SUMMARY:
[Today on MMPR (Replaced by a segment of the Zeo Serial Preview during the Spring 96 reairings); Opening credits, now with the newer design Saban logo.]
The Angel Grove Carnival is having a clearance sale! All patrons MUST go! It's less than a few moments after "Rangers In Reverse" ended, and the panicking public continue to flee in terror from the site of once fun & games. It should be noted that during the end of the previous episode, the vast majority of those at the carnival had been reduced to the same 7 to 10 ages as the Power Rangers had. Now, as the story reopens, scant few kids are seen, with mostly adults running around in a fright. I theorize, and this is only speculation as this entire saga is full of loads of plot holes (make up your own theory! It's a fun part game, to clear out unwanted guests!), that everyone at the carnival, which was located directly within range of the Orb Of Doom's point of activation, were reverted to an age that matched the Rangers'. Once they fled the area, the side effects wore off, and ages were adjusted according to match the circa 1988 timeframe in which the Earth is supposed to have physically, and (at first) mentally, regressed itself and its inhabitants to. Think of it as your internal aging clock, in both mind and body, being told, by the Earth's rotation, that it is now 10 years ago. This magical influence would be subject to such spatial time irregularities, as point of location and other major changes in the public's lives between 'now' (95 or 96, PR time), and the time forcibly reverted to. More less-direct changes, especially those involving mental status, will be touched upon, as best I can speculate, throughout the storyline. So basically, it's still 'now', but it's 'now' thinking it is 'then'. Similar to the Rock Of Time's spell on the Earth in "Rangers Back In Time", with a few differences. One thing to remember through this story? Time's Arrow is only pointing backwards on Earth. Everywhere else, from the moon, to other planets, are unaffected. Now that we've made that clear as mud, on with the show!
Standing out in the parking lot of the carnival, the only still objects aside from abandoned vehicles amid a sea of fleeing adults and children, are the six Ranger teens-cum-children. They're all still in a state of regression shock, their minds in flux, trying to adjust to their reverted bodily ages whole conflicting with their true mental states. Young Billy points out the obvious to his tiny teammates, "Uh-oh, I think we're in BIG trouble here!" Young Adam agrees, noting to their leader, "Yeah, Tommy. No powers, and we're kids again!" Billy mentions, "We've GOT to contact Zordon!" Young Tommy taps his Communicator, and shouts into it, "Zordon, come in! It's Tommy!" It makes a negative beeping noise, no signal sent. Young Aisha asks in distress, "What's happening!?" Billy regrettably explains, "I was afraid of this. Our Communicators are DEAD! They're designed to work in conjunction with our powers, which no longer exist!" (he's slightly mistaken, of course. Their powers exist, just that they're unable to access them due to their altered physical states.) Young Katherine wonders yet again, "What're we gonna do?!" A sudden tremor rocks the soil around them, causing the six kids to stumble around. The fleeing citizens do so as well, the Earthquaking continuing uncontrollably. The Ranger kids look towards the source, which appears to be coming from a section of Angel Grove City within view. Various skyscrapers and buildings get an unexpected visitor, in the form of Lord Zedd's giant leg! His huge foot stomps into the street, with the pointed end of his Z-Staff stabbing down beside it. Zedd roars with evil laughter, which echoes across the land. The Ranger kids cling to the back of a car, using it to regain balance during the never ending quaking. One of the kids cries, "Careful, this is serious!", and another yells, "Hang on, guys!"
Lord Zedd towers over the city, getting an up close view of a large building, barely in his way (he's quite bigger than it). Not used to doing the dirty demolition work himself, Zedd reaches over, grabs the corner of the building's roof, and shakes it rapidly. He chuckles diabolically, "Ohh! Perfect! Time to clean up the neighborhood!" Lord Zedd lifts his silver metal Z-shaped staff, and fires it into the city. A burst of white lightning courses outward, striking a skyscraper in the distance, and leveling in a firestorm. Zedd lowers his staff, and sighs, "Ahh. THIS is going to be a day to remember! Aha ha!" Behind him, his fellow giant Evil Space Aliens are hanging around. His wife, Rita Repulsa, and her brother, Rito Revolto, and the henchmonster, Goldar, get a kick out of tormenting the humans. Rita agrees with a shrieking laugh, "YOU said it, Zeddy!" Rito butts in, remarking, "Hey, I got an idea! I say we wipe out the whole town! Hahaha!" For once, Zedd is actually in agreeance with his brother-in-law. Goldar as well, noting, "Those puny Powerless Ranger can't stop us this time!" More wicked laugher is exchanged, before Rita screams, "Let's HIT it!" The four alien overlords step into a street clearing between the line of buildings and skyscrapers. Lord Zedd, standing in the front of the creatures, proclaims, "Ahhh, let the destruction BEGIN!", and fires his Z-Staff off once again. Another bolt of white energy slams into a building, blowing the mirrored glass structure into smithereens in but an instant. Down in the nearby carnival parking lot, the Earthquaking has subsided, but the panicking has not. A young female police officer steps in front of the six Ranger kids, and with a bullhorn blasts into the crowd, "Clear the area! Return to your homes! The city of Angel Grove is now under mandatory curfew!" The people don't seem to be listening, their running around in an aimless riot presses on, prompting the female cop to say, "I repeat! Clear the area!" She's not kidding, as next, the giant Rita Repulsa aims her Magic Wand, and fires a beam of red energy from its central sphere. It causes a massive explosion in the warehouse district, the same area constantly terrorized by the Dragonzord. In the carnival parking lot, Kat cries to this, "Look!" Aisha, an old hand at the city destruction game, mentions the area's name, "The abandoned warehouses!" (always a favorite appetizer for an appetite for destruction when it comes to monsters, ain't it?) Billy realizes, "It's only a matter of time before they hit the heart of Angel Grove." Tommy goes over their options, "We can't contact Zordon, so we're going to have to get to the Command Center on foot." Kat's eager, replying, "Let's do it!" Adam takes precaution, stating, "Let's just make sure everyone sticks together." Tommy agrees, and the six Ranger youths dart into the flow of pedestrian traffic, mixing right in with the fleeing populus. We never see the carnival again, so it probably shut down before it even began, or something like that.
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In a rather run down area of Angel Grove, judging from the way the outside of several buildings look in disrepair, Rito Revolto goes slumming. The giant skeletal warrior marches through the city, lifting his big legs high into the air as he walks. He sets his boney foot down, brushing up against a building, and stepping down upon a tall metal antenna! Rito hops on one leg, crying out in pain, "Ohh! Ow!", for a moment or so. He then turns his attention to what stabbed him, crouching down and getting a good look at the antenna. Rito remarks, "Hey! What's this? Oh, yeah, perfect! Heehee!", before reaching over and breaking the metal pointed stick off. He mentions, "Time for my yearly tooth cleaning! Haha!", as he uses the broken antenna to pick between his rotted teeth. They're quite rubbery, as he rubs the metal shrapnel against his gums, moaning, "Mm-hmm, oh! That feels good!" Nearby, Rita Repulsa squats down (heaven help those citizens who made have wandered underneath her skirt!) and makes a frame gesture in front of her face with both her thumbs & forefingers. She smiles psychotically, while looking through her fingers at the wreckage of buildings in the distance, commenting, "Now THAT'S what I call a perfect postcard picture of destruction! Ahaha!" She picks up her Magic Wand and arises next to her husband. Lord Zedd growls excitedly, "Yeeess! Let's continue! Next stop, Angel Grove!" Seems this area of buildings was merely the skid row of more or less condemned buildings. Sort of like a protective wall of sacrificible empty structures to give the actually inhabited sectors a chance to evacuate. Goldar exclaims, "Let's do it!", as Rito stands up from his crouching position, remarking, "You got it, Goldy! This is gonna be good!" Goldy agrees, shouting, "Yesss!", as he raises his sword into the air, and follows his boney teammate of evil.
Lord Zedd leads the way, towards the huddled section of taller skyscrapers in the center of the city. He shouts, "Victory is ours! Haha! YES!", and his monstrous 'family' laugh in devilish agreement. Zedd states, "NOTHING can stop us now!", only to find out he spoke too soon. Suddenly, around the feet of the four Evil Space Aliens, Master Vile's giant blue & gold energy snakes instantly slither around in a circle. They wrap upwards, until they've engulfed the four of them, a flash of pink light erupts from within, and the snakes shrink down to a much smaller size. This reduces Zedd, Rita, Goldar, & Rito back to their normal heights as well, mere specks compared to the tall buildings they had only seconds ago been twice the size of. They're startled by this forced shrinking, looking at their bodies in as much shock as disappointment. Lord Zedd screams, "HEY! Who did that?!" His answer becomes obvious from the floating image of Master Vile's upper body in the sky. Vile snickers sinisterly, admitting, "_I_ did that!" Rita brings up some past event that's better left unexplained, as she yells, "FATHER! Your timing's ALWAYS been rotten!" Master Vile goes on to complain from his holographic image in the blue skies above, "You four blithering, incompetent, ninny-brained fools! Argh, you're going to ruin my carefully laid out plans!" Lord Zedd replies in a venomous tone, "Now, listen HERE, Master BILE!" Vile, offended by this disrespective name altering, angrily shouts, "How DARE you!?" Rita realizes her father's wrath has been unleashed, as does Rito, who quickly turns and ducks down a few feet away from the rest. Rita screams, "Daddy, no!", as Vile's blue & gold energy snakes wrap around her, Zedd & Goldar, teleporting them back to the Moon Palace!
Rito wisely escaped capture, giggling to himself once his teammates have vanished from the Earth. While bent down and laughing, he spots the six Ranger children sneaking around behind one of the local warehouses. He stands up, rubs his hands together giddily, and remarks, "There's a LITTLE something I gotta take care of." Rito then looks up at his father's image in the sky, and yells, "I'll be up in a minute, Pop!" Master Vile let's his son run wild, but stresses, "Don't keep me waiting, Rito. There is MUCH to be done, and unfortunately, YOU are part of the plan!" His projection fades with his tapping his scepter against his hand, and Rito replies, "Whatever you say, Pop!" The skeletal solider turns back to the direction he saw the Ranger kids wander off to, and states, "Now, to grab the Power Coins, and show 'em who's boss! Haha! TEN-GAS!" A fury of purple & black feathers rains down around him, teleporting in a flock of about four Tenga Warriors. While it's only their usual arrival time, Rito comments, "What took ya so long?" He then huddles in close with the squawking bunch, saying, "Listen up! I got a plan! Now, first, we go get the Power Brats. Then we grab the Power Coins. Then, I get to be KING! HA! Let's go!" The Tengas do so, swinging their bodies around and running off. Rito mimics their movements, in the style of some character from another TV show, tilting his body on one leg and saying, "And awaaaaaay we go!"
Meanwhile, down the alleyway between the abandoned warehouses, the six Ranger youths continue their trek through the city towards the Command Center. Tommy asks their navigator, "Are you sure this is the right way, Billy?" The brainy boy looks around, mentioning, "I hope so. It's hard to remember so many years back. Every looks so... different!" (implying the area they're in was destroyed during one of the first monster attacks, or even earlier by human wrecking crews) Just down the way, our young heroes spot the bumbling duo heading in their direction. Kat gasps, "Oh no, guys. Look, it's Bulk & Skull!" Indeed it is, though oddly, they've switched out of their Junior Police Patrol uniforms we last saw them in, and are now in their typical punk attire (the Ranger kids all still have on the same clothes as they did before the reversing). They carry skateboards with them, each wearing helmets, likely off to do some shreddin' out of the eyes of grown ups. Young Bulk & Skull rush up to the six children, and stop to chat. Bulk remarks, "Well, if it isn't little Billy and the geekazoids!" Skull agrees, looking at the five kids with their favorite victim, and saying, "Yeah, what is this? The Chess Club?" Young Rocky notices a strange hint of amnesia in his voice, mentioning, "C'mon, Skull. You remember us!" Skull wonders, "Why should we know you?!", and Bulk adds, "We don't hang out with dweebs!" Aisha comes to the conclusion, "They don't remember us. We didn't live here back then!" Rocky asks the question on all our minds, "Then why do WE remember?" Aisha just shrugs her shoulders. Billy tries to explain it, "Our minds have retained EVERY-thing, from the point of the Earth's reversal. I believe it is due to the Power Coins." (meaning, the Ninja Coins have a more direct connection to their spirits and human energies. Thus, connected tighter than ever to the Morphin' Grid, an otherworldly phenomenon not tied to the planet, their memories are fully exempt from being forced into submission to the spell effecting the world.) Skull remarks, "Power Coins? What's that, some stupid club or something?" Bulk quips, "Yeah, you have to weird to join!" The bumbling boys chuckle at this put down. Tommy leads the team of children onward, "C'mon, guys. Let's go." Bulk, his mind seemingly adjusting to the altering of the timeline (meaning, like in RBiT, where the kids were all attending elementary school at the high school, yet nobody, not even Appleby, felt anything was wrong. It's the physical aspects of the reversal, which prevents this from being a true time travel story per se. Certain unchangeable aspects of the present, like Tommy and the rest now living in AG, have shoehorned themselves into the memories the past for everyone to the best of the spell's ability. It takes some adjusting, of course.), seems to recognize the kids enough to ask, "Hey, wait a minute. Where do you nerds think you're goin'?" Skull laughs, as he and his pal follow behind the six down the alley.
The Ranger kids don't get far, before bumping into Rito Revolto, waiting for them at the end of the alley. He remarks, "Alright! End of the line!" Tommy gasps, "Rito!", as he and his teammates freeze in place before the boney buffoon and his Tengas. Rito orders, "Hand over the Power Coins, you little brats!" Bulk & Skull's reactions to an Evil Space Alien are the same as ever, as they tense up, with Bulk crying, "M-m-Monster!" Adam shouts the quickest plan of action, "Run!", which he and his teammates do. Bulk & Skull, on the other hand, remain standing there, staring at the skeletal soldier and his birddrones. Rito asks them, "What are YOU lookin' at?" Skull stammers in fear, "Wait for us!", as he and his pal turn tail and join the Ranger kids in running away (so frightened, they forget to use their skateboards!). Rito can only giggle with malicious glee, noting, "I LOVE a good chase!", as he and the Tengas sprint off after them. "Tenga Bye-Bye" plays in instrumental form starting about now. The kids end up split up, as we first find Tommy & Katherine running through a side parking area to one of the buildings. They rush in front of several parked cars, with Rito and the flock of Tengas just a few feet behind them. The two Ranger kids halt and slip into an alley, where they find a couple of full garbage barrels. Tommy tells Kat, "Wait! Grab this!", and they use their combined strength to lift it into the air. The Tengas pause right at the entrance to the alley, spotting where their targets went just as the barrel is thrown at them. Tommy yells, "It's time to take out the trash!", as he & Kat toss the garbage can at the Tengas. They're struck, and knocked over like bowling pins, or dominoes. Kat jumps up in the air and exclaims happily, "Strike!" Rito shoves the Tengas out of his way (they fumble with the trash barrel, dumping it out all over themselves accidentally, and slipping on the banana peels dropped), and remarks, "Oooh! I have to do everything myself! HEY! Gimme those Power Coins, or else!" Tommy asks, "Or else what, Birdbreath?" Rito scratches his calcium-enriched helmet, and remarks, "Good Question. OH! Just hand them over!" Tommy instead pushes the second garbage barrel down, and kicks it on its side towards Rito. He starts running, urging to Kat, "Come on!"
She doesn't get to stick around to watch as the barrel rolls towards Rito, who backs up and attempts to leap over the rather large can. His landing is off, as he winds up perched right on top of the trash-filled cylinder. Rito begins to lose his balance, and starts running really fast in place. The barrel rolls forward with him on it, screaming, "Hey! Whoah!" over and over to varying degrees. Three of the Tengas try helping him down, with the fourth having a hard time find his way out the other garbage can placed over his head. That barrel-headed Tenga falls over, and begins to roll down the slightly steep street, in the direction of Rito. The skeletal soldier acts like a circus act, as he maintains a perfect postured position while running atop the barrel. He yells, "I got it!", over and over, until he eventually doesn't 'got' it, tripping off the top of the rolling can and slamming into a Tenga on his way down into a bundle of discarded cardboard boxes. Elsewhere, down another alley, Billy, Rocky, Bulk & Skull run along, with a plan in mind. They carry a large wooden board, and place it atop a metal trash can, creating a crudely designed lever. They then encourage Bulk (Rocky even helping push his big butt up as the burly boy climbs a stack of crates & barrels), to act as the weighted force for it. Billy remarks that it'll be on the count of three, Bulky is reluctantly, stuttering as he sees Rito and the Tengas rushing their way. Billy calls it just in time, as Rito and a Tenga sprint to the near center of the board on the can, growling, "Aha! NOW I got 'cha!" The count of three is called, and Bulk jumps, landing on the raised side of the board. Rito & the Tenga are catapulted into the air, both flying off and landing in abandoned shopping carts. The Tenga's one seems to be a "Rumble In The Bronx Edition", as its missing the back frame.
Rito's, meanwhile, is a red plastic one swiped from K-Mart. He lands in it on his back, and it starts to slowly roll down the inclined street. The Tenga, his head sticking through the opening on his, rolls rather quickly down the pavemented ramp, smashing his face into a tall stack of boxes at the very end of the ride. Rito's is heading down the same path, and realizing this, he calls out to the remaining Tengas, "A little help here!" The two Tengas trip over a load of garbage and debris, one of them actually ending up with his head inside yet another garbage can! Rito cries, "Where's the brakes?!", as his cart plummets down the ramp towards the basement level of the building. The two Tengas manage to climb out of the garbage, and proceed to leap into the air, swooping down and landing just behind Rito's cart. They attempt to grab onto it, and use their feet to skid along and slow it to a halt. Instead, they just get their soles scraped up, unable to cease the cart's uncontrollable descent. Rito screams, "Stop! Nooo! I'm gonna hate this!", as he covers his eyes. The other carted Tenga pulls himself out of the cardboard box wreckage of his crash site, and spots Rito & Company rapidly coming his way. He jumps out of the way, just as the second cart smashes into the last stack of boxes, collapsing on top of Rito and his birdbrain goons. The kids at the top of the hill all get a good laugh out of this, Bulk & Skull even waving at the beaten monsters. Rocky chuckles, "Don't forget your receipt!", and Billy points at the easily tricked creatures, laughing hardest of them all. Rocky then urges him and his three companions to get moving. Perfect timing, as Rito hops out of his cart, and narrowly avoids stepping on a downed Tenga. He exclaims furiously, "Ohh! Wait till I get my hands on those munchkins!"
Three other Tenga Warriors are on the prowl, racing around a corner, looking for the Ranger kids. They instead find an empty parking space. Suddenly, high above them, Adam's voice calls out, "Hey Tengas! Up here!" The trio of birdbrains look up, just in time to see a large steel girder on a rope being flung from atop a fire escape. One of the Tengas squawks, "Uh-oh!", covering his eyes with his winged hands, just as the girder swings down, and slams into him. One of the Tengas behind him is knocked into a conveniently placed stack of cardboard boxes, while the other manages to slip away. The 'uh-oh' Tenga winds up with his arms wrapped around the girder, hanging on for dear life as it continues to pendulum across the parking space. On the way back around, he bashes into the other fellow birddrone, knocking him down. Aisha & Adam are behind this rehash of a Home Alone anti-burglar idea, both up on the rather high fire escape. They slap each other five, with Adam remarking, "We may not be able to Morph, but we can STILL ruffle some tailfeathers!" Aisha agrees, "YEAH!" They look down at the Tenga, still attached to the swinging girder, screaming, "Whoa!", as he anxiously awaits it to cease movement. The other Tenga he knocked down recovers, and gets use out of its rarely used wings, leaping up into the air and flapping his arms. He screeches at the two Ranger youths, "Gimme those Power Coins!" Aisha picks up a pot with yellow daisies planted inside it. She hands it to him, mentioning, "I've got something for you." The stupid Tenga takes it with both hands, and halts his wing-flapping. He turns and looks at the camera, squawking, "Huh?!", before plummeting to the cement. On the way down, the girder Tenga gets in an upswing, and the two collide, knocking each other off course, hurling off together against yet another stack of cardboard boxes. The flower Tenga managed to keep a tight hold on the potted plant, even after crashing. Aisha & Adam watch this, shaking their heads about how painful that looks. Finally, Kat & Tommy try throwing two Tengas off their trail by rushing into a gated area. They use the large steel door to quickly slam against the oncoming birdbrains when they get close enough. The sudden opening causes both Tengas to get smacked so hard, they're knocked unconscious onto the pavement harshly. Tommy & Kat slap each other five, and continue on their hyperactive way.
Soon, Rocky & Billy meet up with Adam & Aisha in the alley where all of this trouble began. They're breathless from the constant chasing, and ask each other for the location of the missing four children. Bulk & Skull pop out of hiding upon hearing their names spoken, the bumbling duo having been ducking behind a dumpster. Bulk asks the Ranger kids, "Where are they? Did we lose them?" His answer (presumedly about the Evil Space Aliens and not Tommy & Kat) comes when Rito and his four Tengas stumble onto the scene, wearily staggering and tumbling to the ground. Rito rubs his head and groans, ordering one of the tripped Tengas to get up. Bulk spots them and screams, "Monsters!", prompting him and the other five children to crouch behind a vacant car. Just then, the sound of a siren echoes between the buildings. Bulk, his Junior Police Patrol instincts seeping through, notices the police car pulling into the alley, and immediately stands up and runs to them, frantically screaming for help. The Ranger kids try to stop him, pulling on his shirt to no avail, while trying to remain out of sight. Rito realizes he can't deal with the fuzz in his condition, whining, "They're gonna ruin everything!" He and the Tengas teleport back to the moon, unsuccessful at capturing the Rangers at their weakest! Oddly, two Tengas before teleporting, where rummaging through two trash cans behind them. What they were looking for, I dunno, but likely something to eat. Billy notes to his friends, "He's gone!", and Rocky's memory goes Swiss cheese, as he wonders, "Where'd he go!?" Tommy & Kat start to approach from around the corner, spotting Billy & Rocky as the slowly rise from their ducked positions. Tommy asks, "What's going on?", and Billy warns, "Stay there!" The female police officer (the same one from the carnival) yells, "You! Behind the car! Come on out, now!" Tommy clutches Katherine, and the two slink back out of view behind the building. Billy, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam reluctantly obey their elders, dragging their feet as they walk over to the police car.
In the throne room of the Evil Moon Palace, Rito and the Tengas teleport in. They land in a jumbled mass on the foggy floor, tangled up together for some reason. Rito pushes them off of him, and stands up, to see the other main villains standing around the throne. Lord Zedd grumbles, "Ohhh, nincompoops!" Rito seems to imply that his teleportation wasn't on purpose (despite how he teleported with the 'flaming red skull, body turns blue and shrinks' mode he usually uses, instead of Vile's snakes), groans, "Hey! What's the big idea?! Things were just starting to get FUN!" Master Vile mentions, "We cannot afford to wait on you any longer!" This causes Rito to kick his foot into the mist, in a frustrated style manner. Vile continues, "My plan will not only destroy the world, but Zordon as well!" Zedd scoffs, "Oh! Yeah. Right!" The elder creature orders the (now regulated to second in command) monster to shut up as he explains, "Silence! Rito & Goldar shall carry an implosion device!" Rito, ever dim, scratches his skull and asks, "Implo-what?!" Goldar merely growls in annoyance of his current partner's stupidity. Master Vile adds, "Once detonated at the base of the Command Center, it will cause a chain reaction that will wipe out the Morphing Grid... FOREVER!" Rito guffaws evilly and loudly at this scheme. Lord Zedd mentions, "Not very imaginative, but it DOES have style.", which Rito agrees on. Vile continues, "In the meantime, we shall assemble a Monster Conference. Monsters of the universe, uniting as one to destroy Angel Grove! The end of the world is NOW at hand."
Back at the alleyway, the four Ranger kids walk up to the police as ordered. The female cop steps out of the passenger side of the police car, and asks them, "Okay, kids. What's the story? It's dangerous to be out after curfew, you know." Tommy & Kat continue peeking around the corner, trying to check on the status of their teammates, while also trying to keep from getting caught. Billy tells as much of the truth as he can, explaining, "We're sorry, officers. We were just looking for some friends." The male cop goes for an Emmy as he says, "Come on. Get in the car. I don't know what is going on, but you sure scared those two." Bulk & Skull are in the backseat of the police car, peering through the slightly rolled down window in shivering terror. Rocky whispers to Aisha, "We've got to tell them!", who in turn says aloud, "Rocky's right! You're making a big mistake." The cops look at each other, amused by the cute antics of the kids. Billy, his younger body chemistry likely impeding the need for maintaining a secret identity, admits, "I know you've never heard of us, but we're the Power Rangers, and without us, the Earth is in great danger." Bulk & Skull giggle at the nerd's superheroic tall tale. The female cop remarks, "Power Rangers? Never heard of 'em. Get in the car!" (This is, theoretically, because without visual stimuli to activate memories of certain people or events from the true present into the past-regressed present, people will simply retain only what they knew years before. Meaning it'd take the Rangers appearing in action, for everyone's memories to be jogged and adjusted so that they 'existed' this point in the past. Err, I think. It's complicated, and I blame elves.) The male cop adds, "Come, on", telling Bulk & Skull to, "Move down", and informing the kids, "We'll take you down to the station. Your parents can pick you up there." The three Ranger boys sit in the back with Bulk & Skull, while Aisha rides up front with the female cop. Billy looks out the window, and sighs, as he watches Tommy & Kat emerging from behind the corner. The police car pulls out, and drives off. Kat, speaking in a horribly bad fake-accent, says, "Now what? We need to get to Zordon and Alpha!" Tommy figures, "I guess they'll be okay. Come on!", as he and his teammate slowly walk in the direction of the departing cop car.
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Soon at the Police Station (actually the exterior of Saban studios), Bulk & Skull are hauled away by their respective mothers. Each mother has their son by an ear, scolding them loudly for getting picked up by cops. Interesting to note, Skull's mom is played by the same lady who played her previously in "Return Of An Old Friend" (though dresses less punk and more 60's style here), and also played Bulk's love interest in "Goldar's Vice Versa." Bulk's mom is the same lady who played her in "Return Of An Old Friend", and also played Skull's love interest in "Goldar's Vice Versa." Neither parent seems to like each other, apparently blaming one another for their child falling in with the wrong crowd. A rarity, Bulk & Skull are split up by their angry mothers. Inside the Police Station, there's quite a few young looking cops. Though no children, except for the four Ranger kids sitting on a bench, each with a police officer's hat on, and licking ice cream in cones. Aisha takes off her hat and sets it over her frail knees, remarking to her pals, "I hate this. They treat us like we're little kids!" Rocky lifts his rather oversized hat up above his eyes, which they were hanging over, and smirks, "I got news for you, Aisha. We ARE kids." She playfully taps the top of the hat, causing it to fall back down over his eyes. The man running the desk is a cop with rather thick prescription glasses. The phone is ringing off the hook, but he just ignores it, taking off his glasses, setting them on the counter and rubbing the space between eyes, stressfully. He finally picks up the phone, answering, "Angel Grove Police Department." The person on the other line is the voice of Katherine (have I mentioned her bad Australian accent? Poor girl tries her best, but at least she LOOKS like a young Kat). Even though she sounds like an elementary schooler, she attempts to fool the cop, saying, "Uhh, yes. I was looking for my son, Billy, and his three friends. I was told they were being held there." Kat & Tommy are at a pay phone booth just outside of the station house, making this call. The cop, who I like to call Officer Magoo, agrees and informs, "Yes, ma'am. They are here, all right. You'll have to come down here and sign some papers before I can release them." Kat (whom I should note is trying to be Mrs. Cranston, Billy's never before mentioned or seen mother) stammers nervously, "Uhh, Yeah. Of course. Thank you." Magoo replies, "Yes, ma'am", and hangs up, before putting back on his glasses and doing paperwork. Kat hangs up outside, and shakes her head. Tommy tells her, "Don't worry. Come on!" Apparently, they decided against going to find Zordon & Alpha, and must think their teammates AREN'T alright, despite what they said earlier!
Meanwhile, on the Evil Moon Palace, the Monster Conference is fully underway. Finster takes roll with an oversized pencil and a clipboard. His quiet and clam voice strains, as he says, "Attention, please! Please settle down!" The monsters, which are oddly ALL Kakuranger monsters, walk around the throne room area aimlessly! The creatures in attendance include: See-Monster, Lanterra, Brick Bully, Miss Chief, Crabby Cabbie, Arachnofiend (from "Along Came A Spider", which hadn't aired yet when this episode premiered!), an unnamed blue colored stitched clay style monster (whom I named "Piecemeal" for obvious reasons), an unnamed funky light blue swirling shaped monster (whom I named "Crudcritter", cause he literally looks like crap or the melted marshmallow man), an unnamed furry beast with various tribal masks over his body monster (whom I named "Yetiki", a cross between a yeti and a Tiki), an unnamed clown dog-like monster (whom I named "Barkzo", a cross between Bozo and a barking pooch. Alternate name, Emutt Smelly). Finster continues trying to get the various monsters into order, which they seem to refuse to do, ignoring him for the most part. He continues saying, "Come, come. I'm taking attendance!", until they finally relax a bit, in a rough line, nearly side by side. Crabby Cabbie's name is called, and speaking in his usual voice, he replies, "Yo, make it snappy! The meter's runnin'!" See-Monster, getting named officially here, opens his long trenchcoat and exposes his multitude of eyeballs, gravely saying, "Here! And I got my eyes on you!" Lanterra is called upon, and he merely jumps up down, giggling evilly, prompting Arachnofiend to do the same. Finster checks him off as present (apparently, as we've seen with other creatures, he doesn't need Adam's lantern to be created anymore), and is about to do the same for the others, until halted. Master Vile ends his roll taking, by stating, "That's enough, Finster. I will need only the FIVE most horrible among them!" The entire conference of monsters comes alive with the nasty creatures jumping up and down with their arms in the air, shouting, "Ohh! Me! Pick me!" Vile shuts them up and continues, "Silence! My field general, Professor Longnose, will lead you in battle. He is currently conquering a Dark Galaxy Star, and will meet you at the quarry!"
Lord Zedd grows impatient, and stands up from his throne, growling, "Let's get this show on the road!" He lifts his arms and begins to proclaim, "Monsters of the universe...", until Rito quiets him, gently lowering his arm and noting, "Hey, put a sock in it. DAD'S the boss!" Zedd backs down, and groans in hindrance. He sits on his throne, and rests his head against his hand, depressed. Rito is shown comforting him, by brushing his hand against his brother in-law's exposed brain. It's disturbingly sweet. Master Vile explains to the crowd, "Monsters of the Universe! You have been gathered here to seek revenge against Zordon, and the world he protects!" The creatures cheer in unison, Crabby Cabbie remarking, "We'll take care of dat!" Vile adds, "He can't stop us now! Those runty Rangers have as much power as a dead battery! Goldar & Rito, begin the preparations!" Rito & Goldar laugh wickedly, both raising a stick laid across their right shoulders up in the air. The stick has hanging on it a small, black device, which is later revealed to be the implosion bomb. Rito exclaims, "Haha! Let's do it!", and Goldar growls in agreement. Down on Earth, in the Police Department station house, the four Ranger kids grow impatient. Billy stands up and walks over to the desk, telling Officer Magoo, "Uhh, sir? I really need to get home. I have a science report to write." Magoo takes off his glasses, and asks, "What's your name, son?" He replies, "Billy." The cop remarks, "Billy? Well, hey! Your mother just called. She should be down shortly to pick up you and your friends." The other Ranger kids seem baffled by this, and even Billy is stunned, asking, "My mother?!" (This seems to imply Billy's mom mighty have indeed passed away at some point in his life. Though later series revelations mention him as having "parents", plural, it could be that his dad remarried sometime after this point in history, and the present day reversal thing seeped through so that she was around even in this mocked up past. Who knows!)
Just then, his 'mother' comes stumbling in. It's Kat, sitting on Tommy's shoulders, with a large grey trenchcoat on, covering all but Tommy's legs. She has a hat, sunglasses, white gloves, and a pink scarf on. Kat, speaking without the accent, calls out, "Billy! My baby, are you okay?!" Tommy has trouble holding her hefty body up over his tiny frame, and wobbles side to side, attempting to keep her from falling. It makes it seem as though Billy's mother is a huge lush. The Ranger kids have their jaws agape at this sight, with intentionally goofy music playing in the background. Billy goes with the flow, stating, "Uhh, sure... Mom?" Officer Magoo frantically looks around the counter, asking, "Where are my glasses!?" Billy doesn't miss a beat, quickly spinning around and placing the police hat of his over the cop's glasses. Magoo complains, "I can't see a DARN thing without them!" Billy walks over and puts his arm around his nearly 7 foot tall mother, as she says, "I'm in a hurry, sir. I need to get these kids home." Magoo, his blurry vision shown to us, stares at the smudge of colors. He asks, "So you're his mother?" Kat confirms, "Yes! Yes! Ohhhh yeahhh I ammm!", as Tommy begins to lose balance and stumbles sidewards. The three Ranger kids sitting on the bench, ditch their hats, and hop up to help keep him steady. Kat says, "C'mon, kids. Let's get out of here.", as her teammates help her and Tommy turn towards the door. Officer Magoo sternly states, "Wait!", causing our young heroes to freeze in fear of being found out. Instead, he lifts up a bunch of papers and a pen, asking, "Sign these papers, please?" He blinks rapidly, as she approaches drunkenly, saying in a high pitched voice, "Ohh, okay!" Kat scribbles on the papers really quickly, tells him, "There ya go. Come on kids. Thank you, officer!", as she's lead out of the room by the children. Magoo finally finds his glasses under the hat, and puts them back on, to see Billy speaking to his mother, "Gee, Mom. What took you so long?", with her back turned away from him. He widens his eyes and leans over the counter, as he notices that Mrs. Cranston appears to be wearing bluejeans and hiking boots under her large coat! Magoo removes his glasses again, squints, and shakes his head in disbelief.
Not long after, the six Ranger youths are in the outskirts of Angel Grove. The very edge of the city, on the cusp of the desert. The winds pick up fiercely, blowing tumbleweeds past them small children. They're on their way to the Command Center. Tommy mentions, "Man! It's a LOT further when you can't teleport!" Rocky agrees, "I'll say! It feels like we've been walking for hours!" Aisha concurs, noting, "We HAVE!" A dust storm picks up, engulfing the kids in a blinding cloud of dirt, prompting Rocky (or one of the boys) to whine, "I can't see where i'm going!" Kat has the same problem, covering her face and crying, "Ahh! I'm getting sand in my eyes!" Adam ditto, "I can't see ANY-thing!" (even though the storm isn't THAT bad, and we can see THEM quite clearly). Behind them, still lagging through the cloud of dust, is Rito & Goldar! They wander down the hill in their direction, with Rito remarking, "See? I TOLD you those little brats would lead us straight to the Command Center!" Goldar shrugs it off, "Yeah, yeah. So you were right! BIG deal!" Rito, holding the implosion device cradled in his armpit, states, "It really torques you when i'm right. Doesn't it, Monkey Boy? Huh?! Doesn't it?!" Goldar, who has never confirmed his species, takes offense, "Monkey!?", as the two press onward into the blinding storm.
Elsewhere, at the Command Center, we find things how we last left them. The power was running out, mere moments are the reversal of the Earth's rotation. All of the lights on the consoles are off, as are all lights in the room, except the Christmas Tree ones against the back wall, ones under the blank Viewing Globe, ones around Zordon's plasma tube, and the ones on Alpha 5's body. There's a bit of illumination coming from the hole in the roof, but that's it. Alpha exclaims while pressing buttons, "Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! I don't know what else to do! Our power banks are STILL out!" Zordon calms him, explaining, "We may need to approach this differently, Alpha. WE have also gone back in time. If we could ONLY recall what we were involved in at this point in the past." (It seems that certain physical occurrences to places which existed unchanged throughout the two points in history CAN be affected by the time reversal. Though you notice, Alpha & Zordon retain their proper memories due to their connections to the Morphing Grid.) Alpha laments, "Unfortunately, all our diaries are logged in the main computer brain!" He wanders backwards, and nearly trips his big metal feet over a small wire cord lying on the floor. Alpha glances at it, and puts his hands to his head, stating, "Oh, Ay-yi-yi! I must be losing my microchips! NOW I remember! We were spring cleaning, and we had to unplug the control panel to vacuum!" Zordon is dumbfounded, "I don't believe this. All this time our power outage has been due, not to some sinister force, but to a simple house appliance? Is that true?!" Alpha picks up the strange looking, gold dust-buster, and giggles, "I'm afraid so, Zordon. Heh-heh." He deplugs the vacuum (which probably doubles as a "personal companion" for our automaton pal), and plugs the console back in. The single, odd-prong outlet is reattached, and all energy is restored to the lights and computer centers. Just then, the alarms go off, the siren blaring loudly and the Viewing Globe picking up the six Ranger teens wandering through the desert. Alpha ay-yi-yi's, "Zordon! The Rangers are in trouble!" Zordon commands, "Teleport them here, at once!" Alpha shuffles quickly over to the console, pressing a few buttons on the teleportation section and yanking the knob, as he says, "Ohh, Zordon! Locking on coordinates now!"
The six Mighty Morphin' children are barely moving from a single spot, forced into near retreat by the raging sandstorm. Suddenly, their bodies come to life with a crackle of their Ranger colors, each of them streaking into the sky via teleportation. They land perfectly in the Command Center, quite surprised, and extremely grateful. The six Ranger kids quickly engage in a group hug with Alpha 5. Zordon mentions, "I am greatly relieved." Tommy cuts to the chase, "Zordon, can't you give us any powers to fight Lord Zedd?" The Eltarian Sage explains, "That would be too dangerous, Tommy. If anything should happen to you, it would prevent any chance of the world returning to how it was before the reversal." Billy agrees, "He's right. The future wouldn't be able to happen without us in it." Zordon confirms, "Precisely, Billy." (what he means is, that while this isn't truly the past, the present would not be able to realign itself properly if they were killed. Everyone who was alive at the point of the Earth's reversal must be kept so for the reversal to be undone exactly. Except for all the millions in the world who die from natural causes or accidents during this saga. As long as they're not killed by evil space aliens or anyone who is coming from outside the timespell-affected planet. Sound good? Ah, make up your own rules, then!) Anyway, Adam asks, "Then what are we going to do?" Billy has a grand notion, "What we need are more Power Rangers." One set immediately springs to Alpha's mind, as the robotic assistant mentions, "Zordon, what about the Alien Rangers from the planet Aquitar?"
Aisha's baffled by this, asking, "What?! ALIEN Rangers!?" Zordon admits, "I have thought of this. But these Rangers exist on a planet made up entirely of water." Alpha explains, "They reside in a pod-like structure, but are dependent upon energy obtained from water, to function." Zordon adds, "I am afraid the atmosphere on Earth would be inhospitable to them. They would be putting their lives at great risk." Rocky notes, "It's the ONLY chance we have!" Alpha takes their side, "I think they're right, Zordon. And Besides, the Alien Rangers would WANT you to call on them!" Tommy backs him up, "Besides, what would we do if the situation were reversed?" (the situation DOES involve reversal, ya goon!... Err, nevermind) Rocky references "A Friend In Need", by saying, "Hey, remember Edenoi? When Dex needed our help, WE were there!" Zordon is convinced, "You are correct, my young Ranger. Prepare a Galactic Alert Transmission." Alpha obeys, pressing a few buttons quickly, "Right! I'll focus the beam in the direction of Aquitar. All systems are GO, Zordon!" The Eltarian Sage begins recording his transmission, "Rangers of Aquitar! I, Zordon, call upon you. The people of Earth are in great peril." A bright green beam of light shines from the center of the Command Center's rooftop, firing off into the sky in an inclined curve. It has yellow rings around it, and it pulsates into outer space. The beam shoots off at lightspeed, out of out Solar System in but a moment, and striking Aquitar nearly momentarily. The planet of Aquitar has a couple of white clouds floating around in its atmosphere, and has scant few visible traces of land submerged beneath a total shimmering surface of blue water. From an exterior shot, to an interior we go, viewing the bottom of the seas of the alien world. Various coral-ish formations are apparently amid the various plantlife covering the ocean shelf. The pod-like structure in which the Aquitian Rangers live in is revealed, its orb domes fully lit up. A small, oddly shaped ship zooms through the water towards the building, catching on to the incoming green signal beam from Earth on its way home. At the CC, the six Ranger kids turn to their Viewing Globe, ooo-ing and awing over the image from another world slowly coming into visual range on the screen. The globe turns from staticy, to showing five humanoid creatures. Tommy smiles, "Wow! They're answering!" Alpha is excited, "Ooh! I just KNEW they would!" Our happy young heroes get their first glimpse of the Alien Rangers. While they're all mostly visible in this watery-lit shot, i'll wait until part 2 to fully describe their appearances.
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Meanwhile, just outside of the Command Center (featuring a rare exterior side shot of the actual building), the evil henchmonsters have apparently successfully made it to their destination. Rito places the bomb near the entrance gate. Goldar groans, "Dohhh! Will you hurry up! I don't like it here!" The implosion device, is actually three small Coleman lantern flashlights (I've even got one of these things, which convert from flashlight to 'lantern' mode), attached around a box like design, all painted black. There's a small silver three-circle symbol on the side as well. Rito struggles with it, "Oh, get this thing to work here...", until it begins glowing in a pink light. He remarks, "AH! That ought to do it. Now, i'll just set this baby down, and in a few minutes, the place will be a big dust pile!" As he takes the rather long fuse of the device and drags it across the ground, Rito notes, "Pop comes up with some good ones, now and then, doesn't he?" Goldar grumbles in agreement, ever loyal to Zedd, he quips, "Hey, accidents happen!" They turn the corner, and Rito gets Jim Carrey on us while holding the thin strand, "Allll-righty, then! We just light this, and when the fuse runs out..." Goldar finishes, "... Kablooie! Bye-bye, Zordon! See ya!" (if you're wondering why none of the sensors are detecting the monsters yet, it's likely due to the distracting power drain coming from sending that signal into space and accepting the incoming one from the Aquitians) Rito chuckles maniacally, as he holds the fuse to Goldar's sword. Goldy remarks, "Take care!", as he charges up his sword, the flaming setting fire to the thin strand, which burns quickly. Rito jinxes himself, "Haha. You know, this is almost TOO easy!" He drops the fuse, and watches how fast it's burning, before realizing, "Hey! We'd better get out of here!" The henchmonsters flee from the area on foot. The fuse to the implosion device burns brightly, and rapidly.
[To be continued...; end credits]
_CLIP MONTAGE:_
Zedd stomps his foot down, and stands in the city in giant mode, with his monster 'family' right behind him; An odd looking skull shaped mountain or building or something from Sentai, with a thunderous background, get rain of lightning blasts around its head. Standing atop it, is Master Vile, summoning the lightning. We see his ugly, Sentai footage face, laughing psychotically; Tenga Warriors leap through the air, on their way to stop Rito's cart; Young Tommy & Young Kat slap each other five after slamming the door against some Tengas; Young Rocky, Young Bulk, and the young other ones laugh after hurling Rito & friends down into a world of hurt; Tenga-vision, as the birdbrain rides in the cart towards the cardboard boxes; Young Kat jumps into the air, cheering; Young Aisha & Young Adam slap each other five atop the fire escape; Three Tengas cover their eyes as the girder swings down; The kids help Kat as Mrs. Cranston stay on her Tommy-feet; Officer Magoo widens his eyes; And Rito's "and awaaaaay we go!" clip revisited. These were all (aside from the Vile shot) shown in the episode. What, were all the bloopers ate by the attendees of the Monster Conference, or something?!
