On the Warrior Dome, the audience was abuzz. While Hacktrack had been ultimately unsuccessful in his drive to defeat the Rangers, he had something that others didn't. He had caused massive amounts of chaos with his Galvanax clones. He was fresh, he was unique...the audience wanted more and they weren't shy about making that sentiment known!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the scale is off the chart!" Cosmo declared as his counter started flashing and blaring. "You all know what that means don't you?" He called out.
"GIGANTIFY!" They all screamed at once. Cosmo slammed his hand down on the console and looked out to the crowd.
"Whatever my audience wants, my audience gets!" He called out. "I hope the Rangers are ready for a REALLY big virus!"
Back on the ground, the ray hit the ground, right where Hacktrack had fallen. The Rangers watched as he started to grow. Kendall came to Sarah's side.
"No matter how different the bad guys are, some things are always the same." She commented. "Our zords are still down. Do you have this covered?"
"We have a few options left." Sarah told her. "Thanks for the assist, we'll catch up..."
"You can count on that." Kendall told her. Sarah just nodded wordlessly. She didn't doubt that she owed Kendall a huge favour for having her back, even if that favour was an explanation as to why she had to bail her out. She, Hayley and Calvin leapt back into the Megazord, rejoining Brody and Preston.
"Check out my new hardware!" Hacktrack cackled. "Nice Zords, but can they follow me into the sky?"
"We sure can!" Preston said, moving to take up the Command Position. Sarah put a hand on his shoulder.
"Preston, I know this is your formation but...mind if I take the lead?" Sarah asked him. "I have a score to settle with this guy. This was my mess, I want to be the one to take care of it."
Preston looked to Brody, who handed Sarah the Master Blade. She stepped into the Command Spot, taking a deep breath.
"Alright Megazord, I know you've taken a licking and I'm largely to blame for that, but just hold it together a little while longer and I promise you I'll make it up to you...somehow."
She took the blade in both hands, assuming control.
"Ninja Megazord, Dragon Mode!" She called out, changing form. "This guy wants to take it to the air, we can take it to the air!"
In the Ranger Base, Mick was working on more throwing stars, something of a nervous habit he had developed for when the Rangers were in the midst of battle so that he didn't spend time watching on the monitors, wishing he could help them more in the field.
"Mick, look!" Redbot called out, pointing towards the Nexus Prism as it started to glow and an image started to form. "The Nexus Prism is showing another image."
"It looks like a...a...UFO." Mick commented. "I think it's another Zord!"
He picked up a throwing star and threw it into the Nexus Prism, which started spinning rapidly. A brand new Zord Star fired out at incredible speed, straight into Mick's hands. He looked to it and smiled.
Up in the sky, the Rangers were in hot pursuit of Hacktrack, in a deadly dogfight over the city, firing blasts at each other. Despite the wear and tear of the previous battles, the Megazord was holding up, and Sarah seemed to have a pretty good grasp of aerial combat. Hacktrack quickly realised he was in trouble as he only narrowly avoided being incinerated by a flame blast.
"Nice Zord, but can it follow me into SPACE?" He asked, turning sharply upwards. Sarah followed him, but as she was climbing, warnings started to sound.
"Uh...Sarah...you know our Zord isn't designed to go into Space right?" Calvin asked her.
"I can catch him!"
"Sarah, the life-support system is close to critical!" Brody warned her. "We have to turn back!"
"A few more feet..."
"A few more feet and we could go into critical failure!" Preston told her. "We have to turn back!"
"Dr Morgan, is the Plesiomax Megazord...?"
"It's still down!" Kendall answered. "He's gone, you have to turn back!"
"Maybe not!" Mick's voice called through the Ninja Comms. "I have a new Zord Star, hot off the grill! Say hello to the Astro Zord!"
The new Zord Star appeared in the cockpit in Sarah's hand. She looked to it, seeing a picture of a warrior that looked like he was wearing some kind of space helmet. She hooked it into the Master Blade.
"Thanks Mick!" She stated, spinning the Zord Star. "Astro Megazord, out of the shadows!"
The Rangers saw a Zord appear from the clouds, spinning towards them.
"The Astro Zord is EPIC!" Brody said excitedly.
"It looks just like a flying saucer!" Preston added.
"The Zord Star's telling me something...with this we should be able to go into space!" Sarah told them. "The Power Boost should be welcome too! Astro Megazord, Activate!"
The Astro Zord connected with the Megazord, forming into its new formation. The Rangers were indeed grateful for the power boost, but more than anything, it came with its own new systems that allowed them to pursue their enemy into Space. They climbed up higher and higher, the bale blue of the sky becoming tinged with orange as they burned through the atmosphere before melting away into a beautiful black curtain studded with stars.
"I...I...I can't believe it...we're...we're really in SPACE!" Calvin gasped. "We really did it!"
"There's Hacktrack, he's heading for the moon!" Brody said, pointing downwards. "This is your fight Sarah, you take us down!"
Sarah landed, just as Hacktrack was touching down. Hacktrack turned and let out a shriek as he saw them behind him.
"You...you followed me?" He shrieked.
"Guys...we're on the MOON!" Hayley screeched. "I can't believe we're on the freaking MOON!"
"Say guys, look down there!" Calvin said, pointing a little way off. "Is that...Is that a camper van?"
"A camper van?" Preston asked. "Calvin, do you have any idea how many satellites there are out there? Some of them are bound to crash into the moon!"
"I swear, it looks just like a camper van!" Calvin stated.
"Who would bring a camper van up here?" Preston asked him.
"Guys, can we just focus for a minute?" Sarah asked, causing all of them to stare at her.
"Um...is SARAH seriously calling US out on being unfocused?" Calvin commented.
"We've taken one small step for Rangers, one giant leap towards kicking this monster's butt!" Sarah called out, ignoring their taunts as she strode towards Hacktrack, swinging her weapon.
"Ha ha, missed me!" Hacktrack taunted her as he ducked her first swing, but he stood up right into the back-hand, taking it straight into the face. Sarah planted the blaster into his chest, firing it point-blank and sending him staggering backwards.
"Time to unplug this guy PERMANENTLY!" Sarah called out, powering up her Ninja Master Blade and pulling the ripcord. "FINAL STRIKE!"
They opened fire, at which the blaster launched a series of energy ninja stars at Hacktrack. They sliced through him, at which he stopped stock still.
"Hacktrack...Over and...ouuuuuuuuuuuut!" The creature said, before falling to the moon's surface and exploding. Sarah smiled as she took in her accomplishment. She had made a terrible error, one that nearly cost the Earth dearly, but now, Hacktrack was no more, and she had finally fixed her own mistake.
"Show's over, Ninjas win!" She proclaimed proudly. "Now THAT was satisfying!"
"So, before we go home...do you mind swinging this thing a little closer to that camper van...?"
"Calvin, it is NOT a camper van!" Preston stated.
"Well if you're so confident how about we go over there and find out for sure?" Calvin asked him.
"Personally I'm more interested to get back to the base for a de-brief." Brody commented. "Sarah...why do I get the feeling that you know more about the Dino Rangers showing up here than you told us?"
"Um..."
"Wait...I'm sure I heard the Purple Ranger call out your name when Hacktrack blasted us!" Hayley commented.
"Oh...I'm sure she was just..."
"No, she called you by name, she called you Sarah!" Calvin recalled. "And you just called her Kendall!"
Sarah saw the team all turning towards her and started to shrink away nervously.
"Yeah...there MIGHT be a little something about my time in Amber Beach I didn't quite tell you guys about." She said, before getting onto her Ninja Comm. "Dr Morgan? Would you mind heading for the school?"
"I'm already on my way." Kendall answered.
As she killed the communications link, she could see her friends still staring at her.
"Surprise?" She offered weakly.
Up on the Warrior Dome, Cosmo, Wrench, Ripcon and Odious were in Galvanax's chambers as he was being treated. The physician just tutted as he inspected his face.
"It looks like flash damage. Your vision will be impaired for a while, but I don't see any danger of lasting damage." The physician told him. "I'd advise you avoid bright lights for a couple of weeks, but it looks like you took that mask off just in time..."
"This is YOUR fault Spanner!" Galvanax shrieked, swinging for Wrench and missing by several feet.
"Hey! That was ME you almost hit boss!" Ripcon whined.
"You and your worthless minion almost blinded me you walking tin can!" He screeched, beginning to throw everything that wasn't nailed down, and quite a few things that WERE attached, he ripped up to throw as well! Fortunately he was missing everyone by such a wide margin no one even needed to duck. "If you EVER pull anything like that again, I'll drag YOU into the arena and turn you into tinfoil, eyesight or no!"
With that, Ripcon, Wrench and Cosmo left the room. Being his manager, Odious stayed to oversee Galvanax and try to calm him down. It was in her best interests to see to it that his recovery was as quick as possible. The last thing anyone needed, least of all her, was a champion that was incapable of defending his title. While it was rare, there WAS a clause in the rules that permitted a champion being stripped of their title if they were unable or unwilling to defend their title, and right now, Galvanax was her gravy train.
As they got into the hall, Ripcon rounded on Wrench and Cosmo.
"You two tore me to pieces over my last competitor, but at least I didn't almost cripple the champion!" He called out to them.
"Ripcon, this IS a blood-sport." Cosmo reminded him. "People get hurt..."
"He wasn't even IN THE MATCH!" Ripcon screamed at them. "Mark my words Cosmo, this is NOT the end of this! As for you, you overgrown toaster oven, you better watch your step! You might think Cosmo is protecting you but the minute he tires of you, I'll be only too glad to slice you to pieces!"
As he stormed off, Wrench just looked to Cosmo.
"I..I...I'm..."
"Wrench, don't you worry about them." Cosmo told him.
"But...but Galvanax..."
"Galvanax should worry more about whether or not he'll be ready or not in time for his next title defence." Galvanax told him coldly.
"But...but..."
"Wrench, why don't you check your bank balance?" Cosmo told him. Wrench opened up the console on his forearm and typed in a few keys, and almost fell over.
"What in the...?"
"Talent get a five percent cut of the gate and the pay-per-view buy rate. Managers get a ten percent cut. The way I see it, since it was your idea and Hacktrack isn't around to collect his cut, there's no reason you shouldn't get both." Cosmo said, lighting up a cigar.
"I don't understand..."
"My boy, I don't give a rat's ass that your boy Hacktrack was ultimately unsuccessful." Cosmo stated. "This match had everything! Destruction, chaos! A new Megazord! A surprise appearance by not just one, but TWO past Megazords and even the CHAMPION! Hell, the match wasn't even restricted to the one location, it finished on the freaking MOON! I couldn't BUY that kind of match and thanks to throwing that prisoner at it, you gave it to me for FREE!"
"I...I...I don't know what to say!" Wrench squealed excitedly.
"Say you're already thinking of your next big idea." Cosmo said with a grin. "Now, you can spend all that money if you want, it's yours. Do with it what you want. But if I were you, I'd spend some time trawling the gyms and the talent pools. Keep an eye out and look for some investments. You never know when your next opportunity will come."
With that, Cosmo walked away, jumping and clicking his heels as he went. Wrench looked to his bank balance and had to steady himself against a wall. He had earned more in a single day that he was likely to earn in a year! He never had much interest in the combat side of the business before, but then he never had the capitol to get involved even if he did. Sponsoring and training a fighter professionally was a costly business, but now...now he thought it might just be worth his time taking a little visit to the fighting pits in The Sump.
Back at the Ranger Base, Kendall and Matt had joined the new team to go over the events of the day. The city was slowly returning to normal, and while there was a fair bit of damage, thanks to the timely arrival of Kendall and Matt, the devastation was nowhere near what it could have been. Galvanax was a warrior more than he was a vandal, and so he had concentrated far more on the challenge of Megazords that could fight back than buildings that could not.
Sarah sat in the middle of the room, her friends all around her as she finally told them everything. She had kept her secret of her time in Amber Beach a secret largely because of her sense of duty to protect the identities of her friends. It had gone both ways, she hadn't actually told Kendall who her team were. She had only forwarded pictures of Brody and Mick so that she could forge their documents, but that was all. However, she knew that there was a part of her that almost liked the idea that there was something she knew that the others didn't. Now though, as she saw them looking at her, she felt guilty for not telling them.
"Whenever I see one of these freaks appear, all I can think of is my mom and how she looked when she was in the hospital." Sarah told them. "Any time one of these monsters appears, all I can think is who else is going to have to see one of their friends or their family that way? In a weird way, the day that monster switched bodies with me was one of the best days of my life! I could volunteer to help rebuild damaged homes or raise funds for people that couldn't afford their medical bills but that was only ever treating the symptoms. Even if all I did was build a few weapons or even just polishing the zords I was able to do something to help solve the problem!"
She looked up to her friends from her chair.
"I know I should have told you guys more, but I had to protect the identities of the team." Sarah told them. "I did the same for you guys...except for Brody, I kind of had to tell her who you were so she could forge your documents..."
"You made those documents for us?" Mick asked.
"I have kind of a gift for forgery." Kendall told him. "What's the occasional felony between friends. Sarah...I know we said you have to keep our identities secret, but we kind of have an unofficial rule that it's alright with other Rangers."
"If you're a member, you're a member. Other members of the Brotherhood will always be there to help if you need it." Matt said with a smile. "Think of us like the Templar Knights, only with spandex and giant robots."
"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you all what I knew." Sarah said apologetically. "And I'm sorry for the clones. I made them because I thought they would help...instead I only made things worse. I've been taking on way too much and while I thought the clones helped, but it turns out, they only scattered my thoughts further."
"It's a hard lesson to learn, I flunked out of my first degree before I figured that out." Kendall told her. "Learning your limits is as important as learning to push them."
"Most of all, I'm sorry to you Dr Morgan." She sighed. "Right now you should be in Millport loading up on Mrs Griffin's awesome turkey, not here bailing my butt out."
"I was in the area, I was planning on dropping in for a visit." She told her. "Besides, it was strangely nice to get back in the saddle."
She looked around the base with a smile.
"You know you've got a pretty nice set-up here." She commented. "But...what if anyone wants to paint?"
"Victor sorted that problem for us." Hayley chuckled. "He blew up the compressor. The room's going to be out of commission until at least next year's budget."
"And knowing the way school administrators take forever to make a decision on anything I have a feeling it won't go into next year's budget either." Preston assured her. Kendall picked up one of Sarah's holo projectors.
"You know, the basic idea for this wasn't too bad." Kendall told her.
"Please, it was a disaster..."
"No, I mean you set your sights a little too high, but the technology involved in making this, it's way beyond even my wildest dreams." She told her.
"It is?" Sarah asked her.
"Yeah, the clones work, it's just that they take a little too much mental energy to run at full capacity." She commented. "But only one or two in a limited way..."
"Mick, do you think we can work on something with the holo-technology?" Sarah asked him. "Maybe we could make something that could help with this after all."
"Well, we can." Mick told her. "But only after you finish your sentence."
"Sentence?" Sarah asked.
"Well, you DID lie to your team, so you owe them, and you DO owe your old team a favour after they helped us out." Mick told her. "Not to mention our own Zords."
"Yeah, that's right, I seem to remember hearing you promising you'd make it up to them." Brody said with a little smile. "I seem to remember something about promising to take care of them."
"I know if she washes and waxes the Zords I'll consider the debt paid." Hayley answered.
"Wait...what?" Sarah asked.
"Ours too!" Kendall said with a smirk. "They did take kind of a beating."
"Oh come ON!" Sarah whined as Mick handed her a bucket and some cleaning supplies.
"And no clones." Mick warned her, patting her on the head. Just then some alarms started sounding. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as she realised this would save her at least for a little while. As they got to the screens, Mick looked more than a little concerned.
"Guys, did any of you summon the Astro Zord?" Mick asked them.
"No, why?" Brody asked.
"Because it just launched." Mick told them. "And it's heading straight for the Warrior Dome!"