The rest of the morning went by relatively quickly for the Rangers. The school heard pretty quickly about Victor and Monty's triumph in the business studies project, an assignment that many were starting to believe was impossible. After disposing of their leftover product, showering and changing at the insistence of pretty much everyone to get rid of the smell, they spent the rest of the morning being showered with praise by their peers. It should have been a moment of glory for Victor, but it did bring something sharply into focus for him. For all the trophies he won, all the titles he got, the glory was fleeting. He had never thought of the fact that it was now over a year since he won his tennis trophy. He had thought that he had won his fiftieth trophy, but as far as the books were concerned, and the trophy cabinet, he had forty-nine.
Victor was by the trophy case, looking at his trophies. He was checking the dates he had won them all, trying to figure out how long he had before he lost any more. He was determined to break the record of fifty trophies before he left High School.
"Track and field trophy, still has four months on it, the school rowing trophy still has six." Victor rhymed off as he was checking them all. Monty was sitting beside him, taking notes. He looked completely dejected as he took down all the dates as Victor read them out. "Come on Monty, what is with you?"
"She just…left." Monty mumbled. "She was right outside the class."
"She said she was looking for someone, she probably went looking for them." Victor said reassuringly, looking back to the trophy cabinet. "Darn it, the softball trophy is up next month! I need to get to the batting cages."
"Hey, Victor!" Hayley greeted him as she arrived with Sarah. They were both on their way to the Ranger Base to check on things. They were glad to have their old weapons back, but Drillion had been something of a wake-up call. They knew that they would need to up their firepower soon. They were sure that Drillion couldn't be the most powerful of all of Cosmo's competitors. That didn't mean to say that she wasn't willing to accept when he had done a good job. "I just wanted to say congratulations again on winning that business studies trophy."
"Yeah, whatever." He grumbled. "I can't believe I didn't notice that tennis trophy expired."
"What is it with you and trophies?" Hayley asked. Sarah didn't really want to answer. She knew a little bit about Victor, and in particular of his idolisation of his father. Victor's dad had been a field medic with the army who was killed in action saving the crew of an armoured personnel carrier under enemy fire. Victor had been resentful for a while, but he now felt an intense sense of pride and tried as much as possible to live up to his dad's image, trying to excel in everything he did. "You know those things are only temporary right? Sooner or later someone else's name is going to be on every one of those."
"Really. Well…you're probably just still sore that it was me that beat you for that tennis trophy in the first place." Victor responded. "Now, your president is busy, so if you don't mind…"
"You know, you might not be president much longer either." Sarah reminded him.
"Wh..wha…what do you mean by that?" He asked.
"The elections are coming up soon." Hayley reminded him.
"Are you kidding me?" Victor complained. "I have to get elected AGAIN? Who came up with that stupid system?"
"You mean democracy?" Sarah asked him. "That would be the Greeks."
"See you around Victor." Sarah said as they left. Victor just sighed and turned back to the trophy cabinet.
"Alright, back to work Monty." He stated. "Weightlifting champion…I won that last month…seriously, EVERY year? I need to get elected EVERY year?"
Hayley and Sarah went to the Ranger Base, finding the others already in the middle of the meeting. Mick had some new Ninja Stars, but without the Nexus Prism activating, there was no way for those start to turn into anything new. None of them really knew or understood how it worked or why the Nexus Prism would work on some occasions and not on others. It always seemed to have a purpose, but what made it make its decisions was a complete mystery.
"Hi guys, sorry we're late." Sarah said apologetically. "We got caught up."
"That's alright." Levi sighed. "The best idea anyone's come up with so far is a Ninja Star Slingshot."
"It's a good idea!" Calvin protested.
"Except every single one of those Ninja Stars would have to be made of Ninja Steel." Mick reminded him. "We don't exactly have an infinite supply. We don't want to run out what we have left with what amounts to bullets."
"So, what exactly ARE we going to do?" Hayley asked, putting her bag down. "Last time I checked, Mick and Sarah had pretty much maxed out the energy weapons as much as they could. I don't think our ninja blasters are going to be much good if they blow up in our faces."
She paused as she saw Mick pointing in her direction. She looked to him curiously.
"Mick, what is it?"
"Where did you get that?" He asked, pointing towards her bag. She just shrugged.
"I don't know…my mom got it ages ago. I think maybe it was Banana Republic or…"
"No, not the bag, THAT!" Mick clarified pointing in a more animated fashion. Everyone just looked to the bag to try and see what he was getting worked up about.
"Hey, that is kind of cool. I haven't noticed it before." Calvin said, approaching the bag and inspecting the lion pin on it. "Did you get it at that flea market we went to a couple of weeks ago?"
"You go to flea markets together?" Preston said, holding his hands in a heart shape. "They go antiquing together already. Are they this team's OTP or what?"
"I've…I've never seen it before." Hayley told him, looking at the pin. It looked like it was gold or gold plated, certainly not the kind of thing Hayley normally went for. She did wear jewellery, but the buttons and pins she wore on her clothing tended to have a more functional edge to them. Most of them were declarations of her political standpoint or dedicated to fandoms she was a part of, but this was rather ornate to pin onto her bag, which she would often leave unattended. It would just be an invitation for it to get snatched. "I have no idea where this came from."
"Mick, what's going on?" Brody asked as he saw Mick's face starting to go red.
"That…is the Royal Crest." He told her. "That is the crest of the Royal Family of the Lion Galaxy!"
"Mick, are you sure?" Calvin asked, reaching for it. "I mean, it is kind of cool and all, but where would someone on Earth get…WHOA!"
They all jumped back as Calvin touched the pin, and in a moment, it transformed in a burst of light, much like Mick did whenever he transformed. When they recovered enough to see, they all saw Princess Viera standing before them. They all rushed to prepare a guard, Mick went as far as to grab a Ninja Sword off the workbench. Viera smiled at them, hoping to win them over.
"Hello again Rangers." She greeted them, uncertain now as to how wise her plan was. She had helped the Rangers once before, but at the same time the whole situation had been her fault in the first place. She couldn't really blame them if they weren't exactly happy to see her.
"Princess Viera?" Levi asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Galvanax managed to shoot down my ship. I managed to steer it long enough to crash land it in a mountain range away from the city." She informed them. "But it means I'm stranded here. My ship has been heavily damaged."
"Well, thank goodness you're OK." Brody said, easing up a little. "We never did get a chance to thank you for helping us against Drillion."
"If you can help me get my ship flying again, I think I can help you defeat Drillion." She informed them. "I think it might be the only thing powerful enough to destroy him."
"Wait…defeat Drillion? You kind of already did that." Levi stated.
"Yeah, we all saw that butt-kicking you gave him." Preston agreed. "Nothing could have survived that…right?"
"I'm afraid I wasn't able to unleash the Lion Ship's full power on him. It draws its power from the atmosphere of the planet it's on." She informed them. "I didn't want to risk making your environment unbreathable so I only powered the weapons for a few seconds. For some reason your planet's atmosphere is not as robust as my own."
"Thank you, Greenhouse Effect." Hayley muttered under her breath.
"So, you want us to help you repair your ship?" Brody asked her. She just nodded her head and looked to Sarah.
"I've been educated in a great many fields, but none of them qualify me to repair the Lion Ship." She told them. "I've seen what you can do Sarah. If anyone on this planet has the technological know-how to get my ship up and running again, it's you."
"Do you think you can?" Brody asked Sarah. She just looked among them.
"Well, I…I don't know…"
"Come on Sarah, you're a natural with this kind of stuff!" Preston told her. "You made the Whiplash attack, you made the Clone Star tech, you made that cookie machine that made Monty's lunch edible, that's pretty much a miracle!"
"I…I don't know, I've never seen her technology." Sarah told them. "I did a lot of tinkering in Amber Beach, but Dr Morgan was always the real brains behind everything, if she was here, she'd have that thing up and running by this afternoon. I couldn't even make my only attempt at building a Zorn work."
"Is this Dr Morgan nearby?" Viera asked them. They all looked to Sarah.
"Unfortunately, she's still in Africa." Sarah sighed.
"Well, we can always see what we can do." Brody interjected. "How do we get the ship back in the air?"
Viera pulled out the shards of the anti-gravity crystal and showed them to the Rangers.
"My ship's anti-gravity crystal was damaged. I can't get a replacement here on Earth." She informed them. "Without it, my ship is much too heavy for the engines to power. My ship needs another source of power to fly."
"Mick, you're the mechanical genius, do you have any ideas?" Brody asked him. They all looked to Mick, who was still gripping the Ninja Sword tightly, glaring at Princess Viera hatefully. They were all well aware of how he felt about her and the Royal Family. None of them could blame him either, he had pretty good reasons to be resentful.
"I don't think we should help her at all." Mick answered coldly. "She's the ruler of the Lion Galaxy. It WAS my home, until the Royal Family took me and a hundred others and sold us to Cosmo!"
They looked to Viera, who was horrified by what she had heard. She was only seventeen, she hadn't even been born when the sale took place, but she had seen enough of her father's atrocities and horrific policies to know it was exactly the kind of thing he would do. She had no reason to doubt Mick in his statement, she was well aware of the fact that her father was a despot.
"It's because of HER family that I haven't seen my parents in twenty years!" Mick screamed, pointing at her. Viera couldn't stop a tear starting to run down her face as she heard the sheer hatred in Mick's voice. She knew a great many people had grudges against her family, some more justified than others, but in Mick's case, she could completely understand why he would wish harm on her. "In fact, you know what? Remember what I asked you to do Sarah? I'm going to do the universe a favour and do it myself!"
"Whoa, Mick wait!" Brody called out as the Rangers tried to grab him. Viera was frozen to the spot as she watched him coming over. With the others hanging off him, grabbing him and trying to pull him away, Mick still came forward, driven by the strength of twenty years of anger and hate. He grabbed Viera by the throat, forcing her backwards over one of the workbenches as he raised his other hand with the Ninja Sword to strike. Viera's helmet fell off, clattering to the floor, revealing her face. It was only then that Mick stopped, looking into her face and recognising her.
"You…you're…you're the kid from the park." He gasped, remembering seeing her when he was out feeding the ducks with Jennifer. The others finally managed to pull him away as he eased up a little. Calvin quietly took the Ninja Sword from his hand as he tried to put it somewhere it wouldn't cause any further harm.
"I'm sorry!" Princess Viera sobbed. "I…I didn't know about what happened to your people, but I know it to be true. My father was a monster!"
"That was him, that wasn't you." Sarah said in a soothing voice, helping Viera off the table. "I don't think there's one of us here who's exactly like their parents."
"Well, my dad's a marine biologist, I don't even like fish-sticks." Hayley interjected.
"Yeah, and I couldn't be less like my dad if I tried." Preston added. Sarah offered Viera a tissue.
"Mick, I'm truly sorry." She sobbed as she tried to think of what to say. "I'll admit, I came here to prove I could rule with an iron fist like my father, but you've all shown me that kindness is a much better way."
She looked to Sarah, who was smiling to hear this. It had been her that convinced Viera that an act of compassion made friends rather than allies, and that friends were more likely to help even when it wasn't in their best interests, as opposed to allies who would only help as long as it benefitted them.
"If you'll help me, I intend to go back to the Lion Galaxy, where I intend to lead everyone in a new way. Your way. A better way." She assured them. Mick just looked to her.
"Do you think that's likely?" He asked her. "You are going to be asking a lot of powerful people to give up a way of life they've lived for thousands of years."
"And it's because of that I believe that now might be the time to change it." Viera assured him. "I know I can't be the only one who's tired of never knowing a single day without war. I'm only seventeen and there hasn't been one day in my life the Lion Galaxy hasn't been in a state of war. There are many much older than me that can say the same thing. Maybe now is the time to change that."
Mick didn't say anything, he just nodded. It sounded good to hear her talk of a more peaceful society, but that didn't mean that those years of slavery and imprisonment didn't happen. He wasn't yet ready to allow himself to believe that it was possible that his home could change so drastically. Sarah pointed to the Nexus Prism.
"Guys, look!" Sarah called out, gesturing to the Nexus Prism. It had once more come to life, showing once again the image of the Lion Ship flying through the galaxy. It had been a while since the team had seen it activate, but they all knew when it did, it did so with a purpose.
"That's the third time the Nexus Prism has shown the Lion Ship." Redbot informed them. "It can't be a coincidence, it has to want us to do something to help."
"Maybe…if we use the Ninja Steel, we can turn the Lion Ship into a Megazord." Sarah suggested, looking to the others. She got more than a few questionable looks about this. "Think about it, it's not like we have to stop by the Texaco to gas up our Zords now is it? The Ninja Steel might be able to provide enough power to get the Lion Ship up and running again!"
"That could work!" Princess Viera said.
"Um…I…don't think so." Mick told them. They all stared at him.
"Mick, come on." Calvin stated. "We already know it wasn't Viera who did that stuff to you and your family."
"Yeah, she did help us out…"
"It's…not that." Mick told them. "There's a slightly more…practical problem."
He got the old trophy that Aiden had hidden the Ninja Steel in and turned it upside down over a sheet of paper on his workbench. The Rangers all stared as they saw a small amount of Ninja Steel. Mick threw his hands up and sighed.
"Between all the stars and weapons, we've made already and the repairs we had to make after Drillion's last attack, that's all the Ninja Steel we have left." He informed them. "I estimate we might have enough for one, maybe two Power Stars."
"Mick, we need to help Viera." Hayley told him. "If she doesn't go back to the Lion Galaxy, they'll have an open throne. We've seen what happens when that happened on our planet a few times, imagine a whole Galaxy like that!"
"She did help us." Preston reiterated.
"Mick, please…do this for us." Sarah said, looking to him hopefully. Brody could see the mood of the room, but he also appreciated the practical problem of giving potentially all the Ninja Steel they had left to Viera.
"Alright, this has to be a unanimous decision, otherwise I'm sorry Viera, but we can't afford to help." Brody told her. "I vote we help."
"Count me as vote number five." Calvin stated. "I know we got off on the wrong foot, but to me, Viera showed us who she really is when she helped with Drillion."
"My vote makes six." Levi chipped in. "I don't know where I'd be if the Westons didn't help me."
"Alright then, Redbot and I will get to work on a new Zorn Star." Mick answered, picking up the paper and tipping the Ninja Steel into a melting spoon. "It'll probably take a week."
"A week?" Viera asked. "What am I supposed to do until then?"
"Well…you can stay here." Brody offered her. She felt a little uneasy accepting an invitation to stay, particularly since one of the people that lived there had only moments ago tried to ram a sword through her heart.
"Come on, we can't expect her to stay cooped up in here all that time." Preston said. "Even Redbot gets to stretch his legs in the woods once in a while."
"I think I have an idea." Hayley said with a little smile. Viera just looked to them both a little curiously.