Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
"In The Freeze Zone"
Original Air Date: 10/21/00		Freezard related footage from: GoGo Five #31 - Kirisake Saima Zoon! (The Cutting Edge Saima Zone!) Thermo blaster simulation footage from: GoGo Five #29 - Munasawagi No Hoshizora (Premonition Of The Starry Sky)
*9th episode of 8th Regular Season (25th of the 8th Season by Series) *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1025 *25th episode of PRLR *363rd total Power Rangers episode
Writers: Judd Lynn & Jackie Marchand		Director: Ryuta Tasaki
Starring Cast: Michael Chaturantabut _AS_ Chad Lee (Blue Ranger) Rhett Fisher _AS_ Ryan Mitchell (Titanium Ranger) Sean Cw Johnson _AS_ Carter Grayson (Red Ranger) Alison MacInnis _AS_ Dana Mitchell (Pink Ranger) Keith Robinson _AS_ Joel Rawlings (Green Ranger) Sasha Williams _AS_ Kelsey Winslow (Yellow Ranger) Monica Louwerens _AS_ Ms. Fairweather Ron Rogge _AS_ Captain William Mitchell Jennifer L. Yen _AS_ Vypra		Additional Cast: Michael Forest _AS_ Olympius (voice) Neil Kaplan _AS_ Diabolico (voice) David Lodge _AS_ Loki (voice) Kim Strauss _AS_ Jinxer (voice) Diane Salinger _AS_ Queen Bansheera (voice) Steve McGowan _AS_ Freezard (voice)

SUMMARY:

[Recap of the villain subplots from "As Time Runs Out"]

It's a week late for "The Good, The Bad, And The Digi" Digithon, but that won't stop the Lightspeed Rangers from getting in on the western style action! Blue Ranger stands in the unpaved street of a western ghost town, as Olympius stands at the other end with a few Batlings at his side. Chad calls the varmint out, "Olympius! This town isn't big enough for the both of us! I'm gonna run you out of town!" Blue Ranger lowers his fists and walks a few paces closer, as the demons remain still, Olympius scoffing, "One Ranger? You're outnumbered, and dare I say outweaponed?" Chad guesses that there's only one way to settle this, and readying battle position, he tells Olympius that he's ready whenever he is. Olympius laughs, and orders the Batlings to attack. The dark demon drones rustle into action, with their tiny sabers drawn. Blue Ranger whips out his Rescue Blaster, and with his other hand, he whips out a new weapon from a holster on the other side of his belt that wasn't there a minute ago. The weapon, a small handheld laser gun, called the Thermo Blaster, has been seen briefly before thanks to Sentai footage (in "The Omega Project" and "As Time Runs Out"). This marks its PRLR introduction, as Chad holds each Blaster steadily outwards, aimed at the Batlings, and fires both away. The laserblast discharge strikes perfectly at a few Batlings, but a few more swarm up on Chad, and he's forced to do battle physically with them. Knocking those goons out of the way, he fires the Thermo Blaster at a Batling atop an old Drug Store, who likely thought he was going to ambush the sharp-eyed Ranger. After that Batling rolls off the rooftop, Blue Ranger is forced to take Olympius on, mano-e-demono. With both hands still clutching the Blasters, Chad doesn't fare well against the villain, ending up tossed over into a wooden railing structure nearby. It shatters as the Ranger is thrown through it, causing Chad a bit of pain. He shrugs it off in time to leap out of the way as Olympius unleashes a flash-blast of fire at his location. As Blue Ranger jumps into the air to avoid the flames, he has both Thermo & Rescue Blasters aimed and shooting away at Olympius. The red dragon prince is struck by each of the laserblasts, and boy does it sting. Chad calls out "Booster Mode!", and flips a switch, causing the Thermo Blaster to flip open its top, extending the length of the weapon, and allowing the interface section of the Battle Booster to slip right inside. He presses 8-1-8 Engage, and fires the Thermo Blaster in Booster Mode at Olympius. The baddie didn't even know what was coming, as the enhanced beam of energy spews out, and sparks him up so badly he's knocked backwards onto the dirt. Chad holds his rifle-looking weapon aimed to the sky, and asks, "Have you had enough?" Olympius answers with a dying grunt, gasping out as he drops his hand to the ground, and ceases living.

Literally, as Olympius fades from the western town, revealed to be nothing but a computer simulation. Blue Rangers admires his new toy, yelling out, "Ms. Fairweather, this Thermo Blaster's awesome!" On the sidelines, Miss F is standing behind some equipment, and gives Chad a thumbs up to his compliment after he gives a thumbs up as well. Chad continues being amazed by the laser weapon, as the western ghost town dissipates from existence, simply a simulation as much as Olympius was. The true location of this training ground revealed to be in a valley out in the middle of nowhere. The other four Ranger Recruits are watching, and erupt with applause at Chad's successful test run. Ms. Fairweather also, who says "Very nice, Chad!" Blue Ranger replies, "The compliments go to you, Miss F." She, and the Ranger Recruits, walk over to the still Morphed Chad, as Carter blurts out "Yeah!" Meanwhile, somewhere very very far away, in the desert, the fun hasn't ceased at the Ancient Tomb. Ryan climbs down a rope into the hole in the ground, returning to the crypt as he did in "The Cobra Strikes". He takes a good look around at what has changed, noticing the fires all still lit and the lid off the casket. All signs point to what he witnessed from afar in the previous episode, the return of Diabolico! Ryan quickly presses his Titanium Morpher communications button. Calling out, "Rangers, come in! This is urgent!" He presses the button over and over, but nobody answers. He's out of his Morpher Phone service area! Ryan looks around the tomb anxiously as he continues trying to call his teammates. He fails to notice that inside the opened casket, a strange, eerie light is glowing beneath the fog.

[opening credits.]

At the training valley, Ms. Fairweather loads the Thermo Blaster back into its carrying case, where it sits along with four others. She thanks all of the Rangers for helping to make the test successful. They thank her in return, and begin to depart the scene. That is, until they hear a distress call coming over one of the large computer consoles the Lightspeed tech team has out there in their tiny camp. The small screen goes from static, to Ryan's face, instantly. The Morpher apparently has a small camera in it, since we can see Ryan in the tomb on the distress signal. Ryan exclaims, "Rangers, can you read me? Can you read me? This is urgent!" The Ranger Recruits and Miss F become glued together to the console, with Dana asking her brother in a rather upbeat voice, "Ryan, where are you?!" Ryan tells her, "I'm in the demon's tomb! I've got to tell you something really important!" Carter asks what it is, and as Ryan tells them, the signal begins to fade to static, "Vypra & Loki were here. They opened the tomb... They released... You've got to be careful! He'll be coming back for you!" Dana tries letting him know what his signal is breaking up, but he doesn't get the message, nor does he get Joel's of "Who, Ryan? Who'll be back?" The signal is lost, but before Ms. Fairweather can even think of trying to get it back, they get a surprise visitor. The Demon du jour, a rather snaky looking creature named Freezard, pops up and screams, "I've got something for you!" Our heroes notice him just as he begins to open his jaws and spew a stream of slushy ice towards the Lightspeed equipment. The cold spray strikes near the console, causing an icy explosion, knocking Ms. Fairweather and the Rangers to the ground. Freezard introduces himself, and claims, "I'm going to turn you into the Icicle Rangers!" Olympius, the real demon deal, is there also, wielding his double-bladed staff. Chad tells his teammates, "This is no test, guys!", and Carter agrees, leading the charge to "Lightspeed Rescue." All five of the teens Morph into Lightspeed at once.

Blue Ranger's first up out of the Morphing gate, as he leaps into the air and strikes Freezard with a flying kick to the neck. The monster is taken aback for but a moment, as he returns the favor by kicking Chad in the chest, with loud report. Green Ranger hops over Freezard, and latches onto the sharp pointy things coming out of his back. The sky cowboy can't ride the reptile pony for long, before Freezard shakes him loose, tossing Joel over with ease. Pink & Yellow Ranger backflip their way towards him, but he manages to duck out of the way of their limbs. Red Ranger jumps at Freezard when the demon has his back turned, bashing his Rescue Baton at the creature. This stuns him enough so Pink & Yellow can get some hits in and quickly get out of his range. Red Ranger starts beating Freezard with the butt of his Baton, doing quite well up at point blank with it. The five Lightspeed Rangers regroup, and whip out their Rescue Blasters, aiming them at Freezard and preparing to fire. They have a clear shot, but are unable to fire, as a small ball of energy drops right next to them, throwing off their concentration and ruining the shot. Carter even drops his Blaster while wondering who did that, apparently having forgot about Olympius only a few feet away! He fires off another flame blast at them with his staff, this one hitting our heroes directly and taking them down. Ms. Fairweather and two technicians watch from the sidelines, looking very concerned. Olympius charges towards the weary Rangers, slashing at Joel & Kelsey with his staff, and then getting in a kicking party with Dana & Carter. Miss F, meanwhile, turns her attention towards the five new Thermo Blasters she has in the case right next to her. Olympius has apparently knocked down the Rangers again offscreen, as Green & Yellow are shown getting staff-slashed for a second time! Ms. Fairweather cries out to our heroes while rushing towards them and carrying the Thermo case, "Rangers, your new weapons!" They don't pay her any mind, continuing to get their spandexed behinds beaten badly by Olympius. Do they ever learn? Captain Mitchell should be chewing them out over their commlinks by now!

Ms. Fairweather lays the case on the ground and opens it up, getting ready to toss them their Thermo Blasters whenever they finally take notice. Freezard beats them to it, spotting Miss F, and proclaiming, "It's snow time!", as he opens his mouth and vomits out a barrage of cold slush. Ms. Fairweather covers her face as the nightmarish visions of a White Christmas begin to freeze her brains off. She cries out while getting avalanched by the demon, but none of the Rangers are even giving her the time of day! The open Thermo Blaster case is also being covered, eventually causing the lid to drop back over the weapons, saving them from freezer burn. The case becomes encased in a solid block of ice almost instantly, as does Miss Fairweather, who's frozen stiff, laying on the ground, holding herself up with her left arm and with her right still extended out in an attempt to block the snow from striking her. It didn't work, obviously, as Fairweather chills out with her new, ice-cold look (her technician assistants can be seen cowering behind the Rescue Rover in the background). Green Ranger is the first to spot the icy Fairweather, as he's clutching his chest from the vigors of battle. Joel's shocked at the sight of his lady love covered in snow, and Freezard can't help but joke, "I think she's giving you the cold shoulder, Green! But you can have a piece of me if you want!" Freezard eggs on Joel, who promises the monster that he's going to pay for this. Green Ranger lunges after the demon, but doesn't make it far at all before Freezard opens his jaws, and fires off a blue & white beam of energy. It causes him to freeze in his tracks, unable to escape the beam. His teammates turn towards him, with Carter calling out his name and Olympius sneaking away from them, midbattle. Joel is turned into a small ball of light, and swallowed by Freezard! Pink Ranger orders the monster to give him back, but Carter warns her to watch out. He gets in front of his teammates, only to end up ducking out of the way as the tractor beam is coughed up again. Yellow, Blue, & Pink Rangers are instantly turned into energy balls and gobbled up by Freezard. The demon informs Red that he's next and to come on, but Carter doesn't think so. Freezard rubs his stomach, and does his Fat Bastard impression, by saying, "Get in my belly!" Inside said belly of the beast, all four of the devoured Rangers are demorphed, and are starting to cool down. Freezard's cold blooded stomach is as icy as his breath, with the Ranger Recruits unconscious lying on the frozen floor. Apparently, this almost roomy place is considered "The Freeze Zone" of the title. Chad awakens, with icicles hanging from parts of his face, as he gasps for breath and takes a look around. Joel is worst off of all of them! His cowboy hat is missing! NOOOOOOOOO!!!

[commercials]

In the training valley, Red Ranger has his V-Lancer poised and ready, as he faces the monster responsible for his anger. "Give me my friends back, Freezard!" Carter races after the demon with his Lancer in hand, but before he can get anywhere close to him, he's struck from behind by a staff-bolt from Olympius. Red Ranger tumbles, as Olympius marches towards him gloating, "Hahaha! The last surviving Ranger!" Freezard grabs Carter and restrains him, preparing to put him on ice along with his teammates. Olympius vetoes this, claiming, "No, wait! He's the last one and he belongs to me! Huhhaha!" Olympius raises his staff into the air, and is about to drop it sharply upon Carter's helpless head, when both he and Freezard are blasted suddenly by Vypra & Loki! Red Ranger is as surprised as Olympius, when his saviors are revealed to be one of the demon's own people. Vypra & Loki lower their weapons as they walk closer, Loki noting, "Bet ya thought you'd never see us again, didn't ya?" Olympius isn't afraid of the henchdemons, yelling, "You have a lot of nerve coming here!" Both Olympius & Freezard ignore Carter, and dart out into the field to face Vypra & Loki, confusing the Red Ranger to no end. Olympius puts them down, "You two just aren't smart enough to learn! I got rid of you two incompetents fools once, I can do it again, but this time it will be for good!" Loki shrugs his threats off, "Yeah yeah yeah, we hear ya. But this time we brought help! Didn't we?" He turns to Vypra, who merely raises her hand to the sky, like a game show hostess, as the prize behind instant raging storm cloud #1 becomes revealed in a hail of dangerous lightning! The bolts thunder down into one spot, causing a mass explosion, which quickly implodes upon itself as the sky clears as almost as instantly as it went dark. The implosion takes form, as that of Diabolico!

Olympius is stunned, saying, "Diabolico! He's alive!" Red Ranger is also equally stunned, realizing that's who Ryan was trying to warn them about. Diabolico slowly walks towards the convergence of demons, saying, "Little Impus, my how you've grown. Thanks to MY Star Power!" He takes his place between Vypra & Loki, who both have smug looks on their faces. Olympius claims that he thought Diabolico was destroyed, and the big golden demon admits that he was, but now he's come back to reclaim his rightful place! Diabolico & Olympius walk out into the center of the field to confront each other face to face, Olympius shouting, "You have no place anymore! I'M in charge now!" The two bad baddies face off quickly, with each of them striking the other with their respective weapon staves. Diabolico gains the upperhand by kicking Olympius in the chest, as the battle rages on offscreen. Carter has time to stand there like a goon and look around, finally noticing Ms. Fairweather frozen to the ground like Frostianna The Snow Queen. He wisely realizes that she needs help, but would rather watch the battle instead. Diabolico's staff-attack is blocked by Olympius' own, and when he tries to use his staff to strike at Diabolico, it's the elder demon who gets the hit in. Red Ranger soon gets tired of watching the battle royal, and heads over to Ms. Fairweather, deciding he needs to get her to the base. Carter tries scooping her lifeless body out of the snow, but is going to need some assistance. As Olympius & Diabolico remained locked in combat in the background, Carter calls on the two spineless technicians hiding behind the Rover. They cautiously come over and help lift Miss Snowstorm's rigid body into the Rover, with intent on bringing her back to the Lightspeed Aquabase. Red Ranger picks up the half-frozen Thermo Blaster carrying case, and joins them on the way out.

Diabolico's road to victory seems to take a detour, as Olympius finally slips his way to gaining some leverage in the fight. He grabs hold of Diabolico's staff, and relieves him of it with a swift kick. The staff is flung across the field, out of Diabolico's reach. Or so it would seem, as the golden ghoul promises Olympius will pay for that, before firing off his left forearm! Diabolico's hand shoots off from his body at the elbow, flying through the air towards Olympius. It still works, even amputated, as it grabs the dragon demon's staff with brute force, and once Diabolico reunites himself with his arm, he's able to toss Olympius' staff out of the playing grounds, making them even. Diabolico kicks Olympius in the gut, and the young prince topples over. The golden ghoul throws a small kick at Olympius, but it simply strikes at the air, as the prince pulls what I call a "Ninjor move", zipping out of way and ending up standing behind Diabolico before he can react. Olympius grabs onto Diabolico's wings, but before he can try yanking them off, Big D shakes him loose. Notice, their staves are in the background, having landed side by side, and slumped over so they're crossing each other while sticking out of the ground. Diabolico throws some punches, all blocked by Olympius. Big O throws some kicks and punches, all blocked by Big D. They break off from each other, with Diabolico eyeing the staves. Olympius won't let him, and rushes over to try and grab his own first. He almost does, before Diabolico grabs his arm and the two become locked in physical warfare once more. Diabolico has Olympius in his grip, and begins to exclaim, "I am finally going to take care of you, once and for all!" His hopes are dashed by a large bolt of purple electricity, which drops from the sky and lands between the quarreling demons. Vypra & Loki shield their eyes as an explosion erupts between Diabolico & Olympius. They're thrown from the blast, and, hey look! They both are able to snatch up their staffs as this happens! Olympius falls rather short, but Diabolico gets flung all the way up the side of the steep, rocky hill.

The demons recover and look to the sky, seeing a vision of Queen Bansheera's head hovering above. She orders them to stop, and to return to the Skull Cavern at once. Olympius bows before his mother and obeys. Vypra & Loki, and even Freezard, are kneeling at her vengeful presence. Even though he got killed trying to do her dirty work, Diabolico bows and obliges, "As you command!" He turns and looks down the hillside, promising "We are not through yet, Olympius!" Olympius has his own idle threats, "You're going to wish you never returned, Diabolico!" Loki gives a hearty chuckle to this. Momentarily, all five demons teleport back into the Skull Cavern chamber, with Diabolico & Olympius landing underneath spotlights in front of Bansheera's partial bodily form. Once they realize she's behind them, they turn around and quickly kneel before her. She is quite surprised to see Diabolico has returned, and he claims that he has done so, "Only to serve you, my Queen." Olympius is outraged, "To serve?! I would have the Rangers frozen on ice if you wouldn't have dashed my plans!" Vypra & Loki enter the room, Vypra speaking, "Some of your plans deserved to be dashed, like your plans to destroy us!" Olympius plays it off, "Mother, don't believe that rubbish! They're all just trying to get my Star Power!" Diabolico corrects him, "That's MY Star Power!" Queen Bansheera quiets them all, adding, "Your petty lies and hatred mean nothing. Rebuilding my palace is all that matters!" She tells her son to go and capture the last Ranger, and he obeys with a bow. Bansheera orders Diabolico not to interfere again or she shall destroy him herself! Diabolico obeys with a bow, Vypra & Loki doing the same. Bansheera's misshapen torso sinks into the darkness, with the final words, "Do not fail me, Olympius!" Once she's gone, he gets up and proceeds to carry out the task, but gets stopped by Diabolico, who asks him if really thinks he can capture the Red Ranger. Olympius tosses an insult back, "I will not fail... like you!" He departs, as Diabolico promises, "Your days are numbered, Olympius!"

Elsewhere, at the Lightspeed Aquabase (Infirmary), Ms. Fairweather is tucked in a bed. She's shivering, as her face is still partially covered by ice, but mostly it's melted. Carter watches over her, putting his hand against her forehead and trying to feel if her temperature is rising. He exits the room, and bumps into Captain Mitchell, who asks him how she's doing. Carter claims her temperature is returning to normal, and she'll be okay. Mitchell is glad, saying "Thank goodness" as he looks over at her through the opened door. A voice comes over the P.A. system, announcing "Urgent! Captain Mitchell to the Rescue Ops Immediately!" Mitchell & Carter march into Rescue Ops, and witness what was so important on the many different viewing screens. It's Olympius, live via demon-satellite from his home in Skull Cavern! Olympius speaks, "This is a challenge for the Red Ranger. Meet me alone at the edge of the Northern woods. Or I will destroy your friends! Hahahaha!" The signal cuts off, and Carter tells Mitchell that he has to go. Carter, that is. Not Mitchell. Poor guy can barely climb a hill! Cap'n nods, and leads Carter over to the Thermo Blaster case, while saying, "If you're going to go, I want you to take these." All five Thermo Blasters, colored coded, are fitted inside the case. Soon, Red Ranger is riding on his Lightspeed Cycle, with the Rescue Speeder at its side. Inside the Speeder, is the Thermo Blaster case, for use later. Carter's got his bike going full throttle down the long empty road along the Northern Woods. Eventually, he reaches the rendezvous point, and finds Olympius awaiting and saying, "Good to see you wasted no time in getting here!" Carter hops off the Cycle and asks the demon what he's done with his friends. Olympius gloats, "You seem very anxious to join them! Well, i'm more than happy to point you in the right direction!" He snaps his scaly fingers and a horde of Batlings appear! They leap in from the treetops, prompting Red Ranger to get down and dirty. Physical combat gives way to what he learned from the simulation earlier, as he whips out both his Rescue Blaster, and his new Thermo Blaster! Firing them both off at once, he's able to take down each and every Batlings without even breaking a sweat.

With those minor disturbances out of the way, Red Ranger leaps into the air and aims his fist at Olympius. Big O seems to just step out of line of fire and sends Carter slamming into a wall, appearing to drop his Thermo Blaster at some point. As Carter lies on the ground, his back aching, Olympius makes the most of the situation by saying, "I suppose I could destroy you right now, but I have other plans. I want to wait so that I can have the pleasure of watching you suffer as your friends are destroyed in front of you!" Carter gets up, screaming "Never" as he grasps his Rescue Baton and charges forth. Olympius fires off one of his flamewaves, hitting Red Ranger in the chest and dropping him like a fly. Carter doesn't give up, using his Rescue Blaster to fire a few rounds at the surly demon. This stuns Olympius, and allows Carter to leap into the air with his Blaster aimed at him, but upon landing, the dark prince tosses Red Ranger off into the woods like an afterthought. Carter lands on a trail, near a small sign pointing the directions of the University, the tunnel, and the bridge. Olympius calls on Freezard, and the slithery demon pops up, and quickly fires his tractor beam attack at Carter. He manages to duck out of the way again, causing the sign to end up turned into a ball of energy and gulped down by the monster. The sign lands inside the Freeze Zone, along with the rest of the Rangers not far from it. Red Ranger decides to scan to see if they're still okay. Freezard just stands there, not attacking or causing trouble, as Carter's helmet does a thermal imaging scan. It shows him all four are still alive and kicking, but don't look too close at it, or else the Sentai footage will make you think Joel has hair! Carter blurts, "They're freezing in there!" His genius observation proves true, as we see the four huddled close together inside the Freeze Zone, all covered in snow and ice. Joel slurs his words, "Try to stay warm guys", as he puts his arm around Kelsey, who is cuddling up with Dana. Chad's left out in the cold when it comes to the "we're gonna die" lovin'. Red Ranger tries to speak to them by yelling as loud as he can, "Guys! If you can hear me, i'm going to get you out of there!" Or so he'd like to think, as he's so distracted by trying to talk to them that Olympius sneaks up on him and slashes at him with his staff! The demon prince towers over the weary Carter, gloating, "One Ranger alone is no match for the mighty Olympius. This is the end!"

[commercials]

Carter is cornered by Olympius & Freezard in the woods. Before Freezard can try blasting him again, Red Ranger jumps up, bounces off the reptile monster's head, and lands about a half mile away on the seat of his Lightspeed Cycle. He quickly revs up and drives it quite a ways to face Freezard, who coughs up another frost flash, spewing snow at Carter. The Lightspeed Cycle and Rescue Speeder stop in their tracks, as they begin to become frozen under a thick layer of ice. Red Ranger is thrown from the bike as this happens, and is helpless to stop his ride from being chilled. Freezard turns the attack on him, belching more frost at Carter, so much that he's finding it tough to continue dodging. Inside the Freeze Zone, the four Ranger Recruits are shivering as they grow colder with each passing moment. They have their arms around each other, but not even that is helping the situation. Outside, Freezard threatens Carter, "Prepare to join your friends in my cold belly dungeon!" Red Ranger won't let that happen, as he extends out his right hand, which has a Battle Booster around the wrist. He calls out, "Thermo Blaster," and the weapon which was supposed to be in the case he brought with him, suddenly blinks into his hand with a flash of light. Freezard starts unloading his blizzard breath at Carter once more, and Carter replies in kind with a continuous beam of power from his Thermo Blaster. He has it aimed at Freezard's stomach, but with all of the slush being dumped on him, Red Ranger is having trouble holding steady. He finally starts to focus, and the Thermo blast begins to burn into the monster, causing him pain. It's also heating up the Freeze Zone, making the cold blue room turn red hot. The Ranger Recruits start looking up, in more ways than one. Joel notices his hands as they start to defrost, and points out to the team that the ice is melting! Dana groans, "I can feel it getting warmer!"

Outside, Red Ranger refuses to let up the heat beam from the Thermo Blaster, even as he becomes doused with a hail of snow. The beam is doing the trick as it never strays from Freezard's belly, melting the Freeze Zone at a rapid rate. The Rangers are able to stand up without shivering, but if they're not lucky, the amount of ice in that place melting will cause them to drown! The Thermo Blaster blasting finally causes Freezard's gizzard to take a tizzard, exploding with sparks. He falls backwards, ending his blizzard breath attack, and also causing the frozen stiff Red Ranger to fall backwards, ending his Thermo blasting. Freezard lies on the ground, clutching his burning belly and crying in agony, until he regurgitates four balls of energy! They pop out and take original form, as that of the missing Rangers! One can only wonder how Freezard plans to pass that huge sign in his kidneys. Our defrosted heroes recover from their fall, their body temperatures now back at normal and not a drop of their bodies is wet! Dana is first to realize they're free, and is first to spot Carter a few feet away. The others join her as they rush to his side (hey! Joel's hat is back! It's a miracle!). Red Ranger's body is frozen solid, and lying on his back, with his Thermo Blaster still clutched between both hands. Chad lifts Carter up enough so he's able to sit up, while still being covered in a sheet of ice. Dana wipes off Carter's wrist, and finds the interface of his Battle Booster. She presses 555, but not "activate", and instantly, Red Ranger's body begins to glow with heat. The ice melts off without much haste, Carter lets out a grunt as he hops up and gets the blood pumping back through his Morphed body. Freezard also recovers, but is quite shocked that the Rangers escaped! Carter notes that it isn't over yet, and the four unmorphed Rangers get in battle positions. Chad yells out, "Let's go guys!", and the team Morph into Lightspeed Rangers again, this time offscreen.

Olympius, not to be forgotten yet, orders Freezard to get them. The monster does so, staggering into action. Red Ranger jumps into the air, hits 478 Activate on his Battle Booster, and comes down hard on Freezard with slap to the snout and a super charged punch to the gut. With the demon stunned, Carter rushes over to his Lightspeed Cycle (which has defrosted itself, apparently). He opens up the case inside the Rescue Speeder, and pulls out the Green Thermo Blaster. He calls out to Joel, and throws the Blaster into the air. Green Ranger snatches it up in midair, followed by Pink with her own. Yellow & Blue don't go jumping, but get their Thermo Blasters tossed to them just the same. The Lightspeed Rangers regroup, and ready their Thermo Blasters. Each follow Carter's lead, popping them open and inserting their Battle Boosters. Booster Mode is initiated, with an 818 Engage. Freezard is standing down the path in the forest, with yellow & blue ropes tied around his mouth and body! Guess we know what Kelsey & Chad were up to offscreen, eh? The five-at-once blast from the Thermo Blasters hits the Freezard demon directly, causing him to ignite into a massive explosion. Our heroes turn and pose with their new weapons, but are probably attacked by Smokey The Bear for setting the trees on fire. In Skull Cavern, Jinxer, ever faithful to the prince, says, "Olympius can't fail again!" He tosses a Growth Card onto a chunk of Freezard, and begins to recite in the demon-head, "Freezard, you're in chunks. Grow up big and beat these punks!" That he does, transforming into giant mode with a few flaps of some batwings. The Rangers waste no time, Red calls for Rail Rescues to get On Track, and Blue gets the duty of calling on Max Solarzord. The various components come together offscreen, leaving us with the combination sequence for the Lightspeed Solarzord!

Freezard, now speaking in only loud grunts, faces off with the Lightspeed Solarzord. Olympius watches from down below, and once his monster starts getting beaten up by the mean old Megazord, he comes up with a plan. "Let me even the playing field a little bit. Darken the skies!", with that said, Olympius pulls a move we saw him do recently, by unleashing the energy of his Star Power, in the form of a purple shroud of clouds. They fill the sky, and become as dark as stormclouds. The rumbling around the Lightspeed Solarzord confuses Carter & Chad, who wonder what's that sound, thinking it a storm. Indeed, but nothing natural by Mother Nature! A few strokes of lightning fall, striking the Lightspeed Solarzord, causing it to separate into the Lightspeed Megazord and Max Solarzord! Carter tells his team to stay alert, and that they do, as the area around them grows as quiet as it is dark (the dark skies shine like an aurora every few seconds). Freezard suddenly materializes, and the Lightspeed Megazord shoots off two blasts from its arm. Both bolts are deflected by a force field around the monster, who then vanishes from sight after the last blast. The Megazord is dumbstruck, until Freezard drops from the sky, hanging upside down behind them! He starts tearing into the Megazord, and manages to slip out of the line of fire when Carter, noting this is crazy, finally gets the arms up to shoot. Freezard now appears a huge floating head in the sky. Max Solarzord starts moving again, and walks up closer to the head, only to be the first struck when Freezard coughs up a few balls of fire. The Lightspeed Megazord is struck as well, all the Rangers inside are shook around quite violently. Carter tells his team that they need to get the Omega Megazord. Chad points out, "We're losing power! We've got to get the Solarzord out of here!" Carter tells him that he's right, and commands Solarzord to launch itself. It does so, and reverts to Shuttle Mode. It breaks out of the dark shroud, and returns to the sunlight. Carter says, "The sun's recharging us!", even though the Solarzord isn't connected to the Megazord anymore! He also says, "Let's finish what Freezard started!"

Carter's first impulse can now work with Chad's suggestion. The Solarzord Shuttle takes off into space, with the Rail Rescues along, and the Omegazords inside them. Freezard beats the Lightspeed Megazord until it topples over. Carter removes his Blaster Grip and orders his team to board the Omegazords. Which they do, despite how the Omegazords are already way up in space and they're still down on Earth. How do they get up there? They teleport! Just when you thought they didn't have the ability to do that, they go right ahead and do it, onscreen (similar to when they zip weapons from one place to another in a flash of light). The Omegazords link up into the Omega Megazord, with Carter hitting 456 Engage on his Battle Booster to initiate it. It twirls its Shuttle Spear around as it charges up and makes the scene. Freezard chuckles as the Omega Megazord lands, that darkened sky effect apparently having worn off during the time they were gone. Red Ranger makes a Megazord finish move pun by saying, "It's time for the big freeze!" as the Omega Megazord slashes into Freezard with its Shuttle Spear. Just a few slashes, and Freezard falls, exploding into a burst of fire, reaching his own melting point. The Rangers cheer themselves, and the Omega Megazord does not one, but two Spear-related poses.

[commercials]

In Skull Cavern, Olympius comes home without a victory to claim. Diabolico makes note of this aloud, "And so, the favorite son returns empty handed again. You had four, you lost four. Ha! Some prince!" Olympius stands up for himself, "You'd better be careful how you talk to me! I'm not tiny Impus anymore!" Diabolico walks closer to his youthful rival, hissing, "You'll ALWAYS be Impus the runt. You'll never change. Now give me the Star Power!" Olympius tells him that he'll never give it back, and Diabolico warns that he can't hide behind his mother forever, and the Star Power is rightfully his, and he'll take it back, by force if need be! Diabolico departs, and Olympius grunts, "You're welcome to try!" Meanwhile, in the Lightspeed Aquabase Infirmary, the five Rangers visit with Ms. Fairweather. She's no longer an icicle, sitting up in bed and thanking Dana as she brings her a cup of hot cocoa. Carter tells her, "You look good as new", and Miss F agrees, "Yes, i'm feeling much better." Joel seizes the opportunity, sitting down beside her and holding her hand, claiming, "But you still need some warming up!" Kelsey & Chad give each other a look, a look of "there he goes again!" Fairweather thanks him, but says she'll be just fine. Joel's grip on her hand is firm, and while she's trying to yank it away from his grasp, she ends up knocking her cup of cocoa over onto herself! It's apparently not piping hot, as she doesn't cry out in pain. But it's still a wet mess. Ms. Fairweather tries wiping it up with her hand, as Joel looks around for something help clean it up with. In one of the most "adult" things to ever be shown on PR, Joel lifts up Fairweather's sheets, and sneaks a peek down. Apparently, Fairweather's robed attire goes only so far, and under the covers is her bare legs and underwear! Fairweather quickly snaps at him, "Joel!", slapping his hand away. He appears to pretend innocent, but this action makes Carter & Chad just as shocked. Carter asks him what he was thinking, he says he was looking for a towel, and Chad notes there's one on the chair.

As this goes on, Dana seems distant. She's off sulking on her own on the other side of the room. Kelsey spots this, and walks over to her, realizing her problem aloud, "You're worried about Ryan, aren't you?" Dana admits it, saying, "Anything could happen to him out there." Kelsey cheers her up by telling her, "Hey, Ryan's tough! It runs in the family!" Dana thanks her with a concerned smile, and gives her teammate a hug so warm, it'd like make Nancy jealous! Speaking of Ryan, elsewhere, at the Ancient Temple, Ryan is busy peeling off layers of cobwebs, and writing down each and every one of the hieroglyphics inscribed on the walls! It's a painstaking process, but he's got a nice pen, a notebook, and a love of drawing those little turtle heads you get in mail from the art institute. Ryan tells us what he's doing, "The answer to capturing Bansheera's GOT to be in these symbols." Ryan spends hours, maybe days, going over every inch of the place. Soon, he says, "I think i've copied all the cryptic writings inside the tomb. Now i've got to find someone who can tell me what they mean." Ryan exits the Tomb, soaked in dust and sweat. He has his backpack on, as he stares at some of the ruins. Confused about where his journey will take him, Ryan presses on, turning his back to the tomb, and pressing on, into the desert. In an extremely rare move, the screen does not freeze as the executive producer credits appear.

[Scenes from "Mighty Mega Battles"; end credits]