Cosmo was in his office, along with Odious, Galvanax and what was left of Wrench. While he was paying to have Wrench rebuilt, he wasn't exactly in a hurry to do so given Wrench's failure in his last outing. It wasn't that Wrench hadn't gotten close, but whereas Wrench was generally a lot smarter and more thought-out in his approach to things than some of the other bruisers that came through Galaxy Warriors, he had fallen to a similar failing to the others. In the heat of the moment, he had gotten caught up in the show and the adulation and taken way too much time and way too much for granted. In a way, one of the things that annoyed Cosmo about Wrench's run on the show was that he had disappointed him in ending up much like the rest of the knuckle-draggers he had seen. Right now, Wrench had his head, about half his torso, and his left arm returned to him, and was being pushed around on a frame so that he could manage his duties in the production team.
Cosmo was pacing impatiently as he waited for the latest warrior to arrive. He had gone outside of his normal channels to find someone that was in incredible demand on the independent scene. While Galaxy Warriors was easily the premier company out there for intergalactic blood sports, there were other companies out there, and there were more than a few independent or "indie" warriors that plied their trade across numerous companies in order to maximise their exposure in a business where the prominence of their spot in the roster may be more down to internal politics and whether or not those in charge liked someone than genuine talent. Cosmo tended to stick with his own guys, since it was easier to exert control over those that were contractually tied to his company, but occasionally he would hire an independent who had a particularly impressive reputation in the hopes of swaying them into signing with him or to feed to some of his more prominent athletes in squash matches to make them look more impressive without taking any real risks with contracted talent. This guy though, he was in a league all of his own.
He had made a name for himself as one of the most successful warriors who had never signed a long-term contract with Cosmo. He had plied his own brand of carnage across numerous star systems, and by virtue of doing it all on his own, had kept most of the profits from his matches and his merchandise to himself. He was wealthy completely independently of Cosmo, which made him a lot harder to sway on coming on the show, but he had finally agreed a meeting with them. That said, right now he was committing one of the most egregious sins that made Cosmo's blood boil. He was making him wait. He was late!
"You know, you never have this problem with any of my talent." Odious said, more as a kind of taunt than anything else. Cosmo cast her a withering look.
"If your stable of athletes was worth a shit we wouldn't BE in this mess!" He snapped at her, checking his pocket watch. "The first rule of business is ALWAYS be on time! Where is he?"
"According to the scanners, there hasn't been a ship arrive or leave in days." Wrench informed him. "We've also had no teleporter activity since I got back."
"You mean he isn't even on the SHIP yet?" Cosmo screamed at him.
"We can find another warrior!" Wrench stammered. "I've got someone in mind, good build on him, really big mouth too, really loves talking smack…"
"Pretty soon we may not have a choice." Cosmo stated coldly, checking his watch again. "I am Cosmo Royale! No one keeps me waiting! I am the king of intergalactic blood sport entertainment! I'm the God of this industry! No one disrespects me!"
"Well, it seems like this pretender has." Galvanax snarled as he inspected his naginata. "Perhaps he didn't want to be in the presence of a real champion!"
"Alright, I certainly hope you both prepared your pitches." Cosmo stated. "That's it. If he isn't here at the count of three, I'm going with one of your athletes! One, two…"
Just then, there was a cloud of purple smoke on the opposite side of Cosmo's desk, which quickly dissipated. Sitting on his chair behind the desk, was a creature, wearing an ornately patterned red cloak, with the hood seemingly trimmed with some form of sharp animal teeth. His face was hidden, not just by the hood, but by some kind of dark mist that continued to shift and move, forming into many nightmarish visions based on the fears and doubts of whoever looked on him. He was holding a long, oaken broom with a large, spiked spiral coming from the top. He leaned back in the chair casually.
"Sorry I'm late." He stated with no real indication that he cared at all about the inconvenience or irritation his tardiness had caused. He snapped his fingers at which millions of business cards all carrying his image and his name rained down from the ceiling. Cosmo snatched one of them out of the air. "I presume I need no introduction."
"Abrakadanger. Your reputation precedes you." Cosmo stated, scrunching up his card. "You know, normally I don't entertain people who keep me waiting!"
"But in my case, you'll make an exception." Abrakadanger chuckled. "Because if you didn't need me, you'd never have sent all those messages. I've been on the indies for decades and you've only ever contacted me at most twice in a year. In the last few days, I've received no less than fifteen messages from you! That tells me you're desperate."
"No one is THAT desperate!" Odious sneered, turning to Cosmo. "Please, this man is nothing but parlour tricks and no substance! Let me MMMMMMMPHHH!"
She was muffled as her head was suddenly encased in a metal helmet which covered her mouth. There didn't seem to be any seams or gaps, making it look like it was one piece of metal somehow forged tightly around her head. Odious clawed at it, trying to pry it off.
"Be quiet and let the adults talk for a minute!" He said dismissively. Galvanax levelled his naginata at Abrakadanger's throat.
"Release her!" He barked. "NOW!"
Abrakadanger got up slowly from the chair, before putting a finger on the end of Galvanax's naginata. It started to wilt and flop downwards like it was made of some kind of cloth.
"I hear that can happen to men of a…certain age." He teased Galvanax. The Galaxy Warriors Champion reared back a fist, preparing to strike when Cosmo got between them.
"Settle down!" He told them both, gesturing to Galvanax to back off. He glared at Abrakadanger. "I do NOT appreciate such disrespect in my own office!"
"Well, how about we get down to business then so that I can go and prepare?" He asked. He snapped his fingers at which a contract appeared in Cosmo's hand. "I have some demands for my appearance on your show."
"You want a contract?" Cosmo asked him. Abrakadanger just shrugged.
"I've made a lot on the indies, but there comes a time when a steady income becomes a tempting proposition." He told him. "I will keep the rights to my own name and image. I get ninety five percent of the royalties of all merchandise…"
"NINETY-FIVE?" Galvanax roared. "I only get NINETY!"
"I also want a guaranteed downside of seven figures per bout." He told him. "Oh, and one last thing."
He pointed to the belt around Galvanax's waist.
"I want THAT!" He told him. Galvanax's hand strayed to his championship belt. Cosmo looked to him.
"If you take out the Rangers…"
"WHEN I take out the Rangers!" Abrakadanger responded confidently.
"When you defeat the Rangers, you can have Galvanax." Cosmo told him, signing the contract. "But rest assured, disrespect me in my office again, you will disappear and believe me when I say, you will not be coming back!"
"You made a wise choice." Abrakadanger replied, taking the contract and inspecting it, before rolling it up and putting it back inside his cloak. "Oh, and since you're so worried about your office…"
He slammed his staff into the floor, at which he and all the business cards disappeared, along with the helmet silencing Madame Odious. She glared at Cosmo as he walked around his desk and sat in his chair once more.
"This is outrageous!" She shrieked at him. "That thing is…"
"Believe me, I don't appreciate his attitude but I do appreciate a tough negotiation." Cosmo told her as he lit up a cigar.
"You just promised him Galvanax!" She yelled at him.
"And if your client is worthy of that belt, then he should be able to defend it, shouldn't he?" Cosmo asked her. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to start thinking about promotion. We're about to put one of the biggest independent stars on the scene on the show. It's not like I'll get that opportunity every day."
Over at the Ranger Base, Preston, Sarah, Mick and Redbot were all gathered around as Viera looked to them all with a huge smile on her face. She brought a large, ancient looking chest onto the work bench, slamming it down. They all stared at it as she continued to grin.
"That's a…nice chest." Mick told her.
"That's what Sel kept the Lion Fire Armour Star and the Lion Fire Zord Star in?" Sarah surmised. Viera just nodded.
"Yes, he did. I already told you I gave them to him for safe keeping before I was imprisoned." She told them. "Well, he brought this chest with him and he told me they were in there."
"Well, that's really nice." Preston said, inspecting the box. "So, are you keeping it as a memento?"
"No!" She replied. "Well, yes, but what I want to show you isn't the chest, it's what's inside the chest!"
"What's inside?" Mick asked her. She opened the chest and reached into it.
"Preston, you remember I told you that there were wizards on my world for generations." She replied. "Well, it looks like Sel's family had something of a legacy that even I didn't know about."
She pulled out a large, leather-bound book, and what looked like a twig. The only remarkable thing about it was that it had a tiny carving at the end, that from a distance made it look like some errant insect was crawling on the branch, but on closer inspection looked like a dragon. She held up the wand, showing it to them all.
"This is the Dragon Wand. Tales of its power are legendary in my galaxy. Its last bearer was killed by my father's ancestor almost three centuries ago. Some disputed what happened to it because no one ever used it in battle again. Some thought that my ancestors destroyed it to prevent its power being wielded against us again. Others thought it was lost. Some, including myself started to doubt it ever existed at all and that it was just a fairy tale, but when I got the stars out of the chest and I saw this, I just felt its power and knew that it had to be the real thing." She explained. "It looks like Sel's family took it as a trophy. Since I am no wizard, I thought that perhaps it would be best if I gave it to someone that was."
"You…you're…you're kidding right?" Preston said, noticeably starting to vibrate with delight as he reached out for it. "You're giving me a wand? A real actual wand?"
"Uh…Preston…"
"I can't believe it! I have an actual wand!" He screeched, beginning to wave it about.
"A wand helps a wizard channel unbelievable power. With it, a wizard can achieve amazing things far beyond the reach of their innate abilities, but like any weapon it needs some training and extreme discipline in order to use safely." She said, showing him the book. "That's where this comes in. I read some of it, and while I didn't understand a lot of it, I understood enough to know that this is the personal grimoire of a legendary sorcerer from my world. It details some powerful spells and has the secrets of his training. With it, someone with strong magical abilities can learn to use the wand."
"Use it?" Preston asked her. "You said this belonged to a powerful wizard. Do you think I could even…I don't know…handle that power?
"Preston, magic is a tool like any other." She explained to him. "Yes, this power is dangerous if wielded incorrectly, but if you have the patience and the will to work at it and study, this can be a tremendous power for good, and it could be an amazing weapon in your arsenal against Galvanax."
"Preston, she has a point." Sarah said to him. "I know better than anyone what can happen when things go wrong with weapons and how they can be used against us, but that doesn't mean I've stopped trying to use the talents I have to make us stronger in our fight to make the Earth safe again."
She pulled in closer to him, placing a hand softly on his face.
"I believe in you Preston." She told him. "If anyone can do this, it's you. No one loves magic more than you do."
"Alright." Preston said with a cautious tone in his voice, carefully taking the wand from Mick. "Alright, what do I do."
"From what little I could understand from the grimoire, it's a comprehensive guide to his works." Viera explained to Viera. "That means it's kind of like a how-to guide. It is imperative that you start at the beginning of the book and work through its lessons and learn its spells in order. Whatever you do, you cannot skip ahead!"
"Alright, so…I just start at the beginning and read through." Preston said as he took the book from her. "Yeah…I think I can do that. Thank you for this Viera."
"You've already helped me so much." She answered, hugging him gently.
"Still, this is amazing!" Preston said, looking once more to his new wand with glee. "I can't WAIT to try this thing out!"
"Well, that's the first bell." Sarah reminded him. "So, unless you plan to make geography a lot more interesting by actually taking us to the Amazon, I guess you're just going to have to wait a little before you give that a test run."
"I guess so." Preston said with a petted lip as he put the wand and the book in his bag. "Man, I wish I went to Hogwarts now."
Over in the hospital, Spike was being examined once more. Given the extent of his injuries, they were keeping a very close eye on him. He had already been through surgery, taking out a section of his colon, but the trouble with stomach wounds was that there were just so many organs that could leak and create potentially toxic situations in the human body that it was possible even a tiny, easily-missed tear or rupture could spell disaster and so they needed to make sure that nothing changed regularly. Sudden changes in temperature, discolouration, spikes in vitals, all of those could alert them to potentially dangerous complications, but since they could manifest very quickly there really was no alternative to regular blood, fluid and temperature tests.
Kimberly was standing by the candy machine, trying to get herself a snack. Skull had gone to arrange a hotel for them, while Bulk had insisted that he go to get them something more substantial than the contents of the hospital vending machines. Right now, though, that wouldn't be hard.
"Are you kidding me?" Kimberly muttered as the machine failed to vend. She started to hit the machine. "You stupid piece of…"
"You know, I've heard these things work better when they're plugged in." Jayden said as he arrived, picking a plug up off the floor and putting it into the plug socket. Kimberly just sighed and shook her head.
"I haven't slept in a while alright?" She asked.
"Is it safe to approach?" He asked her cautiously. He knew Kimberly was a Ranger and knew the risks involved exactly the same way he did, but there was a bit of a difference between logically knowing when a situation could turn so quickly that sometimes bad things just happened and the parental instinct that would seek to blame and punish anyone involved in their children being hurt. Jayden had only been a parent himself a little over a week, he and Antonio had only just finalised the paperwork to adopt Stephanie, but he already knew all too well the instinct to protect, and to lash out at anyone and anything that might do her harm. Kimberly was Spike's step-mom, but she had been in his life since he was a baby, and was the only mother he had ever known. Serena had learned the hard way how strong the momma-bear instinct was in Kimberly when he had ended up being hurt in one of his training sessions. He was relieved as he saw her smiling.
"Well, get me some chocolate M&M's and we'll call it forgiven." She told him as Jayden approached. She gestured him in for a hug, holding him. "I didn't catch much, but I knew you were there."
"I'm sorry things went badly…"
"Hey, these things happen." Kimberly reminded him. "Between the Spandex and the force, I know that you can do everything right and still something goes wrong that you didn't expect."
"I didn't know Goodwill was going to give up the gun, I swear I didn't." Jayden rushed out. "I didn't hear what they were saying, I just saw the gun pointed at Spike and I moved in…I moved as fast as I could…"
"Jayden, there's nothing to apologise for. If I'd been there, from where you were standing, I'd probably have done exactly the same thing." She assured him. "Well…maybe not EXACTLY the same thing, I mean I have a bow but…I'd probably have made much the same call."
"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that." He told her, fetching her snack out of the machine. "I would offer to pay the hospital bills but it looks like you've got things covered."
"What can I say? Being a Skullovitch has its advantages at times." Kimberly answered. "I appreciate you coming."
"Well, I wish everyone felt the same." Jayden answered. Kimberly just looked at him.
"What's that meant to mean?" She asked him.
"You haven't heard?" He asked her. She just shook her head.
"I haven't seen any official reports." She told him. "Spike told me what he remembers but he was pretty in and out on what he saw and heard after the shot. It's not that uncommon."
"Spike's partner wasn't as forgiving as you were." Jayden told her. "He started yelling at me, screaming about how Rangers just get away without facing the consequences of their actions. He wanted to arrest me…"
"Jayden, I'm sure it was all just the heat of the moment." Kimberly told him.
"He bounced a bullet off my skull!" Jayden told her. "If it wasn't for the helmet my brains would have been all over the cemetery."
"He shot you?" Kimberly gasped. She had seen anti-Ranger sentiment. The fact was that while public opinion always was overwhelmingly favourable when it came to Rangers, there were always some that harboured some ill will towards them. People who were hurt in their battles, people who had lost loved ones, those who had been unfortunate enough to be one of those that the Rangers couldn't help, and some who in some ways the Rangers had negatively affected either directly or indirectly. Wars had casualties, that was unavoidable, but that wasn't always a comfort to those that suffered those consequences.
"I think I might have created a problem." He told her. "I'm not familiar with the current team, but I need to find them and I need to warn them. Thanks to me, something bad could be coming their way."