SUMMARY:
[Today on MMPR (Replaced by a segment of the Zeo Serial Preview during the Spring 96 reairings); Opening credits]
Place: The Cranston Residence. Location: Billy's garage turned laboratory. Time: The physically time-reversed Angel Grove. It appears to be the day following the previous episode, as both Billy & Rocky are shown wearing different outfits during this one. Two of the Aquitian Rangers, Cestro & Tideus, are accompanying Billy in a testing of a new device. The device (later called the "Zeo Crystal Transformer"), which is made of coiled metal and plastic, and spins around on the table, shining lights and beams into the ceiling, is supposedly important to the Zeo Quest occurring throughout the timestream. Billy grows frustrated with the device, pressing some buttons on a small remote, unable to get the energy readings from the device that he desperately needs. He drops the remote on the table with a sigh, prompting Tideus to ask, "What is wrong, Billy?" The brainy human reveals, "I can't align the Zeo Subcrystals into a cohesive matrix. So even if we DO get all five crystals, we'll never going to be able to combine all their energies." Cestro, almost equally as intelligent as his human color counterpart, notes, "Unfortunately, this phase modulator isn't precise enough for our needs." Tideus figures, "Then we must locate another one, immediately!" Billy laments, "It's not that easy. VERY few places have the sophisticated equipment we're talking about. N.A.S.A. (not to be confused with PRT/IS' "NASADA"), M.I.T., I mean, those are the obvious ones." Tideus, who must have studied on Earth locations recently, remarks, "We need some place closer by." Billy thinks for a moment, and says, "Well, MAYBE Angel Grove University. They DO have one of the top science departments in the nation." Tideus eagerly states, "Let us hurry!" Billy turns down the alien's anxious request to tag along, and implies he should go alone, telling them, "Look, (checks watch) i'll only be gone for an hour. And uhh, do me a favor? Try to stay out of trouble?" Cestro & Tideus innocently reply in unison, "Who? Us?!" Billy chuckles, and winks at them with his right eye, before departing. Cestro looks at his fellow Aquitian, and copies Billy's wink. Tideus tries it himself, blinking his right, then the left. Cestro begins blinking both at once, twitching his lips as well, both of them getting acquainted with this odd Earth gesture. Which reminds me, since they're in the garage lab, I wonder how Billy explained to his parents how he was now 7-10 years older, when everyone effected by the time reversal only remembered him as a little kid? That's a hellava fanfic idea, if done right!
Meanwhile, on the Evil Moon Palace (with stormclouds floating above it, which look oddly like the ones the Earth Rangers are using to travel through time!) balcony, Lord Zedd & Rita Repulsa are spying on our three heroes. Zedd scoffs, "Daaah! That brainy blue Power Punk is getting closer to completing the transformer!" Rita remarks, "So what! It's useless without all the Zeo Subcrystals! Hahaha!" (that's twice the Zeo Crystal Shards have been called Subcrystals. They'd be known as such from here on out) Her husband loving replies, "Ahh, you're right, my little melon ball! They'll NEVER be able to find all five pieces!" He takes her in his exposed-muscled arms, and spins her around, a quick dance, inspiring her to exclaim, "The WORLD will be OURS!" They both laugh wickedly together. This also explains why Zedd didn't seem to care the Ranger kids went on the Zeo Quest. He honestly figured they stood no chance of finding them all! Speaking of which, somewhere across time, Adam has already landed in his Zeo related searching grounds. It's a mountainous area, with many lush plantlife ground throughout. He's still got the same outfit on as last episode, black pants, undershirt & hat, with a greyish vest and backpack. Adam wanders around, mentioning, "I must be somewhere in the past!" He finally recognizes the area, stating, "The Diamond Mountains! My grandma was born here!" Just then, an older Korean woman walks by, dressed in traditional clothing, waving her little fan. Adam stops her, "Excuse me, ma'am?" She halts and looks at him, as he whispers to himself, "What's that grandma says again?" The woman seems amused by his brain-wracking. Adam finally remembers, and says, "Annyong... Hashimnika!" The woman laughs, and replies in English, "Hello to you, too!" The age-reversed Ranger gasps, "You speak English?!", and the woman confirms, "Certainly!" (casting doubt as to WHEN in the past this is) She asks him, "Are you lost?", and Adam informs her, "I'm looking for a wiseman. I was told I could find him here." (which implies he's spent at least a few hours wandering around on his quest) The woman reveals, "I've heard stories of a wise man, called Kai-Ogi. It is said he lives INSIDE a waterfall." The boy asks, "Do you know where?", but the women regrets, "I'm sorry, I don't. It's just a legend I heard as a little girl!" Adam understands, and says, "Oh, well. Thank you anyway! Uhh, I mean... Kamsa-Hamnida." The woman smiles and returns the gesture, "You're welcome! Good luck to you!" He bows, and leaves, passing by a row of shrubbery. A short old bald man, with a long goatee-like beard, in a gray robe, carrying a big walking stick, pokes his head out from it. He spots Adam, and shuffles along behind him to catch up.
[commercials]
Back in the time-reversed present day, at Billy's lab, Tideus is acting like a junkie going through withdraws. He paces about the room, rubbing the back of his neck, and anxiously informing his rather calm teammate Cestro (who just got rehydrated in the last episode, and thus isn't as in-need), "Cestro, I cannot wait an hour for Billy to return. I must rehydrate... SOON!" The Blue Alien Ranger attempts to calm the fellow water-dweller, "Try to put it out of your mind, Tideus." The Yellow Alien Ranger reveals where their 3 other partners are, as he notes, "Delphine, Aurico & Corcus have all gone back to Aquitar to rehydrate. We CANNOT last much longer without water!" Cestro sets down a tool he was using on the transformer device, and decides, "Maybe you are correct. Let us go now, and find some." Tideus, in desperate need of an aquatic fix, seems relieved as he pats his pal on the shoulder and insists, "Yes, let us go!" They walk out of the garage causally, apparently the neighborhood turns a blind eye to strange looking creatures among them (as evident by how Rito & Goldar were able to head down the sidewalk in "Climb Every Fountain" so easily). On the moon, Rita peers through her Repulsascope, witnessing this. "Well, well, well! What do we have here? Ooh! This looks good!" We see, via Repulsavision, that Tideus, though overcome with water-hunger, finds the strength to turn around and flip the light-switch in the garage off as he exits. Rita continues gloating, "Ahh! Those pitiful parched Alien Do-gooders are leaving the lab to find water! Haha!" Lord Zedd concurs her twisted laughter, adding, "Excellent! They'll have a surprise waiting for them when they come back!" He glances at the garage with his red-ray Zedd-vision, and takes a peek at a small, (ab)normal looking spider as it slinks down a web strand. Zedd states, "My Arachnofiend will create a sticky situation!" Rita starts to motion her fingers, while singing the old nursery rhyme, "The itsy-bitsy spider, crawled up the water spout!" Her husband joins in, though a little more tone deaf than her, as he waves his arm and sings, "But this little spider, will wash the Rangers... OUT!" Zedd fires his Z-Staff at the Earth suddenly, hitting the spider with his white magical energies, and causing it to morph into Arachnofiend. Now, if you saw ARoA1&2, you'd know Arachnofiend hung out at the Monster Conference. So this monster is just a typical "turn an object into a preexisting monster" situation, which occurs often on PR. Anyway, Arachnofiend is covered in a ton of shadow, with very little backlight, while inside the garage. Her eyes are bright round orbs, which gleam intensely as she cackles maniacally upon creation.
Back on the Lunar Balcony, Lord Zedd gloats, "My three-pronged plan is proceeding perfectly! In a matter of moments, Rito & Goldar will enter the Command Center, and Zordon will be all washed up!" Rita gets a big kick out of all of her husband's evil boasting and hand gesturing, smiling and giggling while standing by his side. Zedd concludes this presentation, by flickering his fingertips near his faceplate (like a cigar), and saying rather Groucho Marx-ian, "You can bet ya life on it!" As per on cue, the scene switches to the tunnels deep beneath the Command Center. Rito Revolto & Goldar continue to wander around the vast structure of hallways, seeking the "backdoor" to the console room. The two henchmonsters walk through another hall, prompting Rito to slump his shoulders and whine, "Ohhh, are we THERE yet?!" Goldar, holding the Implosion Detonator in his hand still, reminds him, "We're lost, Rito! We need to draw ourselves a map... of where we've BEEN!" No mention is made of the ancient map they were supposed to use to chart their journey through the tunnels, but considering half was torched, the other half would have likely been useless. Rito groans, "Whaaat?", and Goldar shows him, "Watch!" They stop walking, and turn to one of the side walls. Goldar, who had been carrying around a thick piece of chalk in his hand since the scene began (he was thinking ahead, I suppose), uses it to scribble on the metallic surface. He says, "I'll draw ya a picture!", and Rito ad libs childlike, "Alright. Hey! Hey, hey, draw a pony?!" Goldar scraps two parallel lines in white chalk, and states, "We came into the cave HERE, right?" Rito (who ALSO had his own chalk piece in hand since the scene started!) argues, "NO, no, no, no, NO! We came into the cave THIS way over here!", as he draws two lines intersecting the other two already on the wall. The golden warrior goes with it, "Fine! And now, we're right about... HERE!", as he draws an X mark in the "pound key" shaped set of lines, into the right-center slot. The skeletal solider adds, "And we got lost for the first time, riiight around... HERE!", drawing a circle shape in the very center slot of the board. Goldar cries, "Quiet! I'm thinking!", to which Rito remarks, "You must find that painful." He can only growl in response, before reaching up and placing another X mark in the top left-slot, stating, "The entrance to the cave is..." Goldar's cut off by Rito's excited noting of, "Ohh! Ohh! Ohh! This is where we were going around in circles, remember?!", as he fills in a circle into the top-center slot. His monkey-like partner shrugs him off, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. BUT, the Command Center is... HERE," marking an X into the bottom-left slot. Rito, quickly realizing he has the upperhand in this reluctant game, draws in a circle into the bottom-center slot. He then cuts a line through his other circles, all lined in the three center slots, and proclaims, "Ooo, Ooo, Ooo! Tic Tac Toe, three in a row! Hahaha! I win, you lose!" Goldar groans, having no meant for this to turn into a farce. Rito chuckles some more, "Come on, let's play again! I love this game! I'm the best! Neener-neener-neener!" The once proud golden warrior turns around, lifts his arms into the air in frustration, and begs, "Dohhh! PLEASE! Anyone but ME!"
Elsewhen in time and space, Adam's questing ventures onward. He heads through a forest, unaware he's being followed. Adam finally realizes it, turns around, and barely spots the old man peeking at him from behind a tree. The frail old geezer tries desperately to duck out of view when the spry young boy turns, but is too slow. Adam calls out, "Alright, who ARE you, and what do you want?" Suddenly, mere seconds after he saw the man duck behind a tree a good many feet away, the strange guy pops up right behind him! He asks, in a gruffy yet whimsical accent, "Who am I?! YOU are the stranger here! Who are YOU?!" The time-displaced Ranger tells him, "I'm Adam." The old man exclaims, "Of COURSE it is! I see you... the spirit of the FROG!" Adam's taken aback by this revelation, wondering, "How'd you know that?" The old man laughs deeply, and goes into a Confucius fit, spouting riddles, "Ribbit, Ribbit! Madam, i'm Adam! Same forwards & back! Madam, I'm Adam! (He's right! "madamimadam") You're on the RIGHT track!" The boy is annoyed by the strange man's complex words, saying, "I don't have time for games. I'm on an important quest." The old man replies enthusiastically, "Quest?! Little Frog is on a quest! There has not been a... good quest around here in AGES! I am coming with you!" Adam turns him down, "Thanks but no thanks, Mister... uhh, whoever you are. I've got to go." He hurries off, leaving the old man staggering behind with his cane, shouting, "Wait, Little Frog! You need me! Quest is my middle name!" Ladies and gentlemen, the REAL Johnny Quest. Meanwhile, back in the present day (you know the drill), Billy is at the University Of Angel Grove, as promised. There, at the "Test Launch Facility" on the lawn, a group of future scientists of America are hard at work with telescopes in broad daylight, and lots of various sized toy rockets. What a lovely day for scorching the grass with firecrackers. A particular middle aged African-American female, named Doctor Kender (only during the Zeo Serial though, where she investigated the strange phenomenon occurring in space), is being interrogated by Billy. Quite a far cry from the usual local scientists, who are generally crazy old white guys. She helps some of the hardhat wearing students out, while hearing Billy's mostly made-up (and unheard to us) story. Kender tells him, "William, that's quite an ambitious project you've undertaken." The teen informs her, "Well, i've always been interested in crystal energy coherence. But unfortunately, the phase modulator at my high school lab wasn't advanced enough for my experiment." Dr. Kender smiles vividly at him, noting excitedly, "It is SO refreshing to see a young person taking such an interest in science!" Billy nearly blushes, putting his hands in his jean pockets coyly. She asks willingly, "Now how can I help you with your project? You said you need a phase modulator?" He confirms, "Yes, ma'am," and she mentions, "Well... NASA donated an older model to Angel Grove University a few years back. I would be happy to lend it to a serious fellow scientist!" He's surprised that was so easy, asking in disbelief, "Really!?", to which she replies, "Yeah." Billy's ecstatic, exclaiming, "Great! That sounds perfect." Dr. Kender then picks up a pair of goggles and shouts, "Okay, everybody. Stand by!" One of her coworkers flips a few buttons on a control panel, as she does the countdown from 5 to liftoff. A small white plastic rocket is then launched into the air, it shoots straight up over the palm trees, and parachutes back down successfully. The safety glasses wearing Billy & Kender watch this in awe.
Somewhere else in the city, Cestro & Tideus wander down the sidewalk on a rather busy street. Alien-mania seems to have died off, since they're not mobbed by fans one bit, nor given a second look. The two Aquitians hold their hands outward, and seek out the nearest pure water source. They enter a parking lot (and are nearly run down by an exiting SUV), where Tideus asks his companion, "Where is the water?" Cestro points out, "Inside that structure. It appears to be what the Earthlings call, a 'Drive-Through'." Indeed it is, it just happens to be the Angel Grove Car Wash! Tideus, thirsty for anything, figures, "Ahh. Let us join the line of patrons, driving through, for service." Cestro jerks his head around, and nods, before they head for the entrance of the Car Wash. On the moon, Rita peers down with her Repulsascope. She spots the Aquitian duo standing behind a vehicle in the line for service, causing her to scream, "What are they doing?! Go back to the lab, you yahoos! Our spider isn't getting any younger!" Lord Zedd calms her gruffly, "Patience! Arachnofiend will take care of Billy and the Zeo Crystal Transformer. We'll send Tengas to tangle with these two Aquanauts!" Back on Earth, the Aquitians turn around and notice an especially dust-covered van pulling up behind them. Tideus remarks, "A bit dirty, wouldn't you say, Cestro?" Cestro concurs, "I would agree." As it approaches, they scoot ahead, not wanting to be made into tuna pancakes. Just behind the grimy van, a flock of purple & black feathers teleport down, materializing into a group of Tenga Warriors! They squawk loudly, though trying to remain discreet, as they sneak towards the Alien couple. The lead Tenga says, "C'mon, let's get 'em!". As we see in the background, this scene brought to us by Arby's, home of Kentucky Fried Tengas. Momentarily, Tideus & Cestro have entered the Car Wash proper, and begin to soak in the first set of sprinklers. The Tengas walk around the van (which is so covered in dirt that the driver must have extremely good eyesight to see through that window!), nearly tiptoeing as they get closer to their prey, their feathers getting drenched all the while.
The two Aquitians pay no mind to the squawking over the loud sprinkler-heads, as they stand focused on rehydration. Why they don't just come in here more often to charge up is unclear, though I bet there's some kind of immunity clause that states they can only use a certain body of water or method on Earth once, and then it doesn't effect them anymore. Which explains why they keep needing to find a new source of water every frickin' ep. Anyway, Cestro & Tideus start motioning their hands above their heads, while standing amid the vast array of water spray. Their expressions are that of near urinational relievment. The Tengas, on the other hand, get antsy around the increased water pressure. They wind up against the large blue car-wiper things, which cause a few of them to be slammed against the window of the dirty van. Cestro & Tideus look to each other and nod, before slowly proceeding further into the lengthy structure. Little do they know, that behind them, a couple of Tengas are caught up in the rinse cycle, getting bombarded by heavy jets of soapy water until they're floored. Another gets stuck between the spinning wipers, and becomes de-feathered violently. He ends up standing in front of an empty car, without a single feather on his body! Here's a little shown fact, beneath the mass of feathers, Tengas have Caucasian skin. Disturbing, indeed. This one (his head still appearing normal, at least) attempts to cover himself up when the camera zooms in, trying to retain a little bit of dignity. At the end of the tunnel, the golden-booted Aquitians head out of the Car Wash, fully refreshed. Neither are the least bit damp, having absorbed every drop of water squirted at them. Tiny bubbles begin to float their way, as the two brush themselves off. Tideus adjusts his neck and states, "It's not Aquitar, but... Ahhh... Any port in a storm!" He pats Cestro on the shoulder, as his teammate nods in agreement. They depart smiling, having not paid a dime for the usage of the Car Wash. Guess they figure they might not ever get rich, but it's better than digging a ditch. Maybe they filled up and they don't have to pay? I'm talking about the car washers! (with special guest star, George Carlin.)
Across the timestream, in the Diamond Mountains, Adam's quest continues. He talks to a skinny old man with a large stovepipe hat who sits on a bench, nervously saying, "Uhh, Annyong... Hashimnika?" The eccentric grey-robed guy from earlier is hanging around, bent over against his cane, criticizing Adam's language skills. He yells at the boy, "No! You sound like you have a FROG in your throat! Now, pronounce it like this: (deep & gravelly) Annyong Hashimnika!" The man on the bench seems quite jolted by the grey-robed one's loudness. Adam quiets his reluctant sidekick without remorse, telling him, "Shh! This is important!" He then continues talking to the bench guy, "I have traveled far to seek your help, wise Kai-Ogi." The bench man is flabbergasted, remarking (in English!), "Me? Kai-Ogi?! Oh, no. You flatter me." Adam's distraught, asking, "You mean you're NOT Kai-Ogi?", the man replying with a frown & head shake. The grey-robed man whimsically watches Adam, lifting up two fingers and noting, "Strike TWO!" Adam annoyedly demands, "Would you cut it out?!", but calms as he talks to the bench man, "Sorry to have bothered you, sir." He bows, the old man on the bench returns the gesture. Adam rushes off, leaving the grey-robed man behind. He quickly bows to the bench guy, and scurries over to follow the little frog on his quest. Back in the current day, Billy returns to his garage laboratory, finding the place deserted and darkened. He calls out, "Cestro?", before attempting to flip the light-switch on. Nothing happens, so the windowless room remains pitch black, save for the blinking bulbs on various technological devices. Billy enters his lab, at a loss for why the power seems to be out in the illumination fixtures only. Somewhere nearby, Arachnofiend rises up from her slumber on the floor, and laughs wickedly. Billy, holding the small phase modulator he scored from Kender, strolls through his lab, calling out, "Tideus? C'mon, guys. Joke's over. I got the phase modulator!" Arachnofiend leans her head around the corner, masked in pitch blackness, while screeching, "And I have YOU, Power Ranger! Hahaha!" Her eyes suddenly glow brightly, making the human aware of her presence amid the shadows. Billy's startled, as Arachnofiend yells, "'Welcome to my parlor,' said the spider to the fly! Ahahaha!" She steps out of the darkness, partially, causing Billy to shield his face with both his arms in fear.
[commercials]
While it's nice and sunny on the exterior shot of the Cranston Residence (same footage as they've always used), inside the closed garage, it's black as night. Billy blocks his face, as Arachnofiend approaches. She's got sort of spiderleg-like dreadlocks all over her face, her eyes glow white eerily, her body is a mass of black leather, two red rubies where nipples would be, and her arms have sharp attachments over the forearms. Come to think of it, her face, with the sectioned mouth, looks almost like the Predator's. Arachnofiend remarks, "You look like a tasty little bug! Haha! You can't escape my web of defeat!" She leaps into the air (that must be a HUGE garage!), and laughs maniacally as she sprays a thin stream of webbing from her mouth. It coats Billy, looking quite like silly string and that fake cotton snow stuff you use around Christmas. Arachnofiend's laughter continues, as Billy struggles, grunting as he becomes covered with more & more of the heavy webbing. Even his held-up arms can do no good in blocking their effects. The screen fades, and when it comes back into view, Cestro & Tideus are entering the lab. Cestro tries turning on the light-switch to no avail, prompting him and his partner to wander in to search for a cause. Cestro, who has really grown accustomed to Earth living, beelines directly to the refrigerator, where atop it is a flashlight. He flicks it on, and shines the light on the area. Both Aquitians are stunned to see that all of Billy's equipment and chemistry sets are blanketed with a thick mist of webbing! Cestro gasps, "What on Aquitar happened here?!" (Isn't it obvious? Peter Parker sneezed!) Tideus picks through some of the webs, and notes, "There appears to have been a battle of some sort." Instantly, a telepathic transmission is sent by the Command Center, and received by the two Alien's mental receptors. They clutch their big heads, as Zordon states, "Aquitian Rangers, can you hear me?" Tideus answers, "Yes, Zordon. What is it?" The Eltarian informs them, "You must teleport to the Command Center, immediately. Billy is in GREAT danger." Cestro replies, "We're on our way, Zordon." That they are, with a quick focusing, the two Aquitians teleport into the air in their water-molecule shaped Ranger-colored forms.
Seconds later, at the Command Center, Cestro & Tideus teleport into the console room. There, their teammates are already awaiting for them with Alpha 5. Cestro notes, "Delphine, Aurico, Corcus. You have returned from Aquitar." The female leader confirms calmly, "Zordon has summoned us." Alpha urgently exclaims, "Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! Aquitian Rangers, you've GOT to rescue Billy!" Zordon presents, "Observe the Viewing Globe!", which all six of them do. On the globe, is footage of Arachnofiend's head, as she waves her sharp wrist-gauntlets around and chuckles evilly. Billy is shown encased in pillow-filling material, aka webbing, his meaty face the only thing sticking out as he struggles in place. Zordon says, "Rita & Zedd's Arachnofiend has captured Billy and stolen the phase modulator!" On cue, said device is shown blinking beneath a sheet of webbing a few feet away from Billy in what looks to be a dark room someplace somewhere at some point around then. Delphine mentions, "We MUST locate him, at once." Zordon tells the team, "I have the coordinates of Arachnofiend's underground lair. Teleport there and free BOTH Billy & the component or ALL is lost." She leads the charge once more, replying to the sage, "Yes, Zordon," before shouting, "It's Morphin' Time!" A five-in-one screen shot has the Aquitians summoning Aquitar Ranger power together, each Morphing into their specific color Alien Ranger. By the time they emerge from that, they've already teleported to the location. It's a semi-dark cavern, filled with mist and a whole lot of webs. The White Alien Ranger gasps while looking at the surroundings, noting, "Oh, this place is hideous!" The Blue Alien Ranger concurs, "Yes!" Delphine stresses, "We MUST proceed with caution. Arachnofiend could be spinning a trap!" She points her gang down the cave corridor, "This way!" They follow, the Yellow Alien Ranger stating, "Agreed! Watch your step." The Red Alien Ranger leads the way, ripping strands of webbing out of the path, as he remarks, "NEVER have I seen such an immense web! Ugh." The conga line of Rangers comes to a halt, when Arachnofiend's shadow-lurking gains the attention of Tideus. The Yellow Aquitar Ranger notices a gust of air disturbing a nearby patch of web, as well as the monster's slight snickering. He tells the team, "Wait. I think I hear Billy up ahead! Hurry!" That they do, all five Aquitians rush down the foggy cave tunnel. Just behind them, Arachnofiend casts her own shadow against the rocky wall, as she snickers evilly, and growls, "That's it, Alien Rangers. LEAP before you look! Hehehah!" She wiggles her fingers near the corner of a wall which doesn't fit the location of the cave area shot one bit. I find this very odd, since we do in fact have the Arachnofiend suit, as seen in ARoA1&2. Why the heavy usage of stock footage when we can make our own cheaply?!
Oh well, across the roadways of time and relative dimension in space, Adam finally eases up on the grey-robed geezer. He walks along a path by his side, confiding in him while revealing his mission's details. Adam distraughtly states, "I'll search EVERYWHERE until I find the Zeo Subcrystal. I just don't know if i'm getting any closer!" The old man walks with his cane in stride, as they approach a small waterfall. The grey-robed man explains ominously, "What you seek is SO far ahead. You must not chase it too swiftly... because you risk running past your true goals." They sit on a bench beside the waterfall, with Adam wondering, "My true goals?! I'm looking for the Subcrystal!" The old man asks, "ARE you?" Adam rethinks his quest, saying, "Well, I started out trying to find the wiseman Kai-Ogi. But all I found was.... you." The grey-robed man lifts his left hand up, exhales, and suddenly zips up in a blur, appearing several feet away, standing on a rock in front of the waterfall. This Ninja-Power like display, leaves Adam looking around, until he notices the symbolism. He runs over and smiles widely, as he exclaims, "You ARE Kai-Ogi, aren't you?!" The grey-robed man lifts his left hand up again, and replies, "I AM." Adam realizes, "And inside this waterfall, where you live, THAT'S where I can find the Zeo Subcrystal!" Grey-robed geezer, or Kai-Ogi as he's now known, nods, grunts, and gestures his hand for the boy to come join him closer to the waterfall. I bet the Aquitians would really love to get their gills in that place!
Instead, back in the time-warped present day, they're still spelunking in search of their ally. They find him soon enough, in a large open cavern. The Yellow Aquitar Ranger calls out, "Billy! We will free you!", upon spotting the tangled cocooned mass of white spider-discharge in the shape of a human. Billy, a small portion of his face visible through the cushiony gunk, yells, "Look out! No! Stay back! It's a trap!" Do they listen? Of course not. The Aquitians (most specifically, Tideus & Aurico) step on a strategically placed lump of webbing. It springs the trap, Arachnofiend shouting, "Surprise!", as a web net drops from ceiling. The other Rangers hop out of the way, while Red & Yellow are stuck to what they stepped in. They get caught in the falling mass of sticky strands, and are ensnared within the cobwebs. Their teammates don't get to watch helplessly for long, before Arachnofiend proclaims, "You're mine, now!", as she rushes into the room. This bit of footage is indeed American, though hardly any differences appear between the suit we use and the one on the Kaku stuff (though in the Kaku scenes, she seems to have a more detailed chest area, including a small wooden sign saying "Keep Out" on it). Maybe they were just pressed for time. Anyhow, Arachnofiend leaps mightily into the cavern room, and begins to attack the Aquitians. The White Ranger ducks, while the Black Alien Ranger ends up struck in the gut by the monster's gauntlet. Blue Alien Ranger also gets taken down with a quick shove aside by Arachnofiend. Cestro rolls over in a much darker area of the cave, with his sword now drawn. (what look to be just dangling webbing from the ceiling, is actually people strung up in cocoons in Kaku. Maybe here too? Maybe not.) The spider creature lunges for him, slashes his chest with her gauntlet, turns and engages in side combat with Delphine & Corcus as they dart by with their blades drawn as well. That quick distraction over, she turns back to the Blue Ranger. Arachnofiend grabs his shoulders with both arms, and tosses him into the air, where he lands next to his two teammates. Nearby, Red Ranger uses his sword to cut himself loose from his webbing prison. Oddly, Yellow Ranger is next to him, caught up in not only webs, but in an actual stringed net! Aurico hops out of confinement, ignores his fellow Aquitian, and rushes over to Billy, telling the human, "I will release you!" Arachnofiend vetoes the idea, screeching, "I don't think so!", as she fires a burst of webbing at the Red Aquitar Ranger, latches on, and yanks him across the room. Aurico lands in a cloud of fog harshly, angrily unwrapping the webbing remnants still attached to his body. He isn't seen again for a few minutes, so the clumsy Aquitian must spend some time stumbling around over his own two feet.
The Black Alien Ranger finally does something of note. Corcus shouts, "Take THIS, Arachnofiend!", as he whips out his rarely used Blaster. He fires the weapon at the monster, but she simply backflips and dodges the blast of laserpower. Arachnofiend follows that up with a spewing of cobwebs in their direction. The White Aquitar Ranger manages to roll out of the line of fire, leaving Cestro & Corcus to end up a sticky mess. The leader of the Aquitian Rangers cries out, "Oh no!" as she witnesses her fellow heroes restricted into a tight fitting cocoon of white discharge. It's just woman to woman, as Arachnofiend takes on Delphine. She bashes the sparks out of the White Alien Ranger with her arm-gauntlets, needless to say. Delphine rolls over near what appears to be Tideus (his forehead golden triangle kinda visible, though none of his Yellow suit, thanks to him being Kaku Yellow in Ninja-outfit form. Chalk that up to shadows and webbing!), and exclaims, "You WON'T defeat us!", as she clutches her injured shoulder. Arachnofiend scoffs, "And who's going to stop me?! Certainly not YOU!" The White Aquitar Ranger arises, her sword at the ready, but weary from battle. Not far off, the nearly forgotten Yellow Aquitar Ranger sits up, still covered in webbing. He says Adam West-like, "If I could just reach... my sword...", as Delphine gets gauntlet bashed some more. Arachnofiend's sharp pronged pokers really do a number on the usually tough Aquitian. Tideus somehow is able to get his sword out of the sheath on his back, and into his hands, while remaining encased in webbing. He wastes no time cutting, instead, after remarking, "Got it!", he starts to focus some of his rehydrated energy into the blade. It glows yellow, as per his Ranger color, until it's released in a blinding flash, destroying the web completely, and allowing him to get back on his feet. The Yellow Ranger runs unhindered across the cave, until he reaches the main event. Tideus calls out to his teammate, "Delphine?!" His flashy entrance distracts Arachnofiend enough, for as she wonders, "Huh?! What?!", the White Aquitian, lying on the ground, orders her pal, "Tideus, get her!" The Yellow Alien Ranger, getting good use of his weapon today, appears against a black screen. He proclaims, "Behold the power of Aquitar!", as he cuts a triangle shape into the air (his Ninja symbol), in the color of Yellow. The powerfully charged up sword attack slices into the monster at a three-sided capacity. Arachnofiend is struck explosively, screaming in agony as she sparks like mad. Given the upperhand, our two heroes proceed to free their three webbed teammates. Tideus urges, "Hurry! Together we can defeat this menace!" Arachnofiend recovers from her fit of explosions, and gloats, "I'll spin a web big enough for ALL of you!"
Up on the Lunar Balcony, Rita Repulsa is angered by what she sees (with her own two eyes, her Repulsascope sitting next to her unused), as she groans to her husband, "Augh! The eight-legged fool is all thumbs! Why doesn't she just finish them off?!" Lord Zedd figures, "The reenergized Alien Rangers must be too strong for her. We'll have to turn the tide on those Aquitians!" He quickly charges up his Z-Staff and fires the surging white magical currents towards the Earth, exerting with a mighty grunt. His powers shoot towards the scene in a way similar to when he and his wife both make a monster grow, through the thundercloud mass. Why Rita didn't join in is unclear, though probably to do with Zedd being the one to make the monster to begin with. The bolt of magic hits Arachnofiend deep within the cave, causing her to grow gigantically. She turns into a golden energy form while doing so, and once at the proper massive height, her body rips through the roof of the cave. There seems to be a grouping of rundown abandoned buildings above the area, which she busts right through. On the way up, she merges with some debris, causing her appearance to change slightly. One addition, is what looks to be a large round metal disc attached to her back. It's all spikey, like it's made of a gate or fence or something, but is never explained. It's pretty big, that's for sure. Once out in the sunlight, the giant Arachnofiend boasts, "Now my webs will cover the WORLD!" Back in the cave, the five Aquitians escape the falling rocks unsettled by the monster's growing. The Red Alien Ranger notes, "She'll destroy the city! We must stop her!" The team agrees, but lag behind to stare up at the huge hole in the ceiling, with the creature's laughter echoing through. Aurico impatiently races out of the cave and heads for the surface first. Corcus finally yells, "Let's go!", and that they do, resheathing their swords first. The Red Aquitar Ranger finds his way up, near what looks to be an electricity transformer. He seems blissfully unaware of the giant Arachnofiend until it's too late, as she ceases the maniacal laughter and fires a pair of crimson eyebeam blasts at him. Aurico feels the brunt of the explosion occurring behind him, flying into the air from the force of the blast. He lands in the dirt in an alley around one of the warehouses, but doesn't lie there long before jumping back to his feet, his sword still drawn and ready for more.
Finally, his teammates regroup with him. Yellow Aquitar Ranger asks, "Are you alright?", to which the Red Ranger responds, "Yes!" (having resheathed his sword between scenes). They stare at the huge Arachnofiend, as Tideus exclaims, "Good. We will need additional help, if we are to be victorious!" The Black Aquitar Ranger agrees, "Yes!" Aurico makes the announcement aloud, "We need the Battle Borgs... NOW!", causing the team to confirm in unison, "Right!" Arachnofiend encourages our heroes, "Bring 'em on!" The five Aquitian Rangers raise their golden Power Coins in their hands above their heads, as they state together, "Tidal energies of the galaxy, hear our call! Battle Borgs, power UP!" They toss the coins into the sky, and in a flash of what seems to be teleportational energies, the five humanoid Ninja-spirited fighting machines appear on the scene, posing for action! Arachnofiend doesn't even flinch, remarking, "I'll take you ALL on!" The Aquitians take command of their Borgs telepathically, beginning to control their movements as they announce, "Battle Borgs, let's go!" The Red Ape Borg shouts a kiya, as it rushes out into the fight, with its four fellow Borgs following behind. They crisscross at first, causing the monster to laugh mockingly. The Red Battle Borg is the first to attack, tossing in an Aurico-inspired high kick. Arachnofiend tries to gauntlet bash it, but the Red Alien Ranger's defensive moves cause the Borg to block her swipe (notice, Aurico does a rapid punching action with his hands at first. In a bit of unused Kaku footage, Red Borg would mimic those movements and whap the monster straight in the face! A no-no for FK's censors). This is followed by a barrage of straight punches, socking the monster directly in her wooden-board covered chest. She sparks, and is knocked aback, whining loudly. Black & Blue Alien Rangers leap into the air, side by side, both throwing their right fists outward. Their Black & Blue Borgs make sure Arachnofiend gets this message personally. Yellow & White Alien Rangers also leap into the air, extending their feet into a kicking position. As expected, Yellow & White Battle Borgs do the same, both hitting the monster at the same time with their full metal boots. The spark inducing blows cause Arachnofiend to be hurled into the air. She lands on her back-disc on the ground, groaning painfully, sounding like she's about to hack up some web-phlegm as she stands back up. The Red Battle Borg clenches its fist, in reaction to Aurico, who realizes that they won't be able to destroy her without firepower, stating "Arachnofiend is too much for our Borgs!" The Blue Aquitar Ranger tells them, "We must call upon the Shogun Megazord!", and the White Aquitar Ranger confirms, "You are right, Cestro!"
The five Alien Rangers stand in a line, and motion their arms while proclaiming in unison, "Power of water! Power of light! Powers unite! We need Shogun Megazord power, NOW!" The five Shogunzords appear on the scene in a blink, and just as quickly zap together into Megazord form. Even the flashy lightning effects don't impress the monster. Arachnofiend storms towards the Megazord, gloating, "That's not enough to stop ME! Ha ha!" The Shogun Megazord looks down, its eyes blink, its flaming fish-sword is summoned, and the building buildup is skipped. The fiery blade is dropped into Arachnofiend with one fell swoop, causing the monster to wheeze and shout as she stops in her tracks. The Shogun Megazord nods with its left hand up, and awaits for Arachnofiend to collapse. She does, exploding into a rather small burst of fire moments later, no spirits or nothing appearing afterward. Though, her destruction causes all that she hath wrought to be undone. Namely, down in the cave, Billy & the phase modulator are suddenly freed from their webbing blankets. They webs reduce into nothingness, leaving no trace of the kiss of the spider woman behind. Billy quickly grabs the device behind him, and checks it out as he walks through the cave. The five Alien Rangers join his side, Delphine exclaiming his name, and Tideus asking, "Billy, are you alright?" The human confirms, "Yeah. And luckily the phase modulator wasn't damaged." Aurico pats him on the shoulder and gives a thumbs up, saying, "Great, Billy!" Corcus congratulates, "Great work, Billy!", and Cestro & Tideus give him a fist-up. Billy smiles, and thanks them, "Thanks, guys!", as he looks at the device in his hand, under the illumination of the hole in the cave ceiling. The phase modulator actually looks like the Pop-O-Matic Bubble with fancy circuitry.
Speaking of fancy, elsewhen in time, Adam journeys up the side of the small waterfall. He reaches the near the top, and rummages through the raging stream. Adam pulls out his Zeo Subcrystal, which glows with a deep green when removed, the coloring extending into his body with a bright gleam. He smiles, as the green glow subsides, and he heads down to Kai-Ogi, who commends him, "Very good, Adam!" The boy holds the whitish shard in his hand, and exclaims, "The Zeo Subcrystal! I can't believe you found it!" The wiseman points out, "It was not me, it was YOU who found the crystal, little frog!" Adam notes, "I couldn't have done it without your help, Kai-Ogi. Thank you." The grey-robed enigma humbly smirks. The boy corrects himself while bowing, "I mean, Kamsa-Hamnida!" Kai-Ogi lifts his left hand, closes his eyes while nodding, stating, "You're welcome, my young friend. Farewell. Good luck on this, and ALL your future quests." Adam doesn't get a chance to return the kind remark, as his Zeo Subcrystal suddenly activates itself, firing a beam of greenish energy into the air, in the shape of a rectangle! The stormcloud time vortex portal is also opened, directly above Adam's head, sucking him in instantly, and causing him to vanish from that point in history forever. Kai-Ogi, looking quite frustrated and a bit offended, comments, "Hmm... People come, people GO so quickly around here! HMM!" (possibly a reference to the PR cast) Once more in the present time, on the Evil Moon Palace, Rita gleefully mentions to her husband, "Those Alien Rangers squashed your spider, Zeddy-boy!" Zedd, unfettered by his wife's smile-faced mocking of his powers, points out, "We've got GREATER concerns, Rita! That little Power Brat found another piece of the Zeo Subcrystal!" Rita asks grumpily, "And whose fault was THAT?!" Zedd underscores, "Certainly not MINE!" His wife mysteriously remarks, "Those Rugrat Rangers won't be so lucky next time! Hehe..." Lord Zedd notices a wicked gleam in her eye, and asks, "Why?! What have you got in mind?" Rita simply tells him with a diabolical yet sultry grin, "You'll see." (Which we will, next episode!)
[commercials]
Over at the Command Center, Billy & Alpha 5 press some buttons on the consoles. Rocky, who had been absent most of this episode, is also there, wearing a different outfit than he had on during his quest the day before. Obviously, given the amount of volcano soot all over it. Suddenly, the time vortex opens above them, and Adam is deposited safe & sound. The green rectangle energy shape reverts back to where it came from, the Zeo shard, which has that same symbol encrusted atop it. Alpha's first to react to his return, "Ay-yi-yi! Adam! You've got the Zeo Subcrystal!" Billy smiles, and Rocky pumps his fist, remarking, "He shoots... he SCORES! Alright!" Adam slaps Rocky five (not to be confused with the movie of the same name). Alpha talleys the Zeo Quest scoreboard, "That's two down, three to go!" (which reminds me, WHERE are they keeping the Subcrystal Rocky recovered, anyway?!) Billy tosses an iceberg in the way of Alpha's ship of enthusiasm, by mentioning, "Yeah, but it's not over yet. We still haven't heard from Tommy, Kat, or Aisha." Zordon confirms like Ed McMahon, "You are correct, Billy. Rita & Zedd will certainly strengthen their next attack. The other Rangers MUST hurry." Adam asks his only age-restored teammate, "How's the Crystal Transformer coming along Billy?" Feeling pun-ful, Billy remarks, "Well, my design had a... bug problem. But the Alien Rangers helped me exterminate the pest." He playfully hits Adam in the shoulder for some reason, as he smirks to himself. Rocky wonders, "Hey, where ARE those Alien Rangers, anyway?" Billy sighs and says with a smile, "At the Car Wash." Rocky chuckles, "Without a car?" Billy shakes his head and scoffs, "Don't ask!", which causes the two boys to giggle. He & Alpha return to button-pressing duty. Considering the Aquitians are dehydrated by the next episode, my theory of being unable to use the same method constantly holds true. Either that or the car wash goes out of business from lack of funds. Though that would be fun to charge money for, "Come see live nude Aliens taking a bath while you get your car cleaned!" Beats a Bikini Car Wash Company, at least.
Back to the story, deep below the Command Center, Rito & Goldar continue their own quest. Though no wisemen are around to help them, just wise-alecs. They pop up from the mist-covered floor, and begin to look around the corridor. Rito repeats himself, by asking his partner with a tap on the shoulder, "Hey! Are we there yet?! Huh?!" Goldar groans, "Is that the ONLY thing you can say?!" Rito begins to squeeze his legs together, around the groinal region, as he adds, "How 'bout this: I have to go to the bathroom!" (does this mean Rito has a functioning bone.... errr, nevermind. Ew!) The henchmonsters walk forward a few feet, before Goldar spots a hole in the wall up ahead, with natural light shining through. He aims his sword in the direction and notes, "Look! There it is! The Command Center! Victory, sweet victory! Zordon will be NO more!" Rito concurs with evil laughter, and whines when his partner marches ahead, "No, wait, wait, wait! Aww, Goldar, me first! Ahh, c'mon! Me first! Please! Me first, me first!" Goldar ignores his pleads, and darts through the hole, only to come out on the other side, realizing it nothing but a cave opening into the side of the mountain! The bright sunlight causes the golden warrior to squint for a moment, as he looks around and views the nearby hills, trees, and mountain ranges with disbelief. Rito takes it in stride, remarking, "Hmm, well. Would ya look at that!" He taps his partner on the shoulder, "Uhh, Goldar?", prompting him to reply angrily, "WHAT?!" Rito is frightened for a moment, screaming in response, before squeezing his legs together again and mock-whiningly asking, "Are we there yet?!" Goldar growls, clutching the implosion detonator in on hand, and his sword in the other. Rito quips, "Ah-ha! Gotcha!", causing Goldar to elbow him sharply. The skeletal soldier falls against the rocky side of the tunnel entrance, onto his large back. Goldar complains, "You make me NUTS!", and kicks the dirt in frustration at ending up back at the beginning of their journey. Rito says, "Ooh, what a grouch!", as he recovers from his fall nicely.
[To be continued...; end credits]
_BLOOPERS:_
Tideus has a blinking fit while looking into the camera, Cestro also blinking and twitching, added poinking sound effects enhance the comedic experience; Two Tengas get doused with high pressure streams of water at the Car Wash, likely from large hoses offscreen. Neither can stand up, both squawking in pain; Another Tenga has a bath brush with him, and proceeds to clean under his feathers as he enjoys the full body shower; The Tenga near the spinning wiper looks quite afraid of what's to come; Cestro & Tideus have a blinking fit, together!; A Tenga pulls out an oversized comb, and starts to come his hair-feathers back rather smoothly, like the Fine Fair-Feather Fonz; The Tenga with the bath brush gets rather soapy around his chest area; One of the Tengas on the floor lifts his leg up in the air, and lets the spray get in those hard to reach locations; And the Fonz Tenga finishes fixing his wet-look hair-do.
