can I see you in my office for a moment…?”

Chip became nervous. “Sure…boss…” He followed Toby into his office.

As soon as Toby closed the door behind them, Chip began to flake. “I’m sorry about the comic book reading…I was sure everything was under control and that I wasn’t needed, I promise that I won’t do that aga-”

“Calm down, Xander, calm down…” Toby said. “Take a seat.”

Chip gulped and sat down. Toby sat at his desk, leaning back in his chair in preparation of the coming speech.

“How long have you been working here, Xander?”

“Ugh…” Chip did the math; Xander had been working for at least a year before he bought his car…“Nearly three years, I think.”

“Three and a half, actually.”

“Heh, time flies, doesn’t it?”

“It does, yes, it does.” Toby says. “Now, you’ve filled in as an unofficial supervisor, getting the same pay as the rest of my employees for the last year…lately, I’ve been deciding a few things based on your work habits.”

Chip tensed up. Had he just screwed Xander over?

“Whenever you guys aren’t running out of here like there’s a fire or whatever, you guys have worked hard; but I must say, you’ve strived to be the best, and it’s paid off…today especially.”

Chip sighed. “You had me worried there for a second, Boss.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Toby smiled. “Ah, to have the employee’s fear…anyways. I’ve considered this for weeks, and I’ve come to a conclusion. How would you like a dollar an hour wage increase?”

Chip stared wide-eyed, confused. “A…raise…?”

“Yeah, a raise. We’ve had a good chain of months ever since Nick joined the crew, and I feel like passing it on to my next in command. What do ya say?”

“Ugh…ugh…sure! Yes! A raise sounds great!” Chip replied, blurting out his words and startling Toby a bit.

“Alright then, I’ll start that up next week. Now, you can take a lunch break with the rest of the group…just don’t decide to book while you’re out.”

“I’ll keep them in line.” Chip said, beaming.

“Good to hear. Now get going.”

Chip nearly leaped out of the chair and back out into Rockporium.

Xander walked up to him, worried. “What happened…?”

“I…just got you a raise.” Chip said in a bragging tone. Xander went pale.

“A…a raise…?” Xander squeaked.

“A buck an hour extra, starting next week.” Chip beamed.

“That’s…so great…” Xander said in a drifting tone as he walked past Chip and into the back room.

They went on break without Xander for a half hour, and Chip shared the good news. Once they returned, they found Xander, with Vida’s hooded and sleeveless jacket on, covering his head, with his face lying against the counter. Nick, trying to stay in character, walked up to him and leaned down.

“Maddie…?” He said softly, to which he got no response. “Hello in there…?” He softly knocked on Xander’s head, causing Xander to swat at him.

“Go away. Make him and the rest of you go away.” Xander replied, his voice cracking a bit.

“To the back room we go…” Nick said, ushering Xander into the back room.

Nick sat Xander down, who then proceeded to whimper. “Xander, you okay…?”

“It’s unfair!” Xander shouted as he began to cry.

Nick half-frowned and tried patting Xander on the back to make him feel better. “What’s unfair?”

“Stupid…Chip…ruining everything!” He shouted, sniffling.

“Ugh…” Nick wasn’t sure how to reply. “You wanna…take a half day or something…?” Xander looked up at Nick, long streaks of black running down his face. Nick snorted lightly. “Are you…wearing mascara?”

“Hey, Maddie has mascara, so I figured that I’d do her a favor and wear it.” Xander replied defensively.

“So does Vida, but I went au natural.” Nick replied, giving Xander a look.

“Whatever…" Xander sniffled, looking down. “I’m going home…”

“I’ll take you home, okay…?”

Xander didn’t reply, but merely continued crying. “You…don’t wanna go chill at home?”

“I’m a horrible excuse for Maddie!” Xander screamed, tossing himself against Nick.

“Whoa, hey…calm down…” Nick said, his eye twitching as he reached out to try and hug Xander.

Toby popped his head in. “Oh hey Vida…is Maddie okay?”

Nick panicked and began to think on his toes. “Um…Maddie’s…pet goldfish died this morning.” He said.

“I’m horrible!” Xander shouted, not paying any attention. Nick tried to calm him down by giving him a stiff back rub.

“Oh…”

“Goldie’s been in the family for years…she thinks she overfed him, but he just rolled over because it was his time.”

“Well I…hope she’ll feel better.” Toby replied. “Does she…need some time off…?”

“Would you guys be okay if her and I left for the day to grieve…?” Nick asked nicely.

“Oh! You guys’ve done a lot today…go ahead.”

“Thank you, Toby.” Nick said, standing himself and Xander up and walking back to the parking lot.

Once they were out of range, Xander looked up. “That was amazing…I thought we…we were gonna get busted.”

“You think you’re such a smooth talker…” Nick joked. “I’ve been doing that kind of shit since I was in middle school.”

“…Wow…” Xander replied as they walked to Nick’s motorcycle.

“Sit.” Nick said, handing Xander a helmet. Xander did so while fastening the helmet. “K, if you don’t wanna go home, then where would you like to go…?”

“How about…the mall?” Xander replied.

“If you’ll calm down there, then let’s go.” Nick revved the bike up.

“Hey…do I have to, like…grab you and stuff…?” Xander said.

“Until this bike magically grows a seatbelt for the passenger, yeah.”

“This is going to be awkward.” Xander replied.

“Just pretend I’m Vida, like everybody else. Now don’t tell me you wouldn’t like to give Vi a hug…?”

“No arguments there…” Xander said, wrapping his arms around Nick before they took off for the mall.

[DarkStarShadow]

I hope you guys haven't given up on this fic yet...I know it's been three long ass months...but I finally finished it! ^__^

Enjoy!




Chapter Four – Memory

"Even when we forget ourselves, our bodies still have their own memory..."

Muse made its way around the streets of Briarwood, chasing a small mouse around. “Wait for me!” It shouted, diving into busy traffic in hot pursuit of the small rodent. “We have adventures to have! We have an old friend to find here and dance with!”

The mouse sprouted wings and flew off, much to Muse’s disappointment. “Come back!” Muse shouted.

“Hey!” Daggeron called out as he flew down on his carpet.

“Go away, chubby knight! I can’t catch my mouse!” Muse opened up its fan and blew him and the carpet away. Then Muse began to chase the flying mouse into another part of town.

At the mall, Nick and Xander walked to the main fountain and sat down. Xander took out Madison’s morpher and contemplated sloshing the water around a bit, but he quickly put it back into its case and followed Nick.

“Where do you want to go first?” Nick asked.

“How about to the food court? I’m starved.”

“Fine.” Nick replied, escorting Xander to the food court.

Xander stared around the food court once they got there, trying to see what he wanted. He personally wanted to head over to the pretzel shop, but his stomach completely disagreed, growling in anger at the mere thought of just settling for a pretzel. “Ugh…man, what’re you having?” Xander asked.

“I’m full; I bought one of those meatball subs down at Johnny’s at the corner, and man, are those delicious…” Nick looked over at Xander and gave him a look that signaled impatience.

“My stomach refuses to settle for just a pretzel.”

“Just a pretzel? What do you do, date cheerleaders just so that you can eat their lunches?” Xander glared at him.

“I don’t have a huge appetite most of the time…” Xander replied coldly. “I don’t feel the need to devour everything I see…in fact I eat next to nothing all the time.”

“No need to get all PMS’ey on me, Xander.” Nick rolled his eyes. “Okay…so, just look around for a bit, and see if anything piques your interest.”

Xander looked around the food court. Pizza? Nothing. Chinese? Nada. His eyes caught hold of the Mexican shack and started salivating at the very smell of the freshly cooked burritos. “Let’s go.”

“Mexican food…?” Nick looked at where Xander’s eyes were locked onto.

Xander half-dashed across the food court and promptly stopped in front of the restaurant. He ended up buying two spicy chicken and bean burritos and a soda, which he quickly paid for and sat down to eat.

“That hungry, huh?” Nick laughed.

Xander smiled. “I hate burritos…you could never tell that now, could you?” He replied before sinking his teeth into the first burrito.

“That’s odd.” Nick replied, slumping into the chair across the table from Xander and getting comfortable. Xander tried as hard as he could from eating too fast, and he finally got himself under control after a few voracious bites.

After a minute or so, Nick sighed and began to watch the people that walked by. A few girls caught him staring and gave him awkward looks, to which he responded with an equally awkward look.

“Um, Nick, hate to remind you, but you’re Vida…” He mentioned.

“Yeah, I know, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the scenery.” He replied with a sly smirk.

“I’d like to…” Xander mumbled. “I just don’t wanna make Maddie out to be…well, a swinger.”

“Oh, it’s a lovely sight, I tell ya. Ever since I moved to Briarwood, it’s been nothing but lovely girls left and right.”

“Yeah, lovely…” Xander mumbled.

Nick gave Xander a look. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Hm?” Xander took a sip of his soda.

“You don’t browse around? You, Xander Bly, Flirt Extraordinaire?”

“Not as much as people like to think.”

“Now this’s interesting…” Nick said, leaning in. “Tell me more, I’m intrigued.”

“Girls have become a bore…they all look alike, none of them are interesting…I see girls if they’re eye-catching, and that’s about it. What else do you want me to say? I’m eating.” He took another bite from his burrito.

“Snippy, snippy.” Nick replied as he sat back. “Anybody you’re really interested in besides the STD Cheerleader?”

“She doesn’t have STD’s…”

“Yeah, she does. She had crabs twice. TWICE, Xander.”

“And?”

“She’s nasty, and god, you could do so much better!”

“She’s sweet, and sincere, and she was actually interested in me.”

“She’s sweet and sincere because you have a car and a good job.”

“Whatever.” Xander said, taking another bite. “You’re just…going to…fight me…like he does…so there’s…no point…in talking…about it…anymore…”

Nick watched as Xander talked with a mouth full of burrito. It was awkward, seeing Madison displaying a lack of table manners. He did, however, lock onto what Xander had been saying. “…He? You mean your dad?”

“My dad…he lives in Long Island.” He replied, swallowing down the food in his mouth. The tone in his voice suggested a bit of resentment, but not enough to satiate Nick.

“Who, then?” Nick crossed his arms and leaned back a bit.

“…Him.” Xander replied grimly.

“…Me?” Nick pointed at himself.

“No…HIM.” Xander stared at his tray.

Nick looked down at Xander’s tray, thinking that the answer was there, but then he looked at Xander and realized what he meant. “…Chip?” Xander looked up at him, his left eye twitching a bit. “Don’t tell me this has to do with him totally getting back at you…”

“It’s got nothing to do with you…”

“I thought you two were pals! Well, besides that stupid prank thing.”

“It’s none of your business…” Xander said, waving it off and taking a bite of his burrito, finally finishing the first one off.

“I wanna hear…maybe I could help out.”

“Since when were YOU Mr. Group Member?” Xander spat out.

“Hey, I’m trying as hard as I can to fit this stupid game I have to play every waking moment of my life until we’re all switched back, okay? I’d rather be home reading a book, or learning some new spells or whatever…I don’t have to be nice!” Xander curled up in his chair and began to eat silently. Nick sighed. “…Sorry.”

“Nowr, ifs erkai.” Xander said with his mouth full. He swallowed and blushed. “Anyways…I just…I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Fine, whatever, just be a douche to Chip until the end of time. See if I care.” Nick replied rapidly.

“I never…ugh…” Xander sighed. “It’s just…the whole thing’s complicated…and I don’t wanna talk about it. It’s stupid, and it doesn’t need anybody else involved in it.”

“Okay…” Nick replied. Xander scarfed down the last burrito in silence while Nick waited, occasionally stealing a sip from Xander’s soda.

“…You wanna go shop?” Nick asked Xander once he finished the second burrito.

“You bet your ass I do.” Xander replied.

Nick smiled lightly as Xander got up and passed him. “Take him shopping. Fun.” He then got up and followed Xander around.

Down at the secondary entrance, Vida, Chip, and Madison entered, not knowing that Xander and Nick were there.

“So, Raise Boy, what’re you gonna buy?” Vida said, nudging Chip.

“Maybe some non-preppy clothes to wear. I feel like I’m dressed up for a date.” He replied, pulling slightly at his shirt collar.

“I think I’ll buy a few shirts too.” Madison replied. “Maybe something that isn’t a teeshirt or a pair of blue jeans.”

“Buy a kilt!” Vida joked. The trio then laughed.

“Let’s hit the shops, ladi-I mean, gentlemen.” He said, stopping himself.

They went to one of the more expensive men’s shops and began fooling around with the selections. Vida snuck around and picked things without Chip seeing, then dove into a dressing room. After she finished getting dressed, she called Madison and Chip up. “Come check me out!” She shouted. They walked over to the dressing rooms and Vida jumped out. Chip and Madison stared at her as if she had gone insane; she had dressed up in a pair of leather pants and a shirt they swore only Jack Sparrow himself could pull off.

“You definitely can’t wear boxers in these pants…” Vida said, noting that everyone could tell that she was still wearing them. Chip tried to hide his face in embarrassment, and Madison just continued staring.

“Please…please…no.” Chip said.

“Fine…” Vida replied. As she walked into the dressing room, she looked back out. “…Can I keep the pants?”

“Please not the shirt…” Chip replied.

“Yay!” Vida said. She then looked at the tag. “Three hundred dollars for a pair of pants? Jesus Christ!”

“Oh boy…” Madison said.

“Let’s head off to another store…” Chip suggested.

“Good idea.” Madison replied.

They went over to another store just as Nick and Xander passed by.

“Okay…” Nick began digging into Vida’s membership card collection. “We have Hot Topic, Zumies, PacSun…JC Penny’s? There’s a surprise…and some shoe shop. What’s Maddie got?”

“Haven’t checked…” Xander mumbled.

“Will you look?”

“Does it matter…?” He asked, looking up. A look of disdain drowned out the normally cheery look Madison’s eyes had.

“Really, man…you gotta chill out.”

Xander looked around and spotted a woman running about over by the main fountain. The lolita-dressed Asian woman seemed to be chasing a furry hummingbird of sorts. As he continued to watch her, he noticed the long red cane tied to the back of her waist like a samurai sword, and that the heavily decorated baby bonnet she was wearing was futily attempting to hide the fact that she had one blue eye and one yellow eye. She stopped moving for a moment, and for a millisecond of that time, a porcelain mask seemed to appear over her face, a long cape seemed to shimmer in and out of existence within the blink of an eye.

“Wow, the freaks’re coming out early, eh?” Nick said, nudging Xander softly.

“Yeah…” Xander replied softly, confused by what he had just seen. Had it been an illusion, or was he starting to crack? “The freaks obviously don’t get out much.” Xander mumbled as he pulled Maddie’s wallet out of his pocket. “Okay…got a member card to that Mexican place which I didn’t use…crap…um, something to do with shoes…and that’s it. Not even a bank card.”

“Miserable. Just…miserable.” Nick replied. “Well, pick a store out of the selection and we’ll go from there.”

“How about Hot Topic first? Sounds like a good place to start.” Xander replied. “Never been there before…”

“Oh, we’ll have fun…” Nick replied with a grin.

“Oh bugger.” Xander replied. He knew what would be coming.

As soon as they wandered inside Hot Topic, Xander became terrified. The loud metal music, the all-black attire, the piercings, and the tattoos; it was everything Xander either despised or feared, all in one store. He curled up slightly on physical instinct, though he normally would’ve just tried to put a poker face on in an emotionally charged situation such as this.

“Can we go now…?” Xander asked meekly. He tried as hard as he could to put the poker look on, but it just wasn’t coming to him.

“No, we’re going in for Vi-…I mean, me.” Nick replied. “Of course, I’ve always wanted an excuse to check out their CD’s.” Nick grinned and walked in. The girl at the counter seemed to jump at the sight of Nick.

“VI!” She shouted. Nick quickly looked at her nametag; it read ‘Vickie’.

“Vi!” He replied back as a joke. The two shared a small laugh as Vickie came out from behind the counter and hugged Nick. “Oh, you brought Homely out! Nice!”

Xander took offense to the comment; Madison was far from being homely, in his opinion. “Hey!” He began to shout, finally snapping out of his terrified state. Nick flashed him a look that seemed to scream ‘Play the role, dumbass!’, and Xander piped down, reverting back to being terrified.

“Maddie, you can make it around here without me, right?” Nick asked.

“Yeah…” Xander grumbled weakly as he headed into the back of the store to the clearance section.

“So Vi, what’s up? I haven’t seen you in MONTHS. I’ve been praying that you’d come back so that we could hang out…” Vickie said.

“Toby’s been slave driving Homely and I down at Rockporium…”

“Oh my GOD, you’re working at Rockporium? You really took up that job? I told you Toby was insane! Why didn’t you come work here with me?”

“It’s closer to home, really. If the mall were closer, I’d work here. Not bad pay, either.” Nick replied. He prayed that he didn’t just say the wrong thing to her.

Xander held up a black miniskirt. “You guys don’t have this in blue?”

Vickie snorted, and Nick smiled. “All they’ve got is what you see!”

“What’s up with her and blue lately?”

“Blue binge, I’m guessing.”

“Oh…one of those fad things?”

“I guess.” Nick shrugged.

Vickie crossed her arms. “She looks really pale…is she okay?”

“She’s been having a lot of panic attacks lately…I think she’s finally cracked under the pressure.”

“No surprise. Between Toby and school, I’m surprised both of you didn’t crack. Why hasn’t Chip been taking care of her? Isn’t that his job?”

Nick was a bit confused by the question. Although he was aware of his friends being close, relationships within the group were still lost on him. As far as Madison and Chip went, he knew they had been friends since Kindergarten, so he assumed it was just a close friendship. He hadn’t seen them do anything vaguely romantic, but then again, he didn’t pay attention to them much when they weren’t off saving the world or working at Rockporium. He made a note to himself to practice his observational skills for the time being. “Uh…yeah, it’s just overwhelming.”

“What’s got everybody stressed lately…?”

“Ugh…midterms!” Nick nervously replied, avoiding the ‘We’re Power Rangers!’ statement.

“Those aren’t for another four weeks.”

“Never be too ready, Vi.”

“Mmm. I hear ya.”

Nick nodded and smiled, then walked over to the CD section.

Xander found himself browsing through the clearance section, looking at teeshirts. A feeling of anxiety clouded his own thoughts, the urge to curl up in a ball on the floor until Nick dragged him out growing stronger, despite his urges to keep his cool. All of his attempts to keep his emotions under control in the last 24 hours, in fact, had critically failed. He held up a black dress with lace trimmings.

Madison bit her lip and held the navy blue dress up to herself meekly. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“Yeah…he’ll love it…” …If he’s even paying attention…

He blinked and panicked, setting the dress down. He then went over to the regular girl’s section and picked out a few vests and dresses, guestimating Madison’s sizes. He then bought them and left, shaking from the snippet of repressed thought that slipped through.

Nick bought a few CD’s, then followed the shaking Xander out. Xander was sitting on a bench, rocking softly back and forth, and Nick couldn’t help but try and calm him down. That’s what they had come to the mall to do, after all.

“I want this to be over…I want to be myself again…” Xander whimpered as he clinged to Nick’s arm and cried softly.

“Oh, stop being such a girl, Xander.” Xander gave him an odd stare reminding him of the current situation. “Oh…heh. Well, stop being yourself and be more Madison-ish.” Nick corrected. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about this?”

“This isn’t your business.” Xander replied.

“Fine, fine.”

On the other side of the mall, Chip, Madison, and Vida were in the food court chowing down on the various foods they bought.

Madison sighed as she sipped her soda. “The super jalapeno cheese burrito seems so…dull…” She said sadly, ripping open another packet of atomic sauce and slathering the burrito’s opening with it before biting down.

Vida stared and looked up from her bowl of fettuccine alfredo. “I feel like this’s missing something, too…”

Chip looked up from his slice of Hawaiian pizza. “Chocolate sauce.”

Vida stared at him. “Alfredo…and chocolate sauce?”

Madison added to the staring. “…What?” Chip said defensively. “You’ve never had it before!”

“You…are a human waste disposal.” Vida said in awe.

“Hey, back off, Vi.” Madison said.

“I’m just saying…I’ve never seen or heard of such food combinations ever consumed by one human, and have them live to talk about them as if it’s a normal meal.”

“Well, not so much now…I wanted to put marshmallows on top of this pizza to finish it off, but I kept on gagging at the thought of it…” Chip said sadly.

Off in the distance, Chip saw a flickering of colors. He stood up to get a better look, and what he saw troubled him.

The woman he saw wore a long, flowing, greyish black Victorian-era gown, her long hair fluttering like rivers of sangria. She wore a black, wide-brimmed Victorian hat, and her arms were wrapped ever so tightly around her waist. She walked slowly towards the center of the mall, her hips swaying back and forth. And, in a moment, a flash of an orange jumpsuit appeared on her, along with a facemask. But as soon as Chip blinked, the orange was gone and it was back to the lovely Victorian attire.

“Hey…does anybody else see that woman?” Chip asked, pointing out the Victorian woman. Vida and Madison looked.

“Yeah…” Madison replied.

“Weird…” Vida added.

Chip began to follow her, finding no objection to his command. He began to softly jog towards her. Madison and Vida watched him.

“Should I follow?” Vida asked.

“Nah, he’s girl chasing. That’s Xander’s thing. He’s just being Xander.” Madison replied.

“And you’re not jealous?” Vida asked.

“I know it’s all the façade he’s gotta put on the keep people from being suspicious. I’m not jealous.” Madison shrugged. “I shouldn’t even be hanging out with you guys…I should be out…doing…whatever it is Nick does.”

“I should be out playing some board game or whatnot.” Vida snickered. “I’m here for moral support, though. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can find some cute guys here that I can hit on later.”

“Sis…” Madison said, giving Vida a scolding look.

“What? Just because I’m stuck in Chip’s body, it doesn’t mean I can’t try to still find a cute boyfriend!”

Madison dropped her head. “Vida…”

“Alright, fine…but right after this guy.” A tall, muscular jock walked by and Vida winked at him. The guy gave her a look of pure repulsion, and she laughed. “Okay, that was funny.” She replied.

Chip continued to follow the Victorian woman, finding that the path led to an unusually vacant mall center. He watched as the Victorian woman approached the Lolita girl from earlier.

“Terra-Terra!” The Lolita girl shouted, clinging to the Victorian woman. The flying mouse sat on Terra-Terra’s shoulder. She kept her arms folded in front of her, not moving them an inch. Chip hid behind a pillar and watched, still finding it odd that an entire main hall would be empty.

“Have you seen him?” Terra-Terra asked.

“Mhm! He’s with a few other people.”

“How is he?”

“I played a game with him yesterday. He went all tired, so I stopped.”

“What game?”

“Soul Juggle!” She said, clapping her hands. “They weren’t entertained, though…” She sounded upset.

“Oh my…we’ll have to find him again…” Terra-Terra sighed.

“If you do, he has a chubby knight friend who is grumpy, and then there’s a bat lady and a big purple armor guy…they’re all chasing me around…” The Lolita girl sighed. “The bat lady and the purple guy want me to do a private show for their master…but I don’t do those sorts of things.”

So they’re not working for The Master…then who are they working for?

“We have to do something about that, don’t we?”

“Does it involve violence? I don’t want to fight!”

“But if they want to make us perform, Muse, then we must!” Terra-Terra replied.

What are they up to…?

The mouse flew over toward Chip, and he panicked. “Ah!” He shouted, falling back. Terra-Terra and Muse turned around.

“Oh no! It’s Mr. Charmy!” Muse said, brandishing its rod.

“It’s not what you think!” Chip shouted, getting up to run.

“Don’t you move!” Muse shouted, the mouse preparing another divebomb.

“Both of you, stop.” Terra-Terra said in a stern tone. The two stopped and turned around. Terra-Terra gracefully walked over to Chip and offered her arms as a lift up. “You are one of the former…audience members of Muse, I suppose?”

“…Yeah…”

Terra-Terra smiled. “You’re familiar.” Chip gave her an odd look. “Tell your friends that we are sorry, and that we will meet again.”

“But we’re all-”

“Not now.” Terra-Terra said as Muse placed the tip of its rod to Chip’s lips. “Later.”

“When? We can’t be like this forever!” Chip asked softly. He quickly looked around. “We’re Power Rangers. We can’t…we can’t run around as each other like this.”

“Everyone, we go.” The trio then left as soon as Muse grabbed the mouse’s tail.

“Wait!”

“Bad Mousa!” Muse shouted at the mouse. “But I still will be your bestest friend.”

Chip watched them leave as Madison and Vida finally caught up to Chip.

“Hey…isn’t…that…the, the…” Vida tried to talk, but she was out of breath.

“That was Muse…and she just abandoned us…” Chip replied. “We gotta have a team meeting, and now.”

“Man, I can’t get over hearing Xander’s voice saying all this.” Madison joked.

“Neither can I…” Chip replied.

A minute later, Nick and Xander were trying on dresses in a department store and giggling. Xander had found the dress he had shown Madison the other day and he was reveling in the rare chance to actually see her model it off…even if he had to be the one wearing it.

“I feel so naked…” He muttered before laughing. “I can see why Maddie refuses to wear this!”

“I can’t stand anything past my knees…” Nick replied. “It feels awkward. Wanna switch?”

“Well, they do have this in pink…”

“Sold!” Nick replied. “I know Vida could definitely dig that dress in pink…just punk it up a little, and voila.” Nick smiled. Madison’s morpher went off, and Xander picked it up from its spot in the dressing room. “Hello?”

“You two. Meet us in the main lobby in the mall.” Xander’s voice barked over the speaker.

“Chip, could you ask a little nicer?” Xander said in a cutesy voice.

Chip sighed. “Fine…could you please meet us outside Filene’s at the mall, because it’s very important…”

“Much better. We’ll be there in, at the most, ten minutes.”

“You’re here?”

“Yeah, shopping. Why?”

“Nevermind, just get here in five minutes.”

“Nicely now?”

“Can you try and be here in five minutes?”

“Of course!” Xander smiled and hung up. “He doesn’t have my social graces, I swear…” He then closed the door behind him and began getting back into his regular clothes. “Oh, and Nick? The dress is two rows down, past the little prom numbers there.”

“Got it.” Nick replied.

Seven minutes later, Nick and Xander caught Chip, Vida, and Madison pacing around the fountain.

“What’s the emergency?” Nick asked.

“You guys’ve been here…did you see anyone…unusual?” Vida asked.

“We saw some goth chick earlier…cute, but a bit too much black for me…” Nick replied, looking upwards and reminiscing.

“That was Muse.” Madison replied.

“What?” Xander shouted. “I…I could’ve…we could’ve been back to normal…and you didn’t stop it?”

“Well, we tried…” Chip looked around; the main lobby was once again filling up with people. “We should go back to Rootcore to talk about this a bit more privately…”

“So we all go home, put our stuff away, then meet back up there?” Xander asked.

“Yeah, quickly.” Chip replied. They all nodded, then began to part ways.

Xander grabbed Chip by the collar. “Wait a minute.” The group turned around in anticipation of a fight. Xander grabbed Chip by the chin and pulled his face to eye level while reaching into his jacket pocket. Chip flinched as Xander pulled out a black comb and fixed Chip’s hair to exactly how he usually wore it. “Take better care of me, will you?” Xander asked. “And shave tomorrow morning.” He quickly pecked Chip on the lips then gently slapped his face a few times before walking off. The rest of the group, including Chip, stared at him in wonder. Nick caught up to him.

“What the hell was that?” He asked Xander quietly.

“Just making sure he remembered to use the mango lip balm that I had sitting on the sink.” Xander smiled. “My lips’re starting to get all gross and chapped…I’d hate for him to let them start to crack and bleed…” Xander smiled. “But he remembered. He’s not all lost in the world of proper body care yet.”

[Impy]

That was fucking lovely, Frannie. You're right devious, putting characters in eachother's bodies to develop them like you're doing.

[Kaheraji]

I've just noticed this fic. Good so far, though I've only read through chapter two.

For those of you who are confused:

Character -> The body they currently inhabit

Xander –> Madison
Nick –> Vida
Vida –> Chip
Madison –> Nick
Chip –> Xander

Thanks for this.

[DarkStarShadow]

glad you're enjoying the fic...and I knew people would need that chart, because even I get confused at times.

[Angelfox]

LOL, love it

[Miss Wicked]

Just started reading this a few days back, and I love it. I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner, because it is pure genius. I was always disappointed that they didn't do a body-switching episode in MF, what with all of the carbon-copying, but this nicely fills the void.

[Psycho Tangerine]

This is really funny :). Please continue. I want to see why Xander is mad at Chip. And are Chip and Madison a couple, or only friends? Hmmmm....

Eileen (Psycho Tangerine)