Mirror Image
by: Tammi and Jeff

Olympus looked at the monster. "Are you sure you can beat the Rangers?" he asked.

"I can, and I will," he answered. "As long as I, Metamorpho, pose as one of them, they cannot harm me. For if they destroy me in my human guise, they will also destroy the real Ranger."

"Can you grow in your monster form?" Vypra queried.

"That I cannot do. I can only grow when I'm disguised as a human."

"Just go then," Olympus ordered. "Cause as much havoc as possible!"

Metamorpho left Skull Cavern, accompanied by the Batlings.

Dana drove into town, fuming. "I wish Father had asked me to do something a bit more exciting," she griped. "Buying new blades for his razor isn't very thrilling."

She parked the car, and got out. "I'd do anything for a little excitement," she told herself.

"I can provide you with some thrills," a voice said.

Dana saw the monster. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Metamorpho. But as of now, I am you. Metamorpho, transform!"

He turned himself into a replica of Dana, and grew. At the same time, the Batlings seized the Pink Ranger.

"You know where to take her," the monster said. The Batlings nodded, and disappeared with their prisoner.

At the Aquabase, the alarm sounded. The Rangers went into action.

"Lightspeed Rescue!"

"Titanium Power!"

The five morphed, and went directly into town. They took one look at the monster.

"Impossible!" Kelsey cried.

"No, it's very possible," 'Dana' responded. "I am now bigger and stronger than the five of you combined."

To show she meant business, the giant plucked a TV antenna from the roof of a house. Then she threw it to the ground, and crushed it with her foot. "Ah, that felt good," she said.

"Dana, stop this at once," Carter ordered.

"I'll stop when Mariner Bay is just a memory," she retorted.

She walked away. "I can't believe that's my little sister," Ryan said.

"Well, it isn't," Joel replied. "It's your BIG sister now!"

"No,"Ryan said firmly. "She can't be the real Dana. She's probably a monster in disguise. I'm going after her."

"But--" Chad began.

"Maybe he's right," Carter agreed. "We'd better go with him."

The Rangers followed the monster. Meanwhile, the real Dana found herself in a strange room.

"Well now," a voice said. "I see we have a visitor."

"Th-that's MY voice," Dana stammered. "But where's it coming from?"

"Over here, foolish girl!"

"And here."

"And here."

Dana stood up, and saw ten mirrors on the left wall, another ten on the right wall, and a big one on the front wall.

"This isn't happening!" she exclaimed. "Reflections can't talk!"

"They can in this place," the reflection on the front wall said. "Welcome to the Chamber Of Magic Mirrors, Dana!"

"Why am I here?"

"To be tormented!" the reflections replied in unison.

Back in Mariner Bay, the Rangers confronted Metamorpho. "We know you're not really Dana," Carter informed him. "What have you done with her?"

"That you will never know," the monster said.

"Call all the Zords," the Red Ranger commanded.

"Go ahead," Metamorpho taunted. "But if you destroy me, you also destroy the girl."

The Rangers realized they were powerless, and called off their Zords.

"And now, I'll become something you'll never be able to beat," Metamorpho bragged. "Metamorpho, transform!"

He changed again. This time, he had Carter's head, Chad's blue outfit, Joel's cowboy hat, and Kelsey's headphones.

"He's four of us combined into one!" Kelsey said.

"Not four, five," Metamorpho said in Ryan's voice.

"Now we're in real trouble," Carter realized. "If we destroy him, we destroy ourselves!"

Meanwhile, in the Chamber Of Magic Mirrors, the talking reflections continued to harass Dana.

"Look at the mirror on the ceiling," an image on the left wall said. "Behold the future of Mariner Bay."

Dana looked up. The images in the ceiling mirror showed the demons destroying the Rangers. This was followed by six tombstones, each with a Ranger's name on it. Finally, the Pink Ranger saw Mariner Bay as a wasteland. Even the Aquabase had been destroyed.

Dana fell to her knees. "PLEASE STOP IT!" she screamed. "I can't stand it anymore!"

The reflections started chanting, "Let's all pity the poor dear! Filled with terror! Filled with fear!"

All at once, a reflection on the right wall put her fingers in her mouth, and whistled. The chanting stopped.

"Knock it off," she ordered. "Can't you see you're scaring her to death?"

"Since when did you become Goody Two Shoes?" the leader demanded to know.

"That's something I've always been. I only pretended to be evil so I could fit in with the rest of you."

The twenty mirrors vanished, taking their reflections with them. Dana stood again, and faced the remaining mirror.

"What just happened?" she asked her reflection.

"The other reflections can't stand compassion and caring. When I showed it, they disappeared forever. Now, look at the ceiling mirror again, and you'll see Mariner Bay's real future."

Dana did as she was told. This time, she saw herself and her team mates putting the demons back in the tomb, and then having a big party at the Aquabase. "Now that's more like it," she sighed.

"Enough talk," the image said. "Your brother and friends are in terrible danger. You must go to them."

"But how do I get out of here?"

"Watch."

The wall next to the mirror slid open, revealing a stairway.

"Thanks," Dana said.

"No problem."

Dana entered the wall, and ran up the stairs. The door slid shut.

At that moment, the other Rangers were taking a beating. Metamorpho, still in his combined Ranger form, fired blast after blast after them. One by one, they fell to the ground.

They lay still. "I've done it!" the monster laughed. "I've destroyed them!"

He walked off. Once he was away from them, he looked into a mirror. "Metamorpho, revert!" he shouted.

The minute he said this, he turned back into a monster, and returned to normal size. Then he pulled out another mirror, and spoke into it.

"It is done, Olympus," he said. "The Rangers are finished. Mariner Bay will soon be ours!"

"It's not over yet, Metamorpho!"

Metamorpho turned, and saw all the Rangers, including Dana. "You survived! And the Pink Ranger escaped! How can this be?"

"We simply played possum, Carter answered.

"And I was shown the way out," Dana added.

"Well, I can still finish you."

"We can't let him transform again!" Carter shouted. "Battle Boosters!"

The team fired their Battle Boosters. Metamorpho was destroyed.

They de-morphed. "Oh no!" Dana cried. "I still haven't bought razor blades for Father!"

This errand was run, and the Rangers returned to the Aquabase.

Dana told the others about her nightmarish experience. "It was so scary," she said. "I hope I never have to go there again."

"Well, you can still look in the mirror here," Carter remarked. "At least your reflection won't be able to communicate."

"Right," Dana said.