SUMMARY:
[Recap of "A Date With Danger," "Zhane's Destiny" & "Always A Chance"]
The action begins in the forest where a Red Ranger/ Darkonda battle royale is already going on without us! Andros is still after him about Darky kidnapping his sister Karone when they were young children, but Darkonda still gives no details on where she is. Spiral Saber to Extenda-Sword, the fight wages on, both battling fiercely against one another. Ecliptor watches this occur, from behind a tree. Darkonda finally snatches the Spiral Saber from Andros, and uses his own monstrous power to fire at Red Ranger. After expressing his regret he didn't destroy Andros when he was still a child, Darkonda throws the Spiral Saber at Red Ranger, who promptly kicks it in the air. While Darky is baffled by this maneuver, Andy pulls out his Astro Blaster, snaps it into two parts, and uses both to fire at the taken off guard baddie! He then snaps his Blaster back into place, just in time to jump into the air, grab his Saber and land with a power blow which tosses Darkonda's Extenda-Sword across the wooded area. Andros then pokes his Spiral Saber into Darkonda's face, threatening him to reveal where his sister is. Ecliptor accidentally steps on an unusually loud twig, which causes both Darkonda and Red Ranger to turn their heads to see what's making the noise. Ecliptor disappears without being seen, and when Andros turns back around, so has Darkonda! Andros screams for Darkonda, but only the evil creature's laughter echoes throughout the surrounding trees.
[opening credits]
Red Ranger rushes throughout the woods, trying to find where the mocking laughter is coming from, but finally gives up, vows to find him again one day, and teleports to the Megaship. Once he's gone, Darkonda emerges from his makeshift treefort and reclaims his Extenda-Sword. Knowing to get any peace he'll have to get rid of Andros, Darky comes up with a plan to do just that. He sets up four laser dishes on a few trees, focusing on a trigger plate in the center. To make sure it works, Darkonda tosses a rock on the trigger, which sets the beams off, igniting in a firestorm! Darkonda gloatingly announces he plans to ensure Andros meets his end when next they meet, and a nearby Ecliptor hears it all, while scheming his own scheme. Later on the Astro Megaship, Andros is sleeping in his Megabed, having nightmare flashbacks of when Karone was kidnapped by Darkonda (with new footage)! He wakes up dripping with sweat, and walks over to his picture of his long missing sister. While he remembers her, not far away on the Dark Fortress, Astronema (now sporting a bright blue wig) is looking into the locket she carries around her neck. Ecliptor comes in, ready to send Batterax down to attack Earth. She has other matters on her mind at the moment, and asks him how he found her. Clippy gives her the story that he found her on his doorstep as a little girl, and has taken care of her as his daughter ever since. Supposedly, her brother and parents were killed by the Power Rangers long ago. She expresses her instincts to her trusted guardian Ecliptor that she believes her brother is still alive, but he avoids the subject by reminding her she's the Princess Of Evil. Astronema's mood changes from somber to evil once more, and she gives the order to attack Earth. Soon, Batterax is waving his wings and trashing downtown Angel Grove, with building debris and fire everywhere, people running and fleeing in terror. DECA informs the Rangers of this situation and they all telemorph down into ground zero of destruction. They try getting the civilians to safety, while going toe to winged toe with this newest bat creature from beyond!
[commercials]
As the Ranger fight Batterax, Astronema & Ecliptor along with a gang of Quantrons show up to help cause more chaos for our heroes and the citizens of the city. Astronema glares down the stairway, at first with the eyes of an evil warlord, and then upon seeing a mother and her two children running from Q-Trons, her attitude turns to distraught and sorrow. The young girl, named Karen, trips, and the young boy, Andrew, runs back to get her, while being surround by the metallic minions. Red Ranger fights his way through the Quantrons to help the family out, but as one begins to strike down with a Q-Blade, Andros tosses himself over the family, ready to take the blow. It never comes, as Astronema blasts with her Wrath Staff at her own drone, saving them all. He is baffled by her change of heart, as is Ecliptor, but Andros quickly rejoins his teammates against the seemingly endless supply of Quantrons. Astronema storms off, leaving her goons to continue being evil. As our heroes fight on, Darkonda watches Andros from afar, ready to spring his trap. Red Ranger spots him, and Darky runs off, but Andros isn't sure he should give chase, or stay behind to help the female Rangers who are fighting it out with Batterax! He chooses to go after Darkonda, with Ecliptor secretly sneaking behind them. Darkonda uses his telewarp powers to race through the streets towards the forest, while Andros hops his Galaxy Glider to keep up. Red Ranger finally reaches the battleground from earlier and hops off his board, Spiral Saber at the ready. Darkonda throws his sword at Andros, and the fight begins, much like before. After a long battle Andros uses his Astro Blaster to help even the odds, but Darkonda still has a plan in mind, so he continues luring Red Ranger into his laser trap. Some mind games occur when Darky tries propositioning Red Ranger into cutting a deal to find his sister, but he's not falling for the word of such a creep. Darky gets kicked over to near the trigger, and begins telling Andros his sister doesn't know he even exists. This stirs the Ranger, unknowingly getting baiting by his enemy. Ecliptor is still lurking, over near the hovering Galaxy Glider. Darky ticks Andros off one last time, and he begins to rush, Saber en guard, towards Darkonda, whom is on his knees, waiting for Red Ranger to set off the trigger!
[commercials]
Andros is running right towards the laser trap trigger, which sits in front of Darkonda, when out of nowhere Ecliptor jumps at Red Ranger, knocking him away from the battlefield. Darkonda is thrown offguard by this third player, and accidentally jumps up, stepping on his own trigger, setting the lasers off, blowing him to kingdom come! Andros yells at Ecliptor for killing the only person who knew where his sister was, when Clippy reminds him he saved his life. Red Ranger realizes he actually helped him, but Ecliptor won't give a reason why, just it'll never happen again and he teleports away. Andros takes little time before heading back to the city, joining the others in the fight against Astronema's forces. The second he shows up, Astronema blasts him in the back with her Wrath Staff! The blue haired witch is back to being heartless, and quickly gets into battle with Red Ranger, her staff versus his Saber! She holds her own, and really gives what she takes, though considering Andros just got done tackling Darkonda. While trying to defend himself, Andros' Spiral Saber snags Astronema's necklace & locket, sending it flying through the air, landing on a piece of concrete debris. She pushes him off and runs over to retrieve it, but the Rangers surround her, having finally beaten off her troops. The tides turning, she calls for Satellasers to make Batterax grow before teleporting back to her home base. Andros takes a quick look around for the locket, but doesn't see it, and has bigger things to deal with in the form of the monster. Astro Megazord is formed and heads down to Earth to battle Batterax. Being a Bat, it has radar, so Cassie sets up the sonic neutralizers to try and combat the bat. It changes frequencies, and before Pink Ranger can correct it, the Megazord is getting blasted by the soundwaves, and the Rangers themselves getting deafened. The Megazord is losing power, before the sonic scanner finds the frequency and nulls it once more. After using the Laser Whip, Astro Blaster and finally an Astro Saber attack, the bat goes bye-bye and Carlos is more than likely happy it didn't bite him this time! Soon enough, an unmorphed Andros wanders the ruins of the battle looking for the locket. After a brief search, he finds and picks it up. Astronema shows up, threatening him not to touch it. He does so anyway, and opens it to finds it contains a picture of his younger self and his long lost sister Karone! Andros asks where she got it, and she proclaims she's always had it, and grabs it from his hand. Andros is stunned, and shows her his own locket, which contains similar pictures and designs. He tells her she's Karone and he's her brother. This revelation disorients the princess of darkness. She refuses to believe it, calling him and the Rangers her family's destroyers. He denies it, and while part of Astronema knows this is the truth, the side raised to be evil prevails and she sees through this 'trick' and teleports away. Andros is left with the bittersweet knowledge his sister is his own worst enemy.
[commercials]
Darkonda contacts Dark Specter via a hologram and tells him the bad news of Red Ranger & Astronema learning the secret kept well hidden all those years. Specter won't let her changes sides so easily for sure, knowing his power over her is too strong. Darkonda also informs him her evil spirit may have been tainted by Ecliptor showing caring for her, but they hope that's wrong for it could prove to be the princess of evil's undoing. On the Dark Fortress, Astronema is angry over Red Ranger trying to convince her she's his sister and will make him pay for such trickery. Ecliptor doesn't know whether to be happy she's evil again, or to be worried she's making the wrong choice. Over on the Astro Megaship, Andros tells his Ranger friends what he's learned and what Karonema believes. Ashley cautions Andros that she may not have any good left in her, but he refuses, having faith his beloved sister still exists deep down, he's just got to figure out how to reach her.
[scenes from "Astronema Thinks Twice"; end credits]
