In the city, Brody was walking out of the pet store, having managed to trade the rabbits in to them. While he did feel a little bit mean for having taken away the rabbit Sarah had been fawning over, he could see that the supplies she'd need were really pretty expensive, and since she hadn't even asked her parents yet, meaning there was no guarantee she'd even be allowed to keep it, he satisfied himself that using the nominal payment the pet store had given for rabbits that appeared to be in good health, but would still need to be sent for all the necessary shots and suchlike to be on the safe side to get some doughnuts for the team would salve the wound a little bit.
"Bye bunny buds!" He said as he left the store, before starting to head back towards the school. As he was walking though, he was fortunate enough to see a Buzz-cam flying past. Since his connection to the Warrior Dome had now been permanently severed, the team could no longer predict when monsters were about to attack, and were left having to wait until the first reports came in before they could go and find them. Seeing a Buzz-cam was a rare form of advanced-warning that he couldn't pass up, but as it turned around, and seemed to stare at him, hovering in the air for a little while before heading off, he figured it was a little more than a coincidence. He couldn't take the chance it was looking for him and was now about to lead him into a trap. He got onto his Ninja Comm.
"Guys, I just saw a Buzz-Cam downtown." Brody told Sarah as she answered. "I think we've got trouble."
"We're on our way!" Sarah answered, before heading to round up the others.
Brody followed the Buzz-Cam, which led him to a loading area behind some local shops. When he got there, all his suspicions about being led into a trap seemed to be confirmed. Stepping out of some smoke, making his way towards him, flanked by Madame Odious and Ripcon and backed up by about a dozen Kudabots, was none other than the Galaxy Warriors Heavyweight Champion himself, Galvanax.
It had been years since Brody had seen him take the field. Galvanax had been largely protected, defending his title only sparingly and being fed a number of monsters who were simply nowhere near his level all borne out of Odious' and Cosmo's self-interest in keeping him at the top. As the face of the brand, as a champion, Galvanax had a look and an image that was terrifying, and also incredibly marketable. His merchandise sales and the viewing figures on the nights he DID fight were still big business. That said, Brody had seen him fight enough times to know that he had the power to lay waste to whole planets, having been assured that the night he won the title he and his opponent had wiped out over a thousand species in their battle on a single night.
He stood head and shoulders above both of his minions, and his armour glistened in the sunlight, having been polished and prepared for his first appearance on camera in a couple of years. He had his championship belt strapped around his waist for effect, and stood before Brody, glaring at him. He pointed towards him as he prepared to speak.
"Brody!" He growled. Brody didn't wait for the rest of his address, pulling out his Ninja Blaster and unloading it into him. As the blasts slammed home though, they stopped a little way short of him, bursting into multi-coloured flashes of brilliant, blinding light. As everyone's vision started to clear, Brody realised his mistake. The Championship Belt incorporated a powerful conversion field, a strong force field that detected incoming attacks and converted the energy into light energy. It was a precaution deemed necessary to ensure title bouts didn't end before they started. Such was the competition for the title of Champion that it wasn't unheard of for some monsters to launch a pre-emptive strike in an attempt to finish off the champion before he was prepared for the battle. One of Galvanax's last defences hadn't even made it off the Warrior Dome, as his attacker tried to stab him through the back before they teleported, only to be sliced in half from head to crotch in one blow. The ratings took a huge hit that night, with a title bout that technically never even started.
"As I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted!" Galvanax continued. "10 years ago, I spared your life! I gave you a home on my ship, and you repaid me by stealing the Ninja Nexus Prism and all the Ninja Power Stars inside it!"
Brody could hardly contain himself. He hadn't stolen anything. The Nexus Prism was never his to begin with. To hear Galvanax spouting his, to put it charitably, revisionist version of history angered Brody almost as much as every evil he had ever visited upon him and his family.
"You LIAR!" Body roared, pointing straight back at him. "10 years ago you invaded my world! You destroyed my father and stole the Nexus Prism from us! You kidnapped me and kept me as a slave for all these years! You took EVERYTHING from us!"
He pulled out his Power Star.
"But now, this Ninja Power Star is going to help me destroy you!" He declared.
"Your father was one of the greatest Ninjas that ever lived, and I destroyed him like he was nothing!" Galvanax declared. "You don't have a chance against me! Once I've delivered you to the same fate, I'll take that Power Star, and your friends' too!"
He had to admit that he felt a little overmatched. With Odious and Ripcon there, he was completely overpowered. Even assuming that Galvanax kept his word, and in his pride kept it a battle between them, he wasn't sure if he would be up to the task. He had been lucky against Ripcon.
He had constructed himself a Black Egg, a simple weapon and diversion from supplies in the ship's kitchen. A Black Egg, as its name implied, was constructed from an egg-shell, which had been emptied, and then re-filled with something harmful, before being sealed with wax. It was a simple weapon used to incapacitate a foe by throwing it into their face. In ancient days, a common approach was to fill it with powdered glass, so that as the enemy blinked to try and get it out, it would scratch the eyes, causing more damage. Fortunately for Ripcon, Body had only access to another option, hot sauce. He had used the spiciest sauce he could lay his hands on to make a very crude form of a pepper-spray bomb, something the ninja had used many times as a distraction, either to allow them to take an opponent down while they were blind, or to escape. Brody had gone for the latter.
However, glancing down, he saw some shadows moving above the shadows of the surrounding buildings and smiled.
"Well, I won't be fighting you." He declared. "WE will!"
With that, his friends all leapt down, landing around Brody. As a reveal, it was pretty basic, but given the fact that they had only been training a couple of weeks, he had to find this level of ninjitsu to be quite impressive. They all stood around him, starting to straighten themselves out to prepare for the fight. He felt a prod on his shoulder though and turned to see Preston looking a little apprehensive.
"Brody...you said Galvanax was big, but...this is ridiculous!" Preston stated. Brody just sighed. So much for any advantage the element of surprise had given them. He could understand Preston's reluctance, Galvanax was a terrifying opponent, even he was feeling it, but letting him know that he scared them was the last thing Brody really felt they should do.
"Um...what are we supposed to do...exactly?" Calvin asked. Brody face-palmed. By now any illusion of strength they had built up was now gone. He understood completely that his team had only been training a couple of weeks, so asking them to go up against one of the most powerful monsters in the universe was a tall order, but within ten seconds, Preston and Calvin had taken them from at least having the surprise of taking it from a one-on-one fight to a five-on-one fight, to letting Galvanax see that not only were they scared, but their confidence in their skills was wavering.
"A ninja never show fear." Brody told him. Calvin just nodded.
"Um...yeah...OK." He responded, adopting a guard. Sarah could see that some harm had been done to their credibility by this, and looked to Hayley, locking eyes with the White Ranger, before they both stepped forward. From her time in Amber Beach, Sarah knew that there was as much power in the impression of power as there was in power itself. Sometimes it was more important that your opponent thought you were more confident and strong than it was actually being confident and strong. They both stepped forward.
"So, THAT'S Galvanax, huh?" Hayley scoffed; concentrating every ounce of strength she had into just keeping her shoulders and head upright to look strong.
"I know, I thought he'd look much tougher than...THAT!" Sarah stated.
"What?" Galvanax responded, looking a little stunned. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to speak back to him. His reputation was enough to turn the stoutest of hearts.
"He looks more like...the world's ugliest action figure!" Hayley said, already finding her confidence wavering a little, and struggling to find things to say. Sarah remembered her time watching Koda wrestling, and seeing the cameras, remembered the power of the promos they would do.
"That belt seems awfully big, maybe like you're...compensating for something?" She suggested. Even Odious and Ripcon looked decidedly stunned by that. "That title doesn't impress me in the slightest. If you aren't man enough without a title, you'll NEVER be man enough with it!"
Up on the Warrior Dome, the crowd was eating this up! They had been promised, and delivered an appearance by the champion. They had been promised a battle between the champion and the Rangers, and here they were facing off! Now, the Rangers weren't just facing off against him, but they were actually insulting the champion, speaking to him in a way no other had done so in as long as most of the audience could remember!
"Wow! That was so cold; I felt that all the way up here!" Cosmo stated. "What do you say to that Champ?"
"RIPCON!" Galvanax screamed, ripping off his title belt and throwing it to him. "Hold this! You don't think my title means anything? Let's see if you feel that way when I feed you your own entrails!"
Galvanax gripped his naginata in both hands, rushing straight for the Rangers, who only barely had time to morph before he was right on top of them. His first rush went straight through them like a bowling ball, scattering them in all directions. Calvin was lying on the ground, and only just looked up in time to see Galvanax driving his blade down. He split his legs, causing Galvanax to miss, but only by a small margin, a rather delicate area.
"Um...Sarah, do me a favour, next time you feel like pissing off the Big Bad?" Calvin asked. "Please don't!"
On the Warrior Dome, the crowd was on their feet, and the whole room was shaking. This was the kind of thing that Cosmo dreamed about, the kind of thing that he wanted to see, but at the same time in the back of his mind, he could only think of the lost opportunity. With some time, with some more battles, he could have built up the Rangers and Galvanax to the point where a match between them would have been an event for the ages. With some time and advanced warning, he could advertise and promote the match, building it into a true pay-per-view spectacular. Unfortunately thanks to Galvanax's hot temper and lack of patience, he was giving away the match essentially for free on network television!
The merchandise sales, the viewing figures, the advertising rights, he knew all of them would be way up, but with some time to put together a promotional package and built anticipation, he could have had pay-per-view, he could have had advertisers literally murdering each other for a time slot. He would have had people going to WAR for the right to be named a sponsor of the event, all the while watching the coin roll in like a glorious golden waterfall. He had to make do with the fact that right now, his studio audience was on the point of an all-out riot and the Kudabot security had to call in almost four times their number as reinforcements.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is no longer just a battle, this...is...WAR!" He declared loudly, turning back to the screen.
Back on Earth, the Rangers were learning just how strong and dangerous Galvanax really was as he moved with amazing speed for someone so large and heavily armoured. Even without his Conversion Field, their blows seemed to only affect him in a minimal way; such was the strength of his armour, while every one of his blows in return felt like an explosion.
"I should have fed you to the Skullgators the day I found you!" Galvanax screamed as he swung his weapon, hitting Brody hard enough to send him careening into a concrete wall and imbedding him there. Sarah and Hayley both rushed for him, managing to knock his naginata from his hands and score a few strikes, but before long, he grabbed each of them by the throat, strangling them in a grip that would put a Jaws of Life to shame.
"I'll snap your delicate little necks like..."
"Hay, Galvanax!" Preston called out as he slid between his legs, aiming up with his Ninja Blaster. "FINAL STRIKE!"
He caught Galvanax straight in the eyes, but even on full power, he only succeeded in blinding him. The Champion started to stumble, and as she fought for Breath, Hayley noticed one of his pauldrons was loose, exposing the restraining strap.
"Sarah, his right shoulder!" Hayley called out. Both the Pink and White Ranger went for him while he was still blind, targeting the pauldron. Hayley managed to dislodge it, while Sarah caught it with her swipe, taking it completely off. It exposed his shoulder and neck, giving a tiny window of opportunity. Calvin seized on it, launching himself into the air.
"Steel Slash!" Calvin screamed. "Final STRIKE!"
He drove it down point first, plunging it between Galvanax's shoulder and neck, causing him to cry out in pain. The evil warrior repaid Calvin by grabbing him and slamming him into the ground, sending asphalt flying, but as the Rangers rolled away to regroup, Odious and Ripcon interjected between the Champion and the Rangers.
"Champ!" She screamed, seeing her investment, and her gravy train struggling to stay on his feet.
"Get out of my way!" He yelled.
"Galvanax, a word!" She hissed, pulling in closely, to talk to her client quietly. "It's been a long time since you faced anything like this; clearly you have underestimated the Rangers."
"I will..."
"Champ, you've been wounded already; the fans have seen you bleed!" She reminded him. "There are five of them, if they knock you down, even once, it will make you look weak! You know how your fans hate weakness!"
Galvanax hated to admit it, but she had a point. He had gone in without thinking, and had underestimated the Rangers. He had faced one before, and it was clear that Dane was far more skilled than these Rangers, and so he had thought he could take them all out himself. Perhaps taking on five Rangers hadn't been the wisest decision. He shoved Odious aside.
"ENOUGH!" He called out, pointing directly at the Red Ranger. "Red Ranger, you are the one that has stolen from me, not these other pipsqueaks! When you're ready to face me Mano-a-mano, then we'll settle this! Until then, remember this day, think on this as you tend to your broken bodies...if you survive...SLOWGRE!"
Odious was pleased with this decision, and quickly ran to grab Ganvanax's naginata, while Ripcon recovered his pauldron. In a flash of light, the Rangers were confronted by a creature that looked a lot like a turtle wearing a scuba tank. Odious and Ripcon came to Galvanax's side, before disappearing.
"He got away!" Sarah complained.
"Um...am I the only one that's ENTIRELY alright with that?" Calvin asked. Preston and Hayley both shook their heads, they were happy with any result that meant they didn't have to face Galvanax any longer.
"Well, it's not done yet." Brody reminded them as he finally dug himself out of the wall, rejoining his team. "Galvanax left us some other playmates."
"I guess this is the part of being a Ranger that sucks." Sarah sighed, still reeling from their beating at Galvanax's hands.
"I guess the rub-down and the spa bath will have to wait a little while." Calvin commented, gripping his Ninja Sword in both hands as they charged into battle. "GOONGALA!"