The Rangers appeared, this time seemingly on the steps just outside the school. They all saw Slowgre and some kudabots a short way from them, waiting for them to appear.
"Oh no, not this guy again!" Sarah complained. "He's the one with that icky slow-motion mist!"
"That's right; he really put the brakes on us with that mist." Calvin recalled. "If he catches us with it, he'll run out all our time!"
"We have to avoid that slow mist!" Preston added.
"Well the best way to do that is take him out before he has a chance to use it!" Brody answered as he prepared his sword. He saw Slowgre preparing to use his mist and set off a smoke bomb. By the time the smoke cleared, the Rangers were nowhere in sight.
"What? Where'd they go?" He complained.
"You'd better find them Slowgre!" Cosmo said, his face appearing in the sky above him. "I told you, I need you to drain what little time they have left, now look for them!"
"Alright, all of you, spread out and look for them!" Slowgre instructed his back-up. "They can't have gone far!"
"You're right about that much!" Brody called out, rushing through them, taking down a few kudabots on his way with his sword as he disappeared again. "Missed me!"
"What? Where...where did he go now?" Slowgre complained.
"Ninja Blaster, Whiplash!" Hayley called out, firing her blaster from on top of the school building. The blast penetrated about a dozen of them, destroying them utterly. She ducked back out of sight just as Slowgre rounded on her, but by the time he was ready to unleash his mist, she was already gone.
"Come on out and fight you cowards!" Slowgre whined as he flailed around, trying to catch sight of the Rangers. By now it was clear what their strategy was, they were keeping out of sight, only revealing themselves for quick attacks to whittle down their numbers so they could keep out of Slowgre's mist. If he couldn't find them, his most powerful weapon against them was all but useless. "Fight fair you cowardly Rangers!"
"Yeah, because your mist is SO fair!" Calvin replied as he rushed through, taking down a few of the kudabots with his claw attack. Once again he had disappeared before Slowgre could get a fix on him.
"You Rangers are really getting on my nerves!" He yelled.
"Oh pipe down!" Sarah announced, appearing around a corner with her Energy Bow, powering up a Power Star. "Energy Bow, Final STRIKE!"
Unfortunately, although her aim was right on target, one of the kudabots stepped in the way before it hit. Sarah cursed her luck as she withdrew back into cover before she could be hit in response.
"Do I look like a cat?" He screamed. "I'm a TURTLE! Stop playing cat-and-mouse!"
"Just as long as you stop playing the slow game!" Preston said as he ran in to attack Slowgre. Unfortunately as Slowgre turned to avoid the attack, Preston's powered up blade hit one of the slow-mist's tanks, meaning he got a huge cloud of it full in the face.
"Ohhhhhh nooooooo!" Preston said as he slowed down to a crawl. The others could see that he was in trouble. Slowgre, completely unaffected by his own mist, grabbed Preston and started to hammer into his chest with hard punches. Preston was far too slow to even try to block them.
"PRESTON!" Sarah screamed as she, Calvin and Hayley appeared, forgetting all about their strategy and rushing him to try and free Preston. Slowgre smiled as he realised the battle had turned in his favour. He threw Preston straight at them, forcing them to assemble to catch him, giving him time to link up his second tank.
"Well this party's been fun up until now." Slowgre taunted them. "Now it's time for a SLOW DANCE!"
He blasted them all, bringing them right down to a rate where they were barely moving. They could all perceive the world at normal speed, they were able to tell how much trouble they were in, but now, they were moving so slowly, even something as simple as blinking took minutes.
"This is going to be fun!" Slowgre called out as he watched Preston react first, launching into a flying kick. However, he was moving so slowly that he could do pretty much everything short of go for a tea break before the attack hit. Instead, he went to a street sign, snapping it off, and returning in time for the world's slowest slow ball to enter his sights. Preston started screaming as he could see what was coming next.
"Batter up!" Slowgre called out as he swung for the fences, sending Preston flying straight for the others. They were unable to do anything but stand in place as Preston flew into them. Slowgre started to dance in celebration.
"HA! Strike!" He called out.
"Thaaaaattttsssss...boooowwwwlllliiinnnngggg." Sarah finally managed to get out.
"Thhhhheeeeyyyyy'rrrrrreeeee diiiiifffffeeeerrreeeennnnntttt gaaaaaammmmmeeeeesssss." Calvin added.
"Oh what do I care?" Slowgre answered, standing over them. "All I need to do is figure out which one of you to destroy first! I think...Blue! You destroyed me last time, only fair I return the favour!"
"Hey, forgetting someone?" Brody called out as he appeared, almost from nowhere, leaping off the school with his Ninja Sword powered up. Steel SLASH!"
However, before he could connect, the Rangers were all engulfed in a bright, white light, and appeared back in the Shop Class.
"AHA! SO much for the mighty Rangers, you lost that round!" Cosmo cackled in delight. Brody furrowed his brows.
"Hey, we didn't lose, I was attacking!" Brody snapped at him.
"Yeah, if you'd let that go on, Slowgre was about to get a permanent centre parting!" Calvin agreed.
"Well it's MY game and I say you LOST!" Cosmo shot back. "Besides, you had to think there would be penalties for cheating."
"Cheating?" Sarah asked. "We're playing your game just like you wanted us to! We didn't cheat!"
"Oh really? Well why don't you ask the Blue Ranger?" Cosmo asked. "Don't think I didn't notice you slide that dice."
The others all looked at him. Preston looked a little sheepish as they stared at him.
"Preston?" Sarah asked.
"I'm sorry guys, but...I wanted to make sure we rolled high so we could get through the game faster!" Preston admitted. "So I put the ten to the top and then slid it across the board instead of rolling it."
"It's too late to worry about it now." Brody grumbled. "Alright Cosmo, so what's the penalty?"
"Well, you forfeited that round because of the illegal roll, as for losing the battle, with that comes one of these." Cosmo told him, pulling a card out of a deck on a table next to him. "With every loss, you get a misfortune card. Each misfortune card will alter the next battle slightly to make it a little more challenging."
"Yeah, because up until now things have been easy." Hayley grumbled. "Alright, what's the misfortune card?"
"The next battle will be a solo battle." Cosmo informed them. "Only one of you will be permitted to fight in the next battle. Now, if I were you I'd make my next move. Tick tock!"
"Alright, we don't have a choice." Calvin said, picking up the dice.
"OK, remember to roll it this time." Hayley told him. "We don't need Cosmo changing any more rules on us."
Calvin blew on the dice for luck, and then rolled the dice. He pumped a fist in the air.
"NINE! YES!" He called out, moving the game piece.
"There are only forty squares on the board; this'll take us up to 29!" Sarah said excitedly. "If we roll well, we can finish the game in two more rolls!"
Calvin finished moving the game piece, landing on the grave. It opened up, and the smoke started to swirl. He rolled his eyes as he saw who was on the other side.
"Spinferno." He complained. "I remember this hot-head. He's the one that almost flash-roasted Victor and Monty."
"Don't worry, I'll take him." Brody stated. They heard a buzzer coming from the glowing orb.
"I'm sorry, but that won't be happening. I'm afraid the one who rolled the dice is the one who has to fight." Cosmo informed him. "And since Calvin was the one who rolled, I'm afraid he's the one that has to deal with Spinferno!"
The Rangers all started to shout out complaints, but Cosmo was hearing none of it. He just looked to the hour glass.
"Well, you can argue all you want; it's your time to waste." He reminded them. Calvin just took a deep breath, before allowing himself to be teleported into the game. Brody looked to the others as they all waited for Calvin to return.
"This isn't fair; he's just making up the rules as he goes along now." Sarah protested. "How can we win a game when he keeps changing the rules?"
"What are the rules anyway?" Hayley asked. She looked to Preston, who was sitting next to the box. He just looked at the card.
"It only says to roll the dice and move through the graveyard." Preston responded sadly. "It doesn't say what any of the other rules are."
"So he could change the rules any time he likes because we don't even know what the rules ARE?" Hayley protested. "That sucks!"
"Well, what can we do about it?" Brody asked her honestly. "It's Cosmo's game; we're just stuck in it."
Hayley just sighed and looked to the glowing orb as it shifted, allowing them a view of the battle Calvin had to face.
"Be careful Cal." She whispered.
Back at the school, Levi was just finishing up his dinner with Mrs Finch. He couldn't help laughing as she told him all about her first week teaching.
"You're kidding right?" He asked. "They superglued you to your chair?"
"That's what you call hazing." She chuckled, remembering it. "I did learn an important lesson though, wear thicker clothing. That glue soaked through my skirt all the way to my skin."
"Ouch!" Levi said with an uncomfortable look on his face. "That can't have been good!"
"Fortunately the Shop Teacher had some glue solvent in his classroom." She replied. "Believe me, if the kids aren't trying to kill you, drive you insane or run you out of town, it just means they aren't paying attention to you at all."
"Well, I don't need to worry about getting the kids to pay attention." Levi answered. "I just need to make sure what they're paying attention to is the lesson in hand."
"That's always good." She answered. "Anyway, I'm about done here. Are you heading home?"
"Uh...I've still got a little bit to work on here." Levi told her.
"Well, don't stay too late, just remember, tomorrow is another battle." She said in a cheerful way, packing up her stuff. "Don't worry Levi, if the worst thing you have to worry about in your first week is a few stares, I have a feeling you'll be just fine. You know where my classroom is if you need a break."
"Thank you!" He called out as she left, smiling as he waved her off. Mick was walking past, heading for his class when he noticed Levi. He furrowed his brows as he noticed him.
"Levi, you're here." He commented.
"Well yeah, I'm still here." Levi commented. "I thought a singer's schedule was full. Man, I have a whole new respect for teachers. I will never know how they get all this done."
"I mean...you're here." Mick said again. Levi wasn't any clearer. "I thought you were with the guys."
"They were singing with me earlier, but they went off to play some old board game." Levi said with a shrug of the shoulders. "It didn't really interest me."
"You didn't go with them?" Mick asked him, sitting with Levi. The Gold Ranger just looked to Mick as he gave him that curious look that he sometimes got on his face when there was something about Earth that he didn't quite understand. Levi took a deep breath.
"Well, I don't really like board games." He answered. "It's no biggie."
"So let me get this straight, they sang with you because that's what you like to do, but you won't go and play board games with them because you don't like board games?" Mick asked him, looking confused. "Is that right?"
"Well...sort of." Levi responded, thinking about what Mick had just said. He couldn't help thinking about the emphasis Mick had put on the fact that they had sang with him earlier. It wasn't as though it was something they had suggested, they just wanted to hang out. It was Levi that suggested that they sing together. "But it sounds really selfish when you put it like that."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Mick answered, looking a little apologetic. "So...how would you like me to put it?"
Levi was about to answer, but the words wouldn't come to him. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't really find a way to explain why he had chosen not to go with his friends after they were willing to do what he wanted that didn't paint him in a bad light. He looked to Mick, who instead of a confused expression just seemed to have a knowing look on his face. It was only then that Levi realised that Mick had just pulled what the others had told him about. He had a way of teaching lessons where he didn't really teach anything, but just subtly guided someone to think about their actions on their own. Mick had just caught him out, tricking him into realising that he had indeed just blown off his friends just because he couldn't be bothered putting himself out for an hour or so for a board game.
"OK, OK, I see what you're saying." Levi said with a smile. "Wow, I liked to think I was a stand-up guy. I never thought of myself as selfish, but I guess...I've been around people that let me get my way all the time so long I just never really thought about it."
"Where did the others go?" Mick asked him. "Maybe we can join in the next game?"
"They said they were heading for Shop Class." Levi told him, gathering up his work. "Come on Mick. I can finish this later."
Back in Shop Class, the Rangers all recoiled as they watched the end of the battle. There as a flash of light, and Calvin appeared in his seat next to them. His clothes were singed, and his hair was standing on end, a little darkened at the tips and still smoking. He had soot all over his face. He had a grumpy expression on his face.
"Well...the good news is I guess we can't die in these battles?" Preston offered weakly. Calvin just glared at him without saying a word, while Hayley wrapped her arms around him. Cosmo appeared in the glowing orb once more.
"Oh, so sorry Calvin, better luck next time." Cosmo teased him. "That does mean though that in your next round you have another misfortune card! Oh, and just to make things even more interesting, all battles within the last ten squares are gigantify battles!"
"What?" Sarah asked. "Now you really are just making it up as you go along!"
"Well, we can have a lengthy debate about how fair my rules are if you'd like." Cosmo shot back. "But from the looks of that hour glass I'd say you only have a few minutes left!"
"He's right." Brody groaned as he picked up the dice. "Come on, nice big roll."
The dice tumbled across the board, before coming to rest, showing a 7. The Rangers all perked up a little realising that this now meant once they were through this battle; they would be within four spaces of the end. One more decent roll and they would be out of the gate and out of the game for good.
"Alright, whatever's in there, we can deal with it." Brody told them. The grave opened, and in a flash of light, once more they disappeared from the room.
Outside of the Shop Class, Mick and Levi were almost at the door when they heard what sounded suspiciously like thunder, and saw a flash of light from under the door.
"Are you sure they're playing a board game in there?" Mick asked.
"I know board games can get pretty competitive, but I don't remember any that involve explosions." Levi commented as they went to the door. Mick tried to open it, but found the door to be locked.
"It's locked or it's stuck or something." Mick told him. Levi tried the door too, but when it wouldn't give, he rammed his shoulder into it. The door didn't budge.
"It won't budge." Levi told him. "Stand back!"
Levi took a short run up, and kicked the door as hard as he could, sending both of them spinning off their hinges. When they got inside, they could see the board, but no sign of the Rangers. There was a swirling, glowing orb floating above a castle on the board.
"Either Earth has way more intricate board games than we do back home or that isn't good." Mick commented.
"I don't think that's natural." Levi told him as he peered into the glowing orb. It started to shift, showing the Rangers appearing within the city. "I have a feeling this is Cosmo's doing."
"So...what do we do?" Mick asked him. Levi shrugged.
"I don't know." He answered. "But I'm open to suggestions."