Chapter Text
"This is the only time of year I find those pesky pinheads tolerable!”
Rita Repulsa watched the city of Angel Grove intently through her Repulsascope, its gold luster shinier than ever, thanks to Finster’s routine cleaning of his Queen’s effects. The monster maker stood in the background of the throne room, continuing with his weekly tidying of the moon base. His large, furry ears, however, remained locked on the meandering rants of his superior, always at the ready to offer solutions to her problems.
“I take it you’ve noticed the humans’ annual tradition of Halloween has returned, my royal raven?” Finster called out as he dusted around Zedd’s vacant throne.
“Ha, observant as ever,” Rita sneered with unbroken focus on the costumed citizens zipping about. “If they only knew how good being bad really is, they’d want to be evil for real and not simply pretend.”
The Queen of Mean stepped down from the balcony, her eyes meeting the empty seat her husband typically occupies. “With Zeddy away at the United Alliance of Evil Conference with Monkey Butt and my moron brother, I’m tempted to whip up some chaos on my own. Suggestions, now, you idiots!”
Squatt and Baboo, obscured in the shadows, stepped forward and began to speak over each other, to Rita’s annoyance. “One at a time!” she screeched.
“How about we recreate your Frankenstein monster and crash whatever party the Rangers are likely planning? But this time, he only speaks Spanish and causes muchos problemos!” Squatt squeed with shaking maracas.
“What? NO!” Rita spat, “Baboo! Your turn!?”
"Well,” the lanky henchman mumbled, clearly unprepared, “This time last year, Lord Zedd sent Putties to infiltrate the trick-or-treating the Rangers were doing with local school children. How about we kidnap every kid and sell them on the black market?”
"Ugh, are you serious? That’s too involved, you dolt! What am I paying you for?!”
“Well, you don’t pay us, at all,” Baboo muttered under his breath, which only Squatt heard, causing him to snicker.
Rita threw herself into the throne chair and whined. “I need something devious! Something nasty! Something that’s not a rehashed plot!”
“Ahem,” Finster cleared his throat to gain Rita’s attention. “If I may?”
"Yes? Go on!”
“Um, heh… I know you said you didn’t want a rehashed plot, your Excellence, but I did find something of interest while in the castle’s basement earlier today. Apparently, you had another Crystal of Nightmares stowed away in an unmarked box.”
“Ugh! That failed experiment!” Rita shook her head and rested it against her palm. “The first Crystal of Nightmares was the product of something I started eons ago at Bandora Witch Academy. It had such promise, too! The ability to cause terrifying dreams and shatter any target’s self-confidence—it was perfect! Wait, how did the other one fail?”
“Jason kicked it! Then kablooey!” Baboo answered, gleefully, earning him a smack from Squatt. “Ow! Stop that!”
“Oh, right,” Rita huffed. “I should've chosen tougher glass, huh? I think Space Michael’s had a sale, and I cheaped out on materials.”
“Perhaps,” Finster agreed. “But with intense chemical treatment, I could toughen the spare orb, if you’d like.”
“Hmm, maybe, I don’t know,” Rita pondered the promising proposal. “I wanted NEW, not OLD… but… I’d love an opportunity to fix what went wrong. It wouldn’t sufficiently hold the magic I had conjured for it, if I remember correctly.”
“I have full confidence you can correct its flaws, my Queen!” Finster clasped his hands. “You’re ten times the sorceress you were in your school days.”
“This is true,” Rita agreed with a wicked grin. “The Academy is where you and I met. Remember when you asked me out, and you thought you had a chance in Hell of dating me? HAHAHA! Hilarious!”
“Yes, heh… a real knee slapper, heh… so, um, shall I go and retrieve the orb?”
“DUH! YES! GO!” Rita screamed, her wand pointed in the direction of the basement. “And while you play Fetch, I’ll crack open my book of spells to make sure our new Crystal of Nightmares doesn’t fail! Rangers, this will be your last Trick-o-Treat, and this time, the trick’s on YOU! HAHAHA!"