On the Warrior Dome, Madame Odious and Toxitea were standing on the street, preening and posing for the crowd as they got back, crowing about their ultimatum to the Rangers. Cosmo was placed in a difficult position now, and he was working hard to keep the show going. While Odious' plan had been successful and she had poisoned one of the Rangers, the Red Ranger of all people, her plan had also...not exactly provided much of a show. It hadn't even provided much of a fight. When the Red Ranger collapsed, the Rangers pretty much stopped fighting right there and then, and neither Toxitea nor Odious seemed interested in continuing the battle while they were weakened.
Odious' plan was to blackmail the Rangers, to force them to choose between watching their friend and leader die slowly, and he could only hope painfully, and handing over their Power Stars. It was a good plan, a solid plan, but it didn't exactly lend itself well to an action-packed show, and the audience reaction was letting him know that.
"Time is running out for the Red Ranger!" Cosmo declared, drawing his audience's attention back to the countdown clock. If he didn't have action, then at least he could hype the drama. If he could get shots of the Red Ranger suffering on camera, then that would just be gravy, but right now, he was trying hard to keep the crowd from realising they had tuned in to see a fight and were instead watching a soap opera! "Tell me, how excruciating is his pain right now?"
"Right now, he'll be burning up like the worst fever he's ever felt!" Toxitea boasted as she cackled. "He'll be dead within the hour, but he'll be BEGGING for someone to put him out of his misery long before then!"
"The Rangers are so soft-hearted; they'll NEVER sacrifice one of their friends!" Odious chuckled. "We'll have the Power Stars in our hands before your final commercial break!"
"You heard it here folks! Madame Odious has declared victory!" Cosmo called out. "Stay tuned to witness the tension, the drama, the tears, and the triumph of our final act!"
As he turned to walk off the stage, Wrench was there to meet him.
"How are the ratings doing?" He asked.
"They're holding steady now, but they've declined by five points since the beginning of the broadcast!" Wrench told him cautiously. Cosmo just sighed.
"That's what I was afraid of. Watching this is like watching paint dry without the excitement!" He grumbled. "Where's Ripcon? Maybe throwing in a wild card can..."
"Uh...I don't know." Wrench answered. He had rescued Ripcon from his previous embarrassing battle, and left him in his lab to sleep off his hangover, but when he returned later that day, Ripcon was gone, and he had no idea where he went. He had put out feelers to try and find him to prepare him for another mission to oust Odious, but right now, whatever vermin-infested pit he was in, Wrench had no clue.
"Damn it, I was hoping to instil a little excitement into all of this!" Cosmo grumbled. "Tell me when Odious is planning to go down and meet the Rangers. Until then, I've got something far more exciting to do."
With that, he went into the nearby bathroom and locked the door. Wrench just shrugged and went back to work.
Down at the High School, Brody had been in agony most of the day. He was a little in and out, but for the most part he was still lucid. He looked over to where his friends were working hard on an antidote for him.
"Where's his latest blood sample?" Mick asked as he swirled a conical flask. "I think we're on the right track here."
Sarah handed Mick the latest blood sample to try. Brody could tell by how quiet his friends were that their time was running out, and they were trying to keep focused on the antidote. He looked over to where Aiden was watching them, constantly looking to the clock. He had an hour before the deadline, and Aiden had already made them swear that if they got to half an hour left without a working antidote, then they would go ahead with the trade. He loved his brother, and he knew his brother loved him, but for all his agony, for every cramp of his stomach, every laboured breath that felt like he'd just run a marathon and every burning, stabbing pain in every muscle he knew he had and even a few he was only just discovering, he couldn't shake in his mind, in his heart that the trade was something he couldn't allow.
He had been a slave on the Warrior Dome for ten long years, he had seen and heard the callousness and cruelty of the monsters there first-hand. He knew that to a man, every single one of them only respected and valued victory over everything else. A fair deal, a fair fight...those all took a back seat to being the one with the bragging rights. Odious in particular had a habit of turning her back on anyone, even her own clients, that no longer benefitted her. As much as he hoped that she was on the level, he didn't doubt for a moment that as soon as she had what she wanted, she would no longer care about the Rangers and what was in their interests. By giving up their Power Stars, they would leave themselves completely defenceless. There were other Rangers in the world, but this was their fight, and their responsibility. If they fought and lost, that was one thing. If they lost and strengthened their opponents because they didn't have the courage to face the tough decisions, that was another matter altogether.
Brody looked around; making sure no one was paying attention to him. He rolled off the bed, silently placing his feet on the floor. He knew his friends would never sacrifice him, no matter how much they knew that strategically it was the best decision. It was better to lose one Ranger, and be able to replace him than to lose any ability to defend themselves. He looked to his brother, wishing he could say something, to explain to him what he was about to do, but since Aiden would only try and talk him out of it, he couldn't take that chance. He sneaked out of the Shop Class, knowing that the only way to do what had to be done was to take the decision out of his friends' hands. Aiden could easily take his place. If anything, Aiden might be a better Ranger. He was sure that they would be fine with him.
He struggled to move, but he was still able to get out of the class without anyone noticing him. The halls were clear since all the kids were currently in class. He was sure his friends wouldn't care much about questions regarding where they had been or what they were doing, but it was something that they would have to deal with. He forced a smile as he felt another harsh cramp. Just like him, he was walking away to die and he was worried about how his friends would explain their absence from class.
He heard a noise as he was about to get to the door, and looked for somewhere to hide, but he was already too late. He saw Levi and Hayley coming down the stairs, carrying a case.
"Come on, we have to move quickly." Hayley said as she clutched the case tightly to her chest. "The others are bound to notice we're gone soon."
"We don't have much time." Levi reminded her. "We need to move fast and..."
"BRODY!" Hayley called out, trying to hide the case as she realised they had been seen. "What...what are you doing out here?"
"I...just had to get some air!" He grunted through his pain. This was a lie; he was looking for somewhere to hide where he'd not be found until the decision was taken from his friends' hands to save him. "What are you doing? What's in the case?"
"Well...um..." Hayley stammered.
"Uh..." Levi added, not really helping the situation. Brody was keenly aware of the timing and made the logical conclusion.
"You're going to meet Odious?" He asked.
"Brody, listen..."
"NO!" He called out. "You can't give in to her! You can't give her the Power Stars!"
"Brody, you have to calm down." Levi told him.
"I'm not worth it! You can't worry about me!" He continued, before almost collapsing. Levi was quickly over at his side, holding him up.
"We do worry about you though!" Hayley told him, before looking to Levi. The Gold Ranger just nodded as he started to walk with Brody. If they did get the antidote, they needed to get it to Brody quickly, so taking him with them made sense.
"Don't worry Brody; we've got something in mind." Levi told him. "Come on bro, I'll explain on the way."
Back in the Ranger Base, Mick and the rest of the team were becoming increasingly desperate in their attempts to find the antidote. Mick was working as quickly as he could while trying to keep a clear mind. The chemistry was incredibly complex, and he knew that even the slightest miscalculation would lead to disaster. If he failed, in the best case scenario, the antidote would simply not work. The worst case scenario was that he would inadvertently overdose Brody on something else in his attempts to burn out the poison and kill him himself.
"Hand me that yellow bottle." Mick said as he wiped his brow with his wrist. Calvin handed him the bottle he asked for, at which Mick added a drop to the latest mixture. He just sighed.
"Guys, you've been at this for hours!" Aiden complained. "Time's almost up, we need to..."
"I promised you, we won't let Brody die!" Mick assured him without looking up from his results. He just sighed. "It's good, but it still needs a stabiliser...Preston, hand me some of that green stuff!"
Preston did as he was told, while Aiden just paced in the background.
"Guys, we're almost out of time!" He protested. "You've tried, but clearly you can't..."
"Aiden, I get that you're worried, but let us try this!" Sarah interrupted him. Aiden just glared at her.
"Fine, but this is the last one alright?" He asked. "If this one doesn't work, we take the Power Stars to Odious, right?"
"OK." Sarah said reluctantly. She wasn't sure what was more difficult, to even think about sacrificing Brody, or trying to tell his brother to do it. In her heart, she would probably have taken the Power Stars to the meeting place long before now, and it was only Brody's insistence that stopped her doing it. "If this one doesn't work, we'll..."
"Guys..." Mick said as he looked into the microscope. "Sarah...come and give me a second opinion on this."
Sarah went to the bench and looked through the microscope. Of all of them, she was the one with the best chemistry skills other than Mick, and so she was the best choice to make the call. She looked to the sample, and blinked, before looking again to make sure she had seen what she thought she had.
"You've done it." Sarah said quietly, backing away from the microscope. She shrieked and threw herself at Mick, hugging him tightly. "HE'S DONE IT!"
"Way to go Mick!" Calvin chipped in as they congratulated him. He just smiled.
"I TOLD you my chemistry skills were top notch!" He exclaimed loudly as he accepted their adulation.
"Well instead of having a love-fest how about you give it to my brother?" Aiden rushed out. "Come on!"
"Uh...guys, we have a problem here!" Preston said as he turned and noticed that the workbench was empty. They all rushed over to the bench. "BRODY?"
"Guys, has anyone seen Levi or Hayley?" Sarah asked, only now noticing that their friends were gone. Calvin started rummaging around in his pockets.
"That's not all that's missing." He said as he turned out his pockets. "My Power Star is gone!"
"Why do I get the feeling that all of them going missing at once isn't a coincidence?" Sarah sighed, throwing up her hands. "They've gone to make the trade!"
"We need to catch up to them!" Calvin said as Mick poured the antidote into a bottle and put a stopper in it, handing it to the Yellow Ranger. "If we don't get to them first, it could be too late!"
With that, they ran out of the Ranger Base, hoping that they could catch up to them in time.
Meanwhile, over at the meeting place, Hayley and Levi dragged Brody, who was quite literally on his last legs, to a tree and set him in place, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. Hayley stood out in the open, and held up the case. She saw a Buzz-Cam coming out of hiding and held the case towards it, showing the Power Stars to the camera.
"We're here Odious; we've got the Power Stars!" Hayley called out. She sighed and looked defeated as she held up the case. "You win."
In a flash of light, Madame Odious and Toxitea appeared before them, looking every bit as smug as Hayley expected. They approached her slowly.
"Glad to see some of you have seen when you've been bested by a superior mind!" Odious teased her. "Show me the Power Stars!"
Hayley turned the case towards her, holding open the lid so that Madame Odious could see. She smiled as she approached, reaching out for the case. Hayley pulled the case away from her.
"This isn't the time to play games White Ranger!" Odious warned her.
"Where's the antidote?" Hayley demanded. "Show it to me!"
Madame Odious clicked her fingers, at which Toxitea handed her the bottle they had seen the first time they met. Odious held it up for Hayley to see.
"Now, the Power Stars." She told her.
"The antidote first!" Hayley demanded. Levi stood guard over Brody as Hayley cautiously negotiated their terms.
"I don't think you're in much of a position to negotiate!" Odious stated. "The case, or I smash this bottle right now!"
"HAYLEY!" Calvin called out, causing the White Ranger to look around as the rest of the team arrived. She could see the looks on their faces as they arrived.
"I can't believe it...you did take the Power Stars!" Sarah added.
"Guys, you don't understand..."
Madame Odious made her move, snatching the case from Hayley, before kicking her away. The White Ranger landed in a heap over by Brody and Levi as Madame Odious cackled, holding the case aloft.
"Thank you White Ranger!" She declared, presenting them to the nearest camera. "Look at this champ, look at what I have! I've got the Power Stars! VICTORY!"
"Hayley, what have you done?" Preston shrieked.
"I...I did what I thought was right!" She responded.
"Hayley, we made the antidote!" Sarah told her as she gave the bottle to Brody, pouring it down his throat. "If you'd told us what you were doing, we could have..."
"Guys, I'm sorry, I..."
"Alright, you've got what you want!" Levi barked as he strode forward, interrupting them all. "Now give us the antidote!"
"Oh, you mean this?" Madame Odious said, holding the bottle. She dropped it to the ground, before stomping on it, shattering the bottle. The Rangers all watched as the liquid soaked into the ground. "OOPS!"
"You MONSTER!" Hayley shrieked.
"Oh, really? You're surprised? Newsflash girl, I AM a monster!" Odious responded as she smiled evilly. "Now, thanks to you, and your friends are now helpless! Now as a bonus, I get to finish you all off while I watch your friend take his final breaths!"
"Madame Odious!" Toxitea shrieked, sounding panicked. "LOOK!"
Madame Odious looked to the case, to the Power Stars there, and noticed that they now looked different. They looked like...they were melting! More than that, they were changing colour too, from their brightly coloured patters into a kind of sickly brown. Odious tried to pick up the Yellow Power Star, but it just melted straight through her fingers with a distinctive sweet smell of cocoa. She stared to her fingers.
"CHOCOLATE?" She screeched. "They're made of CHOCOLATE?"
"Oh, Odious!" Levi said as he morphed and turned his Rockstar Blaster on her. "I have a song I've been saving just for you!"
He blasted her, punting her high into the air and dozens of feet away. The rest of the team all looked to Hayley as she presented the Power Stars to them.
"We still haven't solved that melting problem." She told them, handing them back their power stars. "I hoped I could trick her into giving us the antidote, but I had a feeling she might try something like this. I just needed these to make the moulds."
"You Rangers double-crossed me! NO ONE double-crosses Madame Odious and LIVES!" She screamed as she got back to her feet. "Toxitea, destroy them!"
With that, she disappeared.
"ODIOUS!" She wailed as she suddenly realised she was on her own. Aiden helped Brody back to his feet.
"How are you feeling bro?" He asked him.
"I'm still groggy, but I'll feel a lot better when I've smashed this tea set for good!" Brody told him. "Get to safety, I'll be fine."
Aiden nodded and ran off in the direction of the school as the team lined up in front of her.
"You had your chance to LEAF." Brody told her. "But now it's time to feel the STRAIN! Ninja SPIN!"
"More tea puns?" Sarah sighed as she activated her morpher. "I'll be glad when this is over!"
