Up on the Warrior Dome, producers and agents were tracking the Buzz-cams Cosmo had sent out to track the escape. One of the interns snapped up from his chair.
"I've got it!" Wrench screamed, bouncing excitedly in his seat and pointing at the screen. Since he had left Sledge's ship and taken a position on the Warrior Dome, he had been stuck with pretty much every menial and tedious job they could find. He had gone through decades of back-tapes for archives, done routine repairs on equipment; he'd even run standard maintenance on Kudabots, all in the hopes of finally working his way out of the position of 'intern'.
He had so far managed to get access to the security and surveillance systems, showing a flair for working with recording equipment. He had orchestrated Brody's escape, but there was always an agenda behind it. He had been on the ship long enough to know that Brody, Redbot and Mick were all good friends and always together. He knew that Brody would never attempt an escape and leave them behind, that was when a plan had started to hatch in his mind. Mick was the head mechanic. The one thing that would expedite the process of the promotion process faster than anything else was a new vacancy opening up. If all of a sudden the head mechanic disappeared...that would mean they would be looking for someone with experience and talent at short notice. It didn't matter to him if Mick actually escaped or was killed in the attempt, either way, it would open up the vacancy beautifully!
What he hadn't anticipated is them taking the Nexus Prism with them! He knew that Brody was desperate to escape, and he thought that giving him a short window would cause him to snatch the opportunity and run. He thought Brody would be happy enough just to be free, the last thing he expected was for him to anger Galvanax any further by robbing him in the process!
"I'll take the footage to...YAAAARGHHHH!" One of the other interns called out, reaching for the console. Wrench snatched up his axe and brought it down, severing his hand! He took the recording from the console and ran out of the production room himself, taking the recording straight to Cosmo, who was standing by the edge of the stage, going over designs for the latest merchandise line with Madame Odious.
"I really like these t-shirts. Ripper Rat is really coming up in the polls!" He said, observing a couple of designs. One of them showed a creature with massive chainsaws leaping out of the shirt towards the observer, while the other was simply a chainsaw with the name 'Ripper Rat' across the blade in print that looked like a blood splatter. "I like the simplicity of the chainsaw design, but this other one...it's really dynamic. I can't..."
"Mr Cosmo, Mr Cosmo!" Wrench screamed as he arrived. Cosmo held up a hand to silence him as he considered the decision for a moment.
"Why don't we put the decision in the hands of the fans? Do a phone poll, premium rate, let them do our market research for us!" Cosmo suggested. "That way instead of paying for it, we'll GET paid to have our job done for us!"
"A brilliant idea as always." Madame Odious said as a Kudabot arrived, handing her a note. "If you'll excuse me, I have an urgent private matter to attend to!"
"Of course of course, go ahead." Cosmo said as he turned his attention to Wrench. "So, what can I help you with my loyal intern?"
"I brought you a recording; we know where the Ninja Steel is!" Wrench told him. He plugged the recording into his own systems, before generating a hologram showing Brody.
"Mick, I want you to listen to me really carefully, this is important. I want you to meet me at the High School. Aiden hid the Ninja Steel in a trophy in the trophy cabinet."
Cosmo grinned evilly as he heard this.
"You've done good work intern!" He said. Just then, he saw another intern getting dragged away, screaming and clutching the bloody stump left by his severed hand. It was only then he noticed the blood splattered on Wrench's hull. "Did you...?"
"He...he wanted to bring this to you." Wrench told him. Cosmo just let out a laugh and clapped Wrench on the shoulder.
"I do love a little healthy competition for recognition!" He told Wrench. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."
He lifted up one of Wrench's hands and stubbed out his cigar on it, using his hand as an ashtray, before striding onto the stage, twirling his baton as he addressed the studio audience.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you are here on a VERY special night! Tonight Galaxy Warriors premiers a deadly, brutal, and exciting new format!" Cosmo Royale announced. "Earlier today, some ungrateful interns stole the Nexus Prism. Now, instead of each other, monsters will track the vile thieves to bring back the Nexus Prism! Whoever does so will become a true Galaxy Warriors elite like our illustrious champion Galvanax!"
The crowd roared as he announced this.
"Now, who should we allow to be the first to receive this honour? Do you think it should be the first to have this illustrious honour?" He asked, twisting his hand behind his ear. The crowd was electric, all calling out the names of their favourite fighters. He smiled and nodded as he heard the suggestions roll in. "Well, they are all good suggestions, but I think I have the ideal candidate in mind. On a hot-streak of fifteen straight wins, thirteen by way of bloody dismemberment, and voted this year's rookie of the year, RIPPER RAT!"
In a flash of light, a monster appeared before the crowd to a huge response. He was a large, white creature, that looked a lot like a rat, but covered in armour, and with a couple of huge, curved chainsaw weapons coming down from his forearms. He revved them up, causing the crowd to go wild!
"I'm ready to RIP!" Ripper Rat declared, at which Cosmo gestured to the technicians by the side of the stage. In a flash of light, Ripper Rat disappeared, heading to Earth to hunt down the Ninja Steel and the thieves who had stolen the Nexus Prism.
In the High School, Calvin and Hayley followed Mick as he went in search of the trophy. They really did have no idea what was going on, but since hiding Mick had been such a headache, and he seemed to be in a hurry, they presumed it had to be important. If nothing else, it would be an expedient way to get him out of there before anyone else came looking for him.
"Alright, there's the trophy case." Hayley told him. "There's the trophy! Now, if you hold on a minute, I..."
Before she could finish, Mick put his elbow straight through the glass.
"I was GOING to say I have a key and can open it!" Hayley told him, showing him the key. "I'm on the yearbook committee!"
"Oh...sorry." Mick answered, taking the trophy down. He flipped open the top, looking inside. Both Hayley and Calvin looked inside, and were rather...unimpressed.
"That's what those things are after?" Calvin asked. "It just looks like scrap metal!"
"Believe me, if this does half the things the legends say it does, it's a LOT more valuable than scrap!" Mick told them. "We need to get to Brody, fast!"
Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough. At that moment, the doors were kicked in, almost coming clean off their hinges, and Ripper Rat strode in, revving up his chainsaws. He faced them all down, striding towards them.
"Ha, gotcha!" Ripper Rat called out. "Give me the Ninja Steel!"
"Um...still think I'm a fugitive and these things are cops?" Mick asked. Calvin just looked a little sheepish.
"You heard that?" Calvin asked.
"Once again, I have average hearing and I was only a few feet away!" Mick responded.
"Well he doesn't look like any cops I've ever seen." Hayley gulped. "I think we can safely say which side is the right side."
"He looks a lot tougher and meaner than the last guys!" Calvin said in a panic. "Am I the only one that votes we run for it?"
"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Mick yelled as he started sprinting away. Calvin and Hayley followed suit with Ripper Rat in hot pursuit.
On the road back to the school, Sarah was pushing the engine of Dane's aging truck as much as she dared to. The truck clearly hadn't been used in some time, and she had real concerns about the engine holding up.
"Alright, the school's just up ahead." Preston told her. "If you take this right, it'll bring you to the front parking lot."
"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I'm picking up life signs from inside the school." Redbot told them. "Life signs that aren't human."
"You mean alien bio-signs?" Sarah asked, looking a little ill. She'd heard Kendall say those words more than a few times, and it rarely meant anything good for the city, or her friends. Redbot just looked to her.
"I...suppose you could phrase it like that." He answered, finding this a bit of an odd thing to say. They pulled up to the front, seeing the doors having been smashed in.
"I think it's fair to say they're in trouble." Brody stated, leaping out of the truck. Sarah and Preston did as well. "Come on, Mick needs our help!"
Inside, Calvin shrieked as a power wave flew from Ripper Rat's weapon, narrowly missing him and smashing apart some lockers.
"I sincerely doubt that guy's into giving warning shots!" Hayley remarked. "Come on, this way!"
They ran into the school gym, but as they got there, they realised they had made a terrible mistake. Running to the fire exit, it looked like the janitor had already been this way on his rounds and locked it. There was a heavy chain securing their only way out. They turned around in time to see Ripper Rat coming in, blocking the only other entrance.
"Finally, got you cornered like rats!" He said as Buzz-cams flew into the room, taking up optimal positions to capture the fight. "Now, give me the Ninja Steel or else!"
He threw forward a couple of power waves, blasting Calvin, Hayley and Mick to the ground. Mick looked to his Datacomm, realising it was now damaged, so he couldn't call Brody for help.
"Does this guy not realise it's customary to give people a chance to give up when you use the words 'or else'?" Calvin grumbled.
"I don't think he's too concerned with collateral damage." Hayley told him. "By the way, we'd be collateral."
"Quick, grab something!" Calvin said as he ran for some equipment in the corner, grabbing an aluminium baseball bat. "GOONGALA!"
He ran at Ripper Rat, screaming as he swung for the fences. Hayley was quickly by his side, whaling on Ripper Rat with a tennis racket to help her boyfriend.
"SHIT!" Calvin yelled as he pulled away, one of Ripper Rat's weapons barely grazing him, but opening up a nasty injury on his ribs. "Those chainsaws aren't for show! This guy's serious!"
"I guess you never SAW that coming!" He cackled, going after Hayley. Fortunately, she was able to duck his blow, and connect with the tennis racket. Calvin wasn't about to let her risk her life by himself and joined in to help, but as soon as the chainsaws revved up higher, both of them were only just able to get out of the way as he sliced through both of their weapons with ease. Calvin gulped.
"That bat was made of aluminium!" He screeched.
"I gave you a sporting chance, now it's all over!" He answered, throwing out a power wave that knocked both of them down. "Now you've seen what these things will do to a bat, how about we see what they'll do to a human?"
Before he got to them though, a section of the wall caved in and he was driven hard into the opposite wall by the opportune arrival of the Ninja Nexus Prism. He was lying on the ground stunned, giving Calvin and Hayley time to get up.
"Guys, look...it's the Ninja Nexus Prism!" Mick said excitedly. "The Yellow and White Power Stars...they're glowing!"
"That's...that's great! Can we get out of here before that thing wakes up?" Calvin asked him.
"Trust me, if he wakes up and gets those stars, it'll be worse than if he gets the Ninja Steel." Mick told them. "Reach in and take those stars!"
Hayley and Calvin looked to each other. They didn't understand any of what had happened to them today, but without much in the way of an alternate idea, they both approached. They reached inside the Ninja Nexus Prism, which allowed them to do so without any resistance. They took their Power Stars and pulled them out.
"You took the Power Stars!" Mick exclaimed excitedly. "Do you know what this means?"
"No!" They both replied honestly.
"I know what it means!" Brody answered as he, Sarah, Preston and Redbot arrived. "It means you're Power Rangers!"
"Yeah, just like us!" Sarah added, still brimming with excitement at finally being able to say that.
"Power...Rangers?" Hayley asked. She had of course heard of Power Rangers. She was old enough to have heard of at least a couple of teams, so she had some idea of what the term meant. She saw Preston arriving, putting on his top hat. "Preston? What are you doing here?"
"Calvin and Hayley?" He asked, looking happy. He couldn't say he really KNEW them particularly well, but they did have some of the same classes together, and he never really had any problems with them. They hadn't given him a hard time about his magic shows or how he dressed, so by comparison to a lot of kids at the school, they were pretty cool as far as he was concerned.
"Hi, I'm Sarah!" Sarah introduced herself. "I'm from out of town!"
"I'm Brody." Brody chipped in. "I'm from...well...out of town too."
"I'm Redbot." Redbot introduced himself. "I assure you I'm a friend."
"Guys, we might want to leave the deeper introductions until later." Mick suggested, pointing in Ripper Rat's direction. "You have a serious rodent problem to deal with!"
"Just do what we do!" Sarah told them. "Believe me, if I tried to explain it, you'd never believe me!"
Sarah, Preston and Brody all stood with their Power Stars in their hands, at which their Ninja Morphers appeared. Calvin and Hayley followed suit, and were stunned when their morphers appeared too.
"OK, now lock in your stars." Brody explained. "Ninja SPIN!"
"Ninja SPIN!" They all chorused together, and in a flash of light and a puff of smoke, they were all transformed.
Up on the Warrior Dome, Wrench was watching the broadcast. Seeing this latest development, he was sure he'd feel sick to his stomach if he still had one.
"Power Rangers?" He shrieked. "I took this job to get AWAY from Power Rangers!"
"Woweee! What a development!" Cosmo yelled, skipping across the stage as the battle continued on the in-studio monitor. He knew the Ninja Power Stars had tremendous power, that was why Galvinax wanted them in the first place! Now that these earthlings had taken them, he couldn't imagine what he was going to do. That was when something most unexpected happened. He heard the biggest cheer from the crowd he could remember in years. "Wait...what...?"
He watched as the Rangers started to attack Ripper Rat, one of the recent rising stars, but while he was holding his own, whenever the Rangers struck, the crowd went completely insane! Was it possible that...they were ENJOYING seeing these strange new warriors?
"Wow! It looks like that chipped a few teeth!" He called out as Preston hit one of his saws with his Ninja Sword. The crowd erupted again. He looked to a device on his wrist and nearly had a heart attack. His ratings were climbing higher and higher by the minute! He searched his brain for what they had just called themselves. "Power Rangers."
"POWER RANGERS, POWER RANGERS, POWER ANGERS!" The crowd started to chant. Cosmo just watched the battle, all the time grinning from ear to ear.
Back down on the ground, the Rangers had managed to drive Ripper Rat outside, hoping to prevent any more damage to the school. As they rolled clear after an attack, Sarah stood with Hayley.
"Hey, maybe our Morphers have an attack mode!" She suggested, remembering that her friends in Amber Beach had weapons combined with their morphers. Shelby had told her how Tyler had almost accidentally blown her head off with his morpher the first time they used them.
"Good idea." Hayley answered. "I think I see a switch here...WHOA!"
The morpher opened out into an Energy Bow. Sarah did the same, at which they both took aim.
"Guys, get clear!" Hayley called out. "ARROW BLAST!"
Ripper Rat was staggered by the impact, and his armour started to break up. Calvin took inspiration from seeing his girlfriend use her morpher and pulled out his own. Trying another switch, bringing out a blade.
"Battle Morpher, Blade SLASH!" He called out, swinging around and taking out one of the chainsaws and most of Ripper Rat's armour.
"That won't stop me!" Ripper Rat yelled, clutching what was left of his armour, hoping to keep it from falling apart.
"I'll bet Claw Mode will!" Preston responded as he dove down on him from a great height, bringing down his morpher, which had to long blades protruding from it, which took care of the last of Ripper Rat's armour.
"Alright, time to finish this!" Brody declared, activating a button on his ninja sword. "Red Ninja, Steel Slash!"
He rushed for Ripper Rat, smashing aside his one remaining weapon and slicing straight through, before dropping to one knee on the other side. Ripper Rat just collapsed to his knees, before falling face-first to the ground and exploding. Brody got up, and seeing a Buzz-Cam nearby, he approached it, staring straight into it. "Show's over, Ninjas Win!"
Up on the Warrior Dome, the crowd was on the verge of a full-on riot, crying out for more. Cosmo gestured wildly to his Kudabots who were waiting just off stage with a device.
"WOW! That was an EPIC battle! Almost a shame it had to end!" Cosmo said, before looking to the crowd. "But you all know what that means don't you? YOU decide, is Ripper Rat worthy of another chance?"
There was never any doubt in his mind what the result would be. He had never seen his security have to work so hard to restrain a crowd before. The audience reaction meter quickly filled, and set off fireworks.
"The crowd has spoken! You all know what this means don't you?" Cosmo declared.
"GIGANTIFY!" They all called out in unison. Cosmo did a little twirl on the stage, before slamming his hand down on the button, firing a beam from the ship.
Back in the school, the Rangers were just catching their breath after the battle.
"You guys did great." Brody congratulated his team.
"Um...Brody, are you sure this is over?" Sarah asked, becoming a little nervous.
"What do you mean?" Calvin asked. "Last time I checked, when things go boom, that usually means they're done."
"Brody, there are cameras, that means they're filming this right?" Sarah said, remembering all the episodes of Galaxy Warriors she had been watching.
"Well...yeah." Brody answered. "Oh...shit!"
"What?" Hayley asked.
"Um...on the show, if the audience thinks one of the monsters did well enough..."
Before he could finish explaining, the beam hit the ground where Ripper Rat had fallen. Brody, Hayley, Calvin, Preston and Sarah all started to back up as Ripper Rat was revived and started to grow.
"Oh, this is...not good!" Preston stated. "This is not good AT ALL!"