Calvin kept a close eye on Mick as he and Hayley cleared debris from the road. Hayley could see the way he was staring at him and came over.
"You don't need to be jealous." Hayley told him. "She's still your girl, even if he is touching her."
"It's not that Hayley." Calvin said quietly. "We don't even know this guy. We have no idea what he's doing to Nitro. He could be...I don't know...sabotaging it or something."
"Calvin, he's stranded out here too." Hayley reminded him. "If anything he's in a worse position than us. He has no idea where he is on this planet. Worst case scenario if we start walking we'll be home in a couple of hours. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense for him to do anything to sabotage your truck."
"Well we don't even know what he's doing here in the first place." Calvin reminded her.
"I don't know how it works on your planet, but where I come from its considered rude to talk about someone while they're standing nearby without including them in the conversation." Mick piped up, causing both of them to jump. He closed over the hood of the truck.
"You heard us?" Hayley asked him.
"Oh, I have about average hearing and you were standing only a short distance away. You really don't talk as quietly as you think." Mick told them. "If you want to know something you could always just ask, but I'd recommend we start getting somewhere safe now. Your engine's finished by the way, so we might want to...you know..." He clicked his tongue and gestured to the road.
"Not so fast, we're not taking you anywhere until we know more about you." Calvin stated. Mick just folded his arms and leant against Nitro.
"Well, I guess things DO work differently on your planet. I was under the impression when people make a deal they kept to it. I've fixed your engine like I promised." Mick stated.
"He has a point Calvin." Hayley conceded.
"Wait, we haven't tried the engine, we don't know if he's done anything other than mess it up!" Calvin told her.
"Um...your girlfriend already pointed out, that really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense now would it? It doesn't help me at all." Mick answered. He just sighed. "Alright, what do you want to know?"
"You said you jumped out of a spaceship." Calvin began.
"Well, jumped would imply I had much choice in the matter, I'd say more plummeted from, but...yeah, you could say that." Mick answered.
"Why would anyone do that?" Hayley asked, looking skyward. She couldn't see any signs of a ship, and she was sure there'd be a lot more wreckage if the ship crashed. That would mean he had to have jumped out of the ship while it was well above cloud cover without a parachute! She couldn't imagine what would make someone desperate enough to try something like that.
"I was escaping monsters." Mick stated flatly. "And since they're probably already on their way, I'd really like to be on my way so..." He clicked his tongue and gestured to the road again.
"Alien monsters?" Hayley asked him. He just nodded.
"Yeah!" Mick said, nodding his head.
"What kind of monsters?" Calvin asked.
"Oh, big...scary...ugly...kind of like...THAT!" He answered, panicking and pointing behind them. Calvin and Hayley both turned around, seeing a bunch of Kudabots appearing. Calvin grabbed a metal bar, while Hayley grabbed a large pipe.
"Maybe we can...scare them off?" Calvin asked, sounding about as convinced with this plan as Hayley was. The creatures coming towards them were armed with some kind of spears, and looked a lot more like an army than just a couple of kids arming themselves with whatever crap they could find lying around!
"Hey, if you want to get to him you...um...have to go through us!" Hayley called out, trying to sound braver than she actually was. They felt a little prod on the shoulder and turned to see Mick.
"Uh...yeah, you're trying to reason with robots who are literally programmed to fight." Mick told them. "Now if one of you gives me the keys, I can crank up this...Nitro...and get us the hell out of here!"
"Hey, no one drives Nitro but Hayley!" Calvin warned him. Just then, one of the Kudabots fired a blast their way, narrowly missing them.
"That would be your warning shot." Mick told them. "They're only programmed to give one."
"Here, take them!" Hayley said, handing Mick the keys. As Mick ran off to start up the truck, Hayley and Calvin ran for the Kudabots, knowing that by now any hope of resolving this without a fight had long since past.
Mick dove into the truck, fumbling with the keys and started to crank the engine. He caught only glimpses of the fight between periodically checking the display and operating the choke to try and get Nitro running. These two humans appeared to be doing surprisingly well! They could really have used some proper weapons, but they were at least managing to provide a distraction.
Calvin and Hayely quickly realised that the scrap they picked up wasn't going to cut it, but having knocked one of the robots over, Calvin managed to get one of their spears. He thrust it out, ramming it right through one of the other Kudabots with ease. He gulped.
"Hayley, these things work a lot better!" He told her, prompting his girlfriend to grab another. They started swinging wildly, smashing down another couple, but since there were at least ten more, they quickly figured out that staying in this fight was not the best plan. Mick finally managed to turn over the engine, much to their relief.
"Guys, I think it's time we were going!" Mick called to them, sliding over. Hayley got in the driver's seat and put her foot down, roaring away as Calvin threw himself into the back with Kody. They ran straight over a couple of the Kudabots, while the others rebounded off the hood, scattering onto the ground as they raced away.
"That was WAY too close!" Calvin commented. "Hayley..."
"Hey, a speeding ticket is the least of our worries; I just want to get the hell out of here!" Hayley responded. "I just hope Mick's repairs to your truck can get us back to shop class!"
Mick looked between Hayley and Calvin for a moment.
"So if this is YOUR truck, why is SHE driving it?" Mick asked. Hayley and Calvin just glared at him. "OK, minding my own business."
Back in the woods, Sarah, Preston and Brody were battling with Korvaka, only now the battle didn't seem quite so one-sided. As she swept Korvaka's blade aside and caught him across the chest in a move Riley had showed her once, she squealed in delight.
"This...this is incredible! I feel as strong as...as ten freight trains!" She screamed.
"This is totally WILD!" Preston agreed, leaping through the air and kicking Korvaka a good four or five times before hitting the ground. He did train, and was reasonably fit, since many of the illusions he had high hopes of performing, especially the escapology ones required a lot of fitness and flexibility, he knew this was way beyond what he should be able to do. "This is like magic!"
"Alright guys, it's time to finish this off." Brody told them, at which a blaster appeared in his hand.
Sarah and Preston both pulled out blasters too, joining Brody in levelling the blasters at Korvaka.
"Final STRIKE!" They called out, opening fire. They all watched as he fell to the ground and exploded.
"Whoo, yeah, Monster Extinc...um..." Sarah said, before looking to Brody and Preston who were staring at her. "It's...it's gone!"
"Show's over, Ninjas win!" Brody said, putting his weapons away. Sarah hung back to think about it for a moment as they went to inspect the wreckage, making sure Korvaka was really gone.
"You know...I think I could get used to that." Sarah remarked to herself. "Sorry Tyler."
"That was intense! That was insane! Please tell me I'm dreaming!" Preston rambled.
"Sorry, I'm afraid not." Brody told him. "Thanks for the help by the way."
"This is...this is impossible, I can't...I can't be a Power Ranger!" Preston continued to ramble. "Surely they'd pick like...soldiers or cops or stuff like that right?"
"Um..." Sarah was about to answer, before stopping herself. She needed to think for a moment. "...Didn't the Corsairs become Rangers in High School?"
"Alright, Korvaka's gone and it looks like he's not getting a second shot." Brody stated. "I guess he wasn't good for the cameras."
"Cameras?" Sarah asked.
"I'll explain later." Brody told her. "Right now we have to hide..."
Before he could finish, the Ninja Nexus Prism flew off into the distance. They all watched it go, knowing there was no way any of them would be able to catch it, not even with Sarah's hoverboard.
"Where's it going?" Preston asked.
"If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say to find three more Rangers." Sarah surmised. There were three more stars."
Just then, Redbot sat up, shaking his head.
"All systems back online!" He declared. Sarah started to run for him only for Brody to snatch her off her feet and hold her. Preston was already reaching for his Power Star.
"Guys, wait, that's Redbot, he's our friend!" Brody told them. "He's not like Korvaka."
"He's your friend." Sarah asked. Brody nodded his head and released her.
"Where's the Nexus Prism?" Redbot asked him.
"It's gone." Brody told him. "We managed to get three of the Power Stars out, but it flew away."
"You got Power Stars out?" Redbot asked. "Sizzling circuits! That's great!"
"What's not great is we still have to stop Galvanax from getting the Ninja Steel." Brody told him.
"Wait, hold on a minute...what's Ninja Steel?" Preston asked. Brody looked to the two young people standing before him.
"I'm not sure I should tell you." He answered. "It's not your fight..."
"Excuse me, I'm sorry but according to the big star-shaped thing, this just became our fight!" Sarah said in a forceful manner. She had no idea about ninja stuff, or the Nexus Prism or the stars...but she DID know enough from her time watching her friends that Rangers had a team for a reason. "Now, what's this about Ninja Steel?"
Back at the school, Hayley was just pulling Nitro into the rear entrance, bringing it into the yard behind Shop Class. Hayley, Calvin and Mick disembarked, while Kody just found a quiet corner to curl up and take a nap.
"This is Shop Class." Hayley explained, panning her hands around. "This is where we fix things, and where we LEARN to fix things. If there's anywhere you'll get what you need to fix your wrist thingy, you'll find it here."
"We're SO late." Calvin said, looking a little worried. "We've almost missed the whole afternoon!"
"Calvin, relax, we both had shop class after lunch anyway. We don't even have a teacher yet! No teacher means no one to take attendance!" Hayley reminded him. "They usually let you stay late to work on Nitro anyway. If we just wait until final bell, no one will interrupt us."
"Mick, just...try to blend in." Calvin told him. Mick saw a stack of tyres.
"I know, I'll turn myself into a tyre!" He said, preparing to do so. Hayley just grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Mick, you're in a garage and you're wearing coveralls." Hayley reminded him. "Just try not to act too strangely and no one will even notice."
As they headed inside, Mick scratched his head as he thought about this plan.
"Don't act strangely?" He asked. "You DO know I'm an alien right?"
Back in the forest, Sarah, Preston, Redbot and Brody were all sitting around as Brody told them the tale, explaining everything. How he had been kidnapped by Galvanax, how he had been a slave on board the Warrior Dome, how his brother had been instructed to hide the Ninja Steel, everything. As he finished, both Preston and Sarah stared at him.
"I am SO going to burn my tablet when I go home." Sarah muttered under her breath as she heard Brody's story. She had discovered the show Galaxy Warriors by accident, but she had always assumed it was a science fiction show or an intergalactic version of professional wrestling. To hear that for months she had been watching real living creatures slaughter each other in the name of entertainment made her feel ill to her stomach.
"So, ten years ago, your dad had the Ninja Steel in your workshop, and now these monsters are after it?" Preston quizzed the new Red Ranger.
"That's right, but I plan to get it first." Brody responded, checking his Datacomm. "I still can't reach Mick. I really hope he's OK."
"So...what now?" Sarah asked Brody. Brody just looked to them. "Where do we go now?"
"Simple, to my old house." Brody told them. "That's where the Ninja Steel is. I can't wait to see my brother Aiden again!"
"OK, that's a plan but...where's your house?" Preston asked him. "The world is kind of a big place."
Brody had to think about that one. He had only been seven years old when he lived on the farm.
"I don't know. My dad left the Ninja Academy when I was born, he moved out to a farm to raise us in peace." He told them. "My mom died when we were young. He became a bit of a recluse after that. We hardly ever left the farm."
"Well, can you narrow it down at least?" Sarah asked him. "Do you even remember the name of a town?"
"It was so long ago, I can..." He paused for a moment, before sitting cross-legged on the ground. He started to meditate.
"What are you doing?" Preston asked him.
"He's meditating." Redbot told him. "He's trying to clear his thoughts, to arrange his memories so that he can recall..."
"It's in a place called...Millport." Brody said, opening his eyes. "It was a little place called..."
"MILLPORT!" Sarah shrieked. "I know where that is!"
"You do?" Both Preston and Brody said, looking to her. Sarah just nodded her head frantically.
"My friends Matt and Riley come from there! It's just outside of the city limits!" She told them.
"It is?" Brody asked. Sarah just nodded, before checking her surroundings.
"You wouldn't happen to know which way's North would you?" She asked Redbot.
"That way." He answered, pointing. Sarah threw down her hoverboard.
"Then if we head this way, it should only take us about half an hour." She told them. "Redbot, do you still have fuel in your rocket boots?"
"Not much, but it should be enough for a short flight." He told her.
"Then follow me!" She said. "Get on Magic Boy!"
Preston got on her hoverboard behind her and held on tight as Sarah shot off through the woods. Brody climbed onto Redbot's back as his companion took off. As much as he was reluctant to drag others into his fight, he had to admit, so far it had worked out well. He didn't know how much further behind he'd be if he hadn't run into Preston and Sarah.
Back at the school, Hayley and Calvin had indeed managed to slip into class without anyone noticing, or more accurately caring that they had been absent for most of the afternoon. Since Victor was covering, and he didn't care much for anyone or anything other than himself, he hadn't bothered to take a roll call. Most likely if he hadn't needed to be there to work on his own project, he probably would have just gone home himself.
They hung around, performing enough busy work to make it look like they were actually there to learn. Calvin was working on a bike that he was constructing completely from scrap for his project, but really they were just trying to kill time until the others went home so that Mick could work on his Datacomm without anyone paying too much attention.
Mick wandered around the class in amazement, looking at everything on display. It was like going to a toy shop for him. He had worked with some of the highest grade technology in several solar systems, so the basic internal combustion engine and crude electronics of Earth were quite literally the kind of thing given to children in his home system to play with. Even before his time on the Warrior Dome.
While the rest of his sector was in a state of virtually perpetual warfare, Mick's people tended to be left alone by virtue of their technological skills meaning they were far too useful to all the warring factions as arms dealers and so there was an unofficial no-touch policy on his people. It was never wise to alienate the ones that sold weapons in a system where people literally fought for their lives from the moment they were born to the moment they died.
He was intrigued and delighted to see all the quaint little tools and devices being built here. It was like taking a trip into his childhood. Most of what he saw would sell for a fortune as antiques and curios back home. He didn't even notice as Principal Hastings came in to make sure Victor was doing his 'job'.
"You there!" She called out. Mick looked around to see who she was addressing as she pointed at him, before realising it was him. She approached him extending a hand. "You must be our new shop teacher! I'm Principal Hastings, very nice to meet you!"
Mick wasn't at all familiar with this gesture. No one really cared to give the slaves on the Warrior Dome any kind of regard, much less social pleasantries. He took her hand, shaking it back and forth, before releasing it and waving.
"Hi, I'm Mick!" He told her. She just sighed and looked to her hand, before wiping it off on a rag. Mick didn't even realise he hadn't cleaned up since fixing Calvin's truck. Calvin and Hayley noticed this and immediately started to cringe. This was exactly the last thing they needed. They were trying to come up with a good story, but in her usual manner, Hastings was far too focused on getting things done quickly to pay much attention.
"Now, I was very disappointed to hear you had turned us down, but who could blame you? I wouldn't want to spend all day in this grease pit." She stated. Mick just looked utterly puzzled by this. Why WOULDN'T anyone want to spend all day here? Free access to all the retro tools and parts he could ever want? Why would he ever want to leave? "But...I suspect you're right at home!"
Mick just smiled and nodded. He had learned long ago that giving the wrong answer as a slave was only an invitation to a severe beating at best. This woman who had only just met him seemed to take that as answer enough to satisfy her.
"I'm glad you changed your mind. Just drop off your paperwork with the office by the end of the week." She told him. "Welcome aboard! Victor! You're no longer in charge!"
With that, she left. Mick just flicked a thumb in the direction of the door.
"She thinks I'm your teacher?" He asked.
"Well...for now that might be for the best." Calvin stated. "Adults hanging around schools for no reason tend to get a lot of attention from the authorities here."
"Besides, you never actually SAID you were our teacher so...technically you're not lying." Hayley pointed out. "You're just...not correcting her mistake."
"That is...an excellent way of looking at it!" Mick agreed. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's a kid over there who has NO idea how to use a soldering iron!"
"This is a bad idea isn't it?" Calvin asked. Hayley just sighed.
"Yup, definitely a bad idea." She agreed. "But...we do owe him for getting Nitro working."
"We're totally getting expelled if anyone figures this out right?" Calvin asked her.
"Bringing a stranger into the school without any kind of security clearance?" Hayley asked him. "Pretty much!"
"Oh...just checking." Calvin answered as they went back to work on the bike, hoping that none of the other students would ask too many questions about the mysterious new arrival.