Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
"The Fate Of Lightspeed, Pt 1"
Original Air Date: 11/17/00		Bansheera/Batling assemblage footage from: GoGo Five #48 - Kessenwa Saima Kyuuden (Showdown In The Saima Palace)
*23rd episode of 8th Regular Season (39th of the 8th Season by Series) *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1039 *39th episode of PRLR *377th total Power Rangers episode
Writers: Judd Lynn & Jackie Marchand		Directors: Ryuta Tasaki & Makoto Yokoyama
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. Angela Fairweather Ron Rogge _AS_ Captain William Mitchell		Additional Cast: Ed Neil _AS_ Lightspeed Riot Patrol Guard #2 [Making his first visible PRLR appearance!] Kim Strauss _AS_ Jinxer (voice) Diane Salinger _AS_ Queen Bansheera (voice)

SUMMARY:

[Scenes from "Wrath Of The Queen" & "Rise Of The Super Demons"]

Just like PRLR began, so it begins to end. We see the vast sand dunes of the Sahara, under the intense heat of the sun hovering above. Somewhere amid this desert, lies the ruined remains of the ancient demon tomb. Ryan Mitchell has returned to the buried sight once again, to copy down the strange hieroglyphic symbols off the walls. The torches blaze around him, as he begins to run his hands along the walls. They're covered with thick strands of cobwebs, having not been cleaned in a good 5000 years. Though you have to wonder if those webs were there the last time Ryan was, since he supposedly copied down nearly all the symbols. They'd make copying them pretty hard if they were. He reaches a certain point, and suddenly discovers something intriguing etched in the stone brick. Clear it off completely, it's revealed to be the recently carved outline of the Golden Key! Boy, those spiders must move quickly in the tomb! Ryan runs his fingers over the drawing, causing it to glow with power. It suddenly rematerializes, floating in the air, awaiting Ryan to take it. Ryan gasps, "The Golden Key the Sorcerer told me about! This is the key that opens the tomb!" Considering the Key was last shown in Diabolico's possession (he apparently never got a chance to actually hand over to Carter), and given Ryan's connection to said demon, the Key coming to life is only fitting. Ryan plucks it from the air, and instantly, the symbols along the walls and columns begin to glow with an eerie green light! He palms the key, almost by instinct, and aims the double red gems on its skull face towards one of the walls. A crimson & mist beam is casted out, forming an image holographically. Ryan witnesses it, showing a solar eclipse, and then a vast army of dead demons! There's so many, I can hardly even identify them due to the dark, moody lighting illuminating them. Can recognize Thunderclaw & Moleman, though a great many of them don't appear to be GoGoV monsters. They groan and moan, waving their arms around, in what appears to be a sector of the Shadow World. Ryan is horrified by the vision he was keyed into, gasping, "Oh no!"

Meanwhile, beneath the waters of Mariner Bay, the Lightspeed Aquabase sits silently. The camera shows us a rare exterior window view of the Conference Room, bubbles flowing through the ocean blue water, as we see Captain Mitchell talking to Ms. Fairweather & The Ranger Recruits within. Once inside, we see the Captain flip through some reports, as he asks, "Ms. Fairweather, can you give us an update?" Angela nods and says, "Yes, sir. We are working on the Omega Megazord." She walks over to a monitor, and footage of a Lightspeed damage control crew working on salvaging the downed Omega Megazord. It's still tipped over, lying in rubble on the streets of Mariner Bay. A crane is used to lift the Megazord arm which was broken off onto a flatbed truck. Carter asks, "Well, does that mean the other Megazords are back online?" Fairweather tells him, "For now only the Lifeforce Megazord is operational." Joel remarks, "Diabolico & Olympius gone... the Queen's even madder than ever!" Suddenly, the monitor is overridden by an emergency communication from Ryan! He's still in the tomb, shouting, "Rangers, do you read me?" Dana's face lights up as she turns and rushes closer to the screen asking, "Ryan?! What's going on?" Their father seems most concerned. Ryan shows them the Golden Key, and explains, "I found out the Queen's plan! You've got to stop her!" Carter asks, "What is it?", and Ryan reveals, "She's trying to resurrect ALL the demons from the Shadow World!" Carter watches closely, as likely do the other Recruits. Ryan, continuing to speak into his Titanium Morpher, stating, "The ceremony's going to happen...", before he's suddenly distracted by one of the torches next to him suddenly being blown out. He turns his head, and that's the last the others see of him, as his signal turns to static. Dana replies, "Ryan? You've cut out! Are you there?!" She tries hitting some buttons and getting the signal back, to no avail. So worried are Chad & Joel, that they stand up in the background. Over in the Tomb, Ryan turns around and witnesses Queen Bansheera making the scene! She lowers herself to the floor and exclaims, "It's going to happen, alright. And no one is going to stop it!" Bansheera lifts her hand and cackles maniacally, causing lights to flash like lightning. Ryan covers his face, as the Queen's lengthy fingers extend outward, and wrap around his body! He drops the Golden Key on the ground, and begins to struggle helplessly within her demonic grasp. With a free hand, she reaches down (or rather, wipes her palm across the floor), and picks the Key up.

[opening credits.]

Dana grows somber, lowering her head after losing the signal from her brother. Joel sits back down at the table, as (either guessing or having seen a brief clip of the stuff after the static started) Chad exclaims "The Queen had Ryan!" Joel wonders, "What are we going to do?!" Carter figures, "She'll probably take him to Skull Cavern. I'll go and get him!" He arises from his seat and states this sternly to Captain Mitchell. Dana, on the other hand, quickly turns away from the static-filled monitor, and (likely annoyed that Carter's been saving the day far too often lately) protests, "No, Carter! I'll go." He makes a case against her going by noting, "I can take the Mobile Armored Vehicle. The Queen would never expect it!" Chad cautions him, remarking, "Of course not, because it's crazy!" (hey, send Kelsey in, then!) Captain Mitchell agrees, saying, "I agree. It's VERY risky." He's going to go against their wishes anyway, as he walks around Chad and proceeds to leave the room. Dana follows, calling out, "Carter!" He stops her, putting his hands on her shoulders, promising, "Don't worry. I'll bring him back.", to both her, and the others. Carter exits the Conference Room, leaving all those in it concerned now for the lives of two of their teammates. Meanwhile, at the Skull Cavern palace, two Batlings drag the unconscious Ryan through one of the corridors. Jinxer shows up, views this, claps his hands and proclaims, "Well it's GOOD to see we're finally making some progress!" Queen Bansheera follows behind the Batlings, prompting Jinxer to bow, as she orders Ryan's destiny, "Lock him up, and make sure he NEVER gets away!" They do so, hauling him off through the broken-column filled foggy hall, Jinxer remarking, "Good work, now get a move on it!" He then walks over to the Queen, asking, "What next, your highness?" Bansheera replies, "It's time to release the Batlings! I don't want those meddling Rangers interfering with my ceremony!" Jinxer bows and tells her he'll do it right away, as he turns to the side and extends out his wiggling hands, incanting, "Little Batlings take to the wing, rise up and DESTROY everything! Heheha!"

Simultaneously, in a Megazord hanger deep within the Lightspeed Aquabase, the right leg of the Lifeforce Megazord begins to glow. The golden "M" shines a sick shade of green, as the Batling demon card impaled on it by Jinxer last episode comes to life! The card, obviously used to create the drones in a mass production, begins to spew forth thousands of tiny, normal looking bats. Well, as normal as tiny bats with red eyes can be. They flock all through the darkened Megazord hanger, filling the place with the sound of wings beating and guano dropping. Elsewhere in the Aquabase, Carter is Morphed, but holding his Red Ranger helmet, as he walks down a passageway. He heads into the Transport Bay, where he Ms. Fairweather with a few Lightspeed technicians doing some final systems checks on the Red Mobile Armored Vehicle. Angela tells Carter, "Use Stealth Mode and you should be able to go in undetected.", who nods in confirmation. Joel & Dana enter the room to see their teammate off. Joel has his hat under his arm, as he comments, "Now if I'd known you were going to do this kinda cockamamie thing, i'd have never taught you how to fly!" Carter shakes his hand, and they exchange a silent, serious look. Dana gives Carter a deep hug, and wishes, "Good luck." He thanks her and Joel. Soon, the Red Mobile Armored Vehicle is lowered into the chamber. Carter engages rockets, and all systems are go. The RMAV takes off from the raised Train Bay, piloted by the Red Ranger. He flies for a bit, failing to go back in time a day, but managing to spot what he's looking for. Remember all those times a dark stormcloud would whip up above Mariner Bay in the series, and release one of the demons? Well, as we all knew, that thundercloud is an entrance to the Skull Cavern. The RMAV is set to course, Carter replies to the base, "Target located. I'm going in!" He swoops into the grey teleportation cloud, and vanishes.

Meanwhile, down in that Megazord hanger from earlier. It sort of resembles the dark room the Lifeforce Megazord was in the previous episode, but is definitely NOT the same one. Ms. Fairweather enters and sighs, as she begins to hit a few buttons on a small console in the darkened room. She suddenly hears a rumbling coming from behind her. She turns around and looks into the darkness, hearing screeching noises. She flips a switch, and turns the lights in the hanger on. Fairweather is greeted by the blackened batty faces of a million Batlings! They're everywhere, standing in droves before her, dangling off the ceiling and girders, and judging by how its lifting its arms in the air, they're inside the Lifeforce Megazord as well! Angela's stunned speechless for a moment, but when the Batlings begin to charge at her, she frantically races for the door, shutting them in and locking it as quickly as she can. Up in Rescue Ops, Captain Mitchell talks with a few Lightspeed Cadets about a report. Suddenly, he gets a distress call from Miss Fairweather. He answers it on one of the monitors, rather casual as he says, "Mitchell, here." Fairweather screams into the transmission console in one of the halls, exclaiming, "Captain, Batlings have invaded the Aquabase!" Down the corridor behind her, the door to the hanger is blasted open. She turns, looks, and then flees off away from the location. The Batlings, waving their bat-blade around and screeching horribly, race down the hall after her. Captain Mitchell witnesses this and orders, "Go to Red Alert!" One of the Cadets hit a button on a console marked "Phase Transition," activating the alarms in the entire base. Mitchell watches the monitor, as the Batlings continue to flood out of the hanger. One has a large bazooka, with tiny batwings on it. He aims it at the security camera, and blasts it pieces, cutting off the signal.

Over in the Galley, Joel & Dana are having a drink together, when the alarms sound out. They quickly go to alert status, rushing out into the hall, as do several of the Tech & Cadets. Once out in the hall, Dana & Joel spot the source of the disturbance. Dana gasps, "Batlings!", and Joel says in disbelief, "In the Aquabase?!" As they remain stunned and looking at each other, the Batlings swarm on them! Dana is pinned against the wall by one, while Joel begins to shove, push and punch a few of them that dare mess with him. The remaining Cadets & Techs in the Galley get ran out by other Batlings, which enter the place through another door, and proceed to trash all of the tables & chairs within. The Bazookaling fires a charge off at one of the open door frames, just before Dana comes tumbling through it, a Batling in her grasp. She flings him off, and starts to more or less arm wrestle with another, finishing him off with a quick kick. The Bazookaling readies, aims, and fires at Dana, but luckily she spots him in time, and shouts, "Lightspeed Rescue!", while hitting her Rescue Morpher. The blast strikes her just at the right time, for when the smoke clears, she's standing successfully Morphed as the Pink Lightspeed Ranger! She begins to toss kick after kick into the overwhelmingly outnumbering horde of Batlings filling the Galley. Cadets & Technicians continue to be given the run-around by the Batlings, who eventually reach a narrow passageway. It's there that one Batlings pulls out a small, bat-winged grenade! He pulls the pin, the wings twitch, and he flings it into the small hall. The explosion sends a cadet airborne, slamming him into the wall at the end of it, screaming in agony. Is the Aquabase just full of defenseless workers? Nosireebob! For here come the Lightspeed Riot Patrol Squad! They're decked out in helmets, large shields, and heavy padding. One of them is our old friend and former Lord Zedd suit/human actor, Ed Neil. He's among those first to charge towards the Batlings. It's nothing less than a censor approved slaughter, as the platoon of guards slam their shields into the Batlings, who strike back with their sharp bat-blades. The poor guards don't seem to have any weapons, and are more or less just human barricades to halt the advancement of the demonic troops.

The Calvary for the Calvary comes in the form of Chad & Kelsey, who dart into the fray unmorphed. Chad tries picking off the Batlings from the Riot Patrol, but ends up getting more than he can handle. No, I take that back. More than the Batlings can handle, as he beats several around with a powerful set of kicks and punches. Kelsey doesn't do so badly either, though she's far weaker than her teammate when it comes to unmorphed hand to hand combat. The odds start to tip in the Batlings' favor, Kelsey shouts, "Lightspeed Rescue!", and Morphs into the Yellow Lightspeed Ranger in the blink of an eye. Though she isn't that much quicker or stronger after she does so. Chad charges down a hallway, and leaps into the air, kicking two Batlings at once. He then grabs his Rescue Morpher and flashes into the Blue Lightspeed Ranger as he somersaults along the floor. Chad hops up and buries kick after kick into the weakening Batlings. Nearby, Joel is near the Riot Patrol, when he gets kicked in the back by a Batling. His cowboy hat falls off as he stumbles against the elevator door. Joel starts to struggle with the Batling that hit him, as the elevator door opens, and is shown filled to capacity with demon drones! There's room for three more, as another Batling gangs up with the other one on Joel, and they push him into the elevator. The door close, and he's surrounded by the groping claws of a ton of Batlings. Joel manages to reach his Rescue Morpher, calling out the proper cry, and when the doors reopen on the next level, the Green Lightspeed Ranger is the only one of them all left standing! Elsewhere, Dana tangles with a Batling. Joel ends up tangling with two, just around the corner. Suddenly, the entire base is rocked by an instant quake. Pink & Green Lightspeed Rangers are knocked to the floor by this, as are most of the Batlings they were fighting.

Dana wonders, "What was that!?", and with her sparring partners down for the moment, she proceeds to enter the Galley. The place is in shambles, food and debris spread out everywhere. As she enters, we see outside in the hall, the Riot Patrol's small breather coming to an end as more Batlings begin to storm towards them. Pink Ranger rushes across the Galley room, and takes a look out the window. She sees the source of the base quaking outside, stomping around the sea-floor. Dana gasps, "This can't be happening! That's the Lifeforce Megazord!" Indeed it is, the new Lifeforce Megazord is going around bumping into the base, causing the water around it become unsettled. Inside the Lifeforce cockpit, a crew of Batlings are piloting it. They even have the intravenous lifeforce tubes hooked into their necks! The demon drones squeal with evil glee as they press a bunch of buttons, and jiggle the control-sticks violently. The Lifeforce Megazord, holding its red Lightspeed emblem Saber in hand, marches past the dome where the Galley is located. Pink Ranger stares out from it, wondering, "What is it doing?!" Her answer is sudden, as the rogue Megazord heads over to one of the towers, and slashes its Saber into it. Dana covers her face upon the tower's sparking, and when she opens her eyes again, she witnesses a piece of debris from that trashed tower slamming into the one of the other domes (they're called Pods, later, actually)! The stray chunk is strong enough to rock Rescue Ops, causing a console to spark and knock a wimpy Cadet to the floor. Captain Mitchell helps him up, the guy nods that he's okay, so he leaves the man to a female & male Cadet. Mitchell races over to one of the main consoles, as does Ms. Fairweather, both pressing buttons as fast as they can. They bring up a display on the small monitors overhead, of the Lifeforce Megazord slashing its Saber into the Aquabase, and of the Batlings inside the cockpit. The Captain gasps, "It's the Megazord!", and Angela notes, "The Batlings have taken control over it! Pod Four is under attack!" Mitchell stares at the small screen, watching silently as the Lifeforce Megazord whips its sword around, readying another attack, just as soon as the Batlings get the hang of things.

Elsewhere in the Aquabase, Yellow Ranger kicks some Batlings, while Blue Ranger kicks and flings them off. Knock one down, and dozens more take its place becomes the standard procedure, as a gang of Batlings suddenly enters the passageway. Chad yells, "There's too many of them!", as he & Kelsey flee for their lives from the bloodthirsty armada of demon drones. They reach one of the side entrances to Rescue Ops, and Chad hits a switch, closing the door! The steel hatch slams shut behind, or rather in front, of them. Chad figures, "That ought to hold them!", Kelsey nods, and the two rush off into another area of Ops. Green & Pink Ranger next enter the room, Joel shouting, "Clear the doorway!", as he hits emergency lock button. The steel door slams down, cutting a horde of angry Batlings off from Rescue Ops entirely (though this door seems to have a small porthole window in it). Green asks Pink, "You okay, Dana?!" She replies breathlessly, "Yeah, barely." They both remove their helmets and nod at each other, when Kelsey exclaims, "They're gonna hit us again!" Dana & Joel turn their attention towards her, as outside, the Lifeforce Megazord prepares its Saber for attacking against one of the main towers. In Ops, Kelsey & Chad (both also Morphed but helmetless) stand next to Captain Mitchell & Ms. Fairweather. Kelsey shouts the Commander Stantony line of, "Everybody, hold on!" The Lifeforce Megazord cuts its sword through the pressure of the water its submerged in, and slices along the top of the tower. The clang against the hull and the force used causes a reverb throughout the entire Aquabase. Rescue Ops sparks like crazy while rocking, knocking all four (six if you count Miss F & Mr. M) of our heroes over against the console controls. The Lifeforce Megazord bashes another hit into the tower, chopping a piece out of the side. Ops sparks some more, Cadets are sent flying, and Kelsey & Chad hang on for fear life as the place rocks from side to side. The Megazord grabs the damaged tower and jars it loose from its foundation, shoving it aside, causing the vast metal structure to topple against the rocks below. Those in Ops recover, gasping for air nervously. Captain Mitchell looks especially frightened, and Ms. Fairweather notes what's so fearful, "Pod Four... is gone."

[commercials]

The Batlings peek through the porthole on the door to Rescue Ops. They're unable to get in, so a couple of others bring down a long metal battering ram. The Batlings begin to slam it into the solid steel door, hit after hit, slowly denting into the door. Inside Rescue Ops, Captain Mitchell slams his fist down against a console in frustration. All of his Lightspeed Cadets & Tech stand behind him, waiting for his next order. He's in total shock, staring into the void as Ms. Fairweather asks, "Captain, what are we going to do?" He blocks her out, her voice murky and muttered as he focuses merely on his overwhelming sense of failure. Angela begins to shake him, trying to snap him out of it, but nothing works. The four Rangers slowly approach the Captain, watching silently as Fairweather tries in vein to bring his attention back to Earth. Fairweather finally stands tall and gives the order for him, proclaiming, "The crew is in danger. We have GOT to evacuate!" Joel & Kelsey give disgusted & confused looks when she says this, and Chad asks, "Evacuate?!" Fairweather reiterates, "Yes. That Megazord has the firepower to tear this place apart! Now come on!" The Tech & Cadets follow her lead, marching behind her as she directs them to the way out. The Rangers help with the evacuation, with Joel personally assisting a female Cadet, likely trying to make Angela jealous. Dana embraces her father's shoulder and tells him, "Daddy, let's go!" Captain Mitchell begins to come around, nodding his head and looking at her. He slowly turns as she leaves, but moves no farther towards any exit. He's planning to go down with the ship, as any good old fashioned Captain would. Meanwhile, in Skull Cavern, the Red Mobile Armored Vehicle streaks around the skull-face of the main palace. Red Ranger eventually pulls it to a landing stop on the trail below it. Carter hops out of the RMAV, and looks up towards the palace far atop a mountain in the distance, stating, "Hang on, Ryan. I'll get ya out of there." Even though it clearly showed him landing right at the mouth of the Cavern, when the scene cuts away, he's now way the heck away from it! He must have loved that jog up the side of the hill from the last time he was there, because he does it again, braving the harsh winds once more.

Back at Rescue Ops, Chad guides the Cadets & Technicians out of the area (notice, that he and all four of the Ranger Recruits are now fully demorphed for some odd reason). One of the Cadets brings a Lightspeed backpack with her, hopefully containing important top secret papers. Chad shouts, "Let's go! Move! Let's go! Come on!", etc. Kelsey is also pointing out that they should keep to their left as they make their way around the empty corridors. These lead to the backdoor, essentially, connecting under the Aquabase, and out to one of the long glass tubes. The dozens and dozens of Lightspeed Employees run for their lives through the long stretch of tunnel. Since the Connecting Tube (as Miss F calls these things) have glass overhead the whole way, the fleeing employees are able to get a full view of the Lifeforce Megazord as it smashes its Saber into another one of the towers. The final spark of electricity surging in the windows of said tower flicker and die out. Meanwhile inside Rescue Ops, only Captain Mitchell remains. He stands somberly in the middle of the sparking & frying room, looking around slowly at the rubble and static-filled monitors. Not far away, Ms. Fairweather, Dana, and Joel help the last of the Lightspeed Techs, Cadets, Guards, Scientists, and Circus Clowns exit the Aquabase safely. Kelsey & Chad report to Fairweather, Kels saying, "Everyone's out of sectors two & three." Angela remarks, "Great! That should be it!" Joel eagerly says, "Let's get out of here!" The five of them begin to head out the back door, when Fairweather stops them, "Wait! Where's Captain Mitchell?" Dana thinks for a moment and replies, "He's still in Rescue Ops!" Quickly, they race back down the passageway, as the walls continue sparking under stress in the background.

In Rescue Ops, Captain Mitchell stands expressionless as the base slowly crumbles around him. Fairweather leads the four Ranger Recruits in, and watching as Mitchell begins to clench his fist, she asks, "Captain! What are you doing?" Captain Mitchell explains, "Everything i've worked so hard for... is gone." Dana walks past her teammates and approaches her father, noting, "That's not true, dad." She reaches up and turns his head towards her, reminding him, "You still have Ryan AND me. And Miss Fairweather, and the other Rangers count on you." Joel smiles and nods, Angela nods, Chad gives a faint smirk, and Kelsey remains as wide-eyed as ever. The Captain takes one long look at their faces, and his depression breaks, as he tells Dana, "You're right." He puts his arms around his daughter and smiles, stating, "Let's get out of there!" Before they can move, the Lifeforce Megazord swings its Saber around, attacking another one of the towers. Ops is shooken, our heroes turn their attention upward. Outside, the Lifeforce Megazord maneuvers itself around into position. In its cockpit, several Batlings are hard at work on the blinking lights over on the walls. One turns and lifts its arms, prompting another, the one with the green cord attached to its neck, to squelch and grab the control stick. The Megazord reaches down with its left arm, and wraps its fingers around the Connecting Tube to the Aquabase! Joel & Fairweather listen cautiously as the battering against the base continues. The Lifeforce Megazord, holding onto the tube, floats in the water for a moment, before slamming both feet back on the ground. Dana hurries over to one of the windows and notes, "It's gonna hit the Connecting Tube!" Indeed it is, as the Lifeforce Megazord readies the long glass tunnel like a piece of sausage, and chops it in half with its mighty Saber! It breaks off from the center dome, the one containing Rescue Ops! Its destruction causes the strongest vibrations into there yet, knocking tons of debris all around, some of it falling on Mitchell & the Rangers as they're toppled to the floor. Joel covers Angela, trying to protect her as best he can.

Over at the door with the porthole in it, good old Bazookaling is back, and has his launcher aimed right into the small round window! It smashes the glass, and allows another Batling to pull the pin on a Bat-grenade, before tossing it through the porthole. The bomb strikes against one of the walls of consoles as it explodes, causing sparks and smoke to pour, the four helpless Ranger Recruits (with Mitchell & Fairweather) block the bright flashing with their arms, as more of the surrounding walls begin to spark up. Two or three more violent shakes to the base later, the main power supply cuts off, leaving them in Rescue Ops, lit only by the many console lights. Joel continues holding Angela, when a large sheet of metal drops down over the last unsealed door. Chad quickly darts across the sparking room, and hits a button on one of the upper controls. This causes the broken porthole to seal up with a smaller metal shutter, blocking out Bazookaling from his next blast attempt. Chad breathes heavily, and states, "That should do it." Joel replies, "I don't think so. We need to clear this!", as he walks over to where that sheet of metal and other debris fell. Kelsey & Fairweather try helping him free the backdoor, but its no use. The debris won't budge, and besides, as Joel points out, "The Connecting Tube's destroyed! We're trapped in here." Done have time to react, before suddenly the dome is rocked by another hit. The sound of silence following is torn apart by the creaking of glass. Dana turns and spots one of the windows in Ops, as it begins to slowly form a large crack in it! She walks closer, as do her father, Fairweather, and her teammates, witnessing the break in the window in terror. Notice the tiny air bubbles that are beginning to seep out of the crack on the ocean side of the window.

[commercials]

Meanwhile, in Skull Cavern. Remember earlier how I noted that the Rangers demorphing was odd? Well, it's all because of Carter. For some silly unspoken reason, he's demorphed while walking around the misty rooms of the Cavern! I suspect that there may have been a short brownout of the Lightspeed powers when the Base was being battered. Either that or Carter felt that bright red & white suit was easier to spot than his slightly less bright Lightspeed Rescue Jacket. Whatever the case, he wanders around the fog, in one of the rooms where the columns actually weren't tipped over in the recent destruction. Carter wonders to himself, "Where is everyone?", and quickly gets his answer. He hides behind a pillar, as he overhears he sound of many Batlings screeching from nearby. The Batlings are there, hundreds of thousands of them, all inside a vast arena! Several small torches are all that light the location, which Carter spies on with his eyes wide and his jaw dropped. At the center of the arena is Queen Bansheera & Jinxer. The millions of Batlings in the audience wave their bat-blades around in cheer. Bansheera proclaims, "The time has come to take Mariner Bay! Victory is at hand!" She presses her lengthy-fingered hand to her bosom after saying this. The Queen continues, "Soon our glorious palace will arise from the ashes of their destruction! NOTHING can stop us now!" The Batlings cheer wickedly, Bansheera laughs evilly, and Carter's attention turns to a room to the side. Inside this room, is a large Egyptian sarcophagus (two that I can see), some flaming torches, a mummified demon of some kind, and a pile of bones! Not just any piles of bones, but many, many human bones and skulls, adorning the top of a large coffin! EW! A closer inspection of the side of this coffin, or tomb as it were, reveals that there are quite a number of human skills protruding from all along its structure. This coffin sits a few feet away from Ryan, who is being held there, chained with his arms against two low block columns (with horned demon-skulls atop each one, which look EXACTLY like the one atop the chains that held Marina in "Ocean Blue"). When he collapses to his knees from exhaustion, one of his Batling guards forces him to stand back up.

Ryan opens his weary eyes, just in time to see Carter come rolling onto the scene, taking both of the Batlings down with a few swift hits. He snatches the key out of the second one's hand, and proceeds to free Ryan, who exclaims, "Am I glad to see you! You got here just in time. The Queen's going to start the ceremony when the solar eclipse happens." (notice that an eclipse already happened last episode, but that was due to Bansheera's influence, rather than this one, which appears to be a natural thing) Carter pauses and realizes, "But that's today!" Ryan adds, "That's why we have to hurry." Once freed, Ryan clutches his aching arms, as he & Carter stare at the boney demon coffin. Mist rolls off the top of its human skeleton decorated cover, sending a chill down both Rangers' spines. Carter says, "We'll figure out a way to stop her. First we better get out of here." He helps Ryan along, and they're about to escape, when Jinxer's voice is overheard nearby. Jinxer states, "Everything is going as planned, my queen!", as he bows between a row of Batlings. Carter peeks his head around a column to see what's going on, and witnesses Queen Bansheera, her body hovering high above a set of pillars! She replies to her servant, "Excellent. No go! You must begin to put the stones in place!" Jinxer obeys, saying, "As you command." He then turns to the Batlings and screams, "You heard the Queen! Now move it!" The Batlings quickly disperse at his order. Carter looks at Ryan after this, and tells him, "Follow me." Queen Bansheera floats over into the room where Ryan was being held (and due to the amount of statues and other items also there, it's either the Queen's new throne room or her broom closet), and finds Ryan still in the place he should be. He's pretending to be chained against the blocks, as the Queen lowers herself to the ground with maniacal laughter. She stands in front of the boney coffin, tapping her fingertips and boasting, "I have waited a LONG time for this day to arrive." Bansheera turns and walks towards Ryan, causing him to fake angrily struggling as she says, "Imagine the destruction, as I release every horrid creature upon your pitiful Earth! What a shame you won't be around to celebrate with us! Ahahahahaa!"

Where's Carter, you may wonder? Why, he's hiding out inside one of the sarcophaguses! His eyes peek out through the eyeslots, as he views the Queen's gloating. Somehow, be it a reflexed signal from the malfunctioning Aquabase, or simply he leaned against it, but his Rescue Morpher suddenly beeps! He jerks around in the sarcophagus, alerting Bansheera to wonder, "What was that?!" Carter's nervous fidgeting causes the Queen to realize his location, as she taps her fingers together and approaches Carter with evil glee, noting, "We have us a visitor!" With no way out, Carter whispers, "Now, Ryan!" Ryan, who had been sweating Carter's discovery, grips the two chain-cuffs holding his wrists unsecured, and snaps out of them. He then rushes over and tosses a leap kick at Queen Bansheera. She's knocked around, and when her attention is turned to Ryan, this allows Carter opportunity to bust out of his shell and slam his feet into her backside as well, before landing perfectly next to his teammate. Ryan & Carter look at each other, arms poised for battle, and nod. Batlings suddenly swarm in (did she buy these freaks on wholesale?!), prompting Queen Bansheera to point out, "You're outnumbered by a million to one!" Ryan informs the Queen, "We won't let you get away with this!" Carter agrees, "Right!", before hitting his Morpher and shouting, "Lightspeed Rescue!" He gets his full-screen Morph, ending up as the Red Lightspeed Ranger in a matter of seconds. Ryan tests out his Titanium Morpher for the first time onscreen since the Queen's partial return to this plane of existence. He presses the button, shouts, "Titanium Power!", and he morphs into the Titanium Ranger. Bansheera orders the Batlings to get the Red & Titanium Rangers, which they do. There's lots of punches thrown around, and even a Batling who just wants to squeeze Carter and hug him and pet him and call him George. Titanium Ranger does impossibly boosted spinning flips through the air, just to take a single Batling down. He winds up being faced by the bat-blades of a whole horde of Batlings, though instead of letting them pin him, he takes them under his armpit and grasps them all in his possession. Elsewhere, in the city of Mariner Bay, the Lightspeed damage control crew has just about completed their work on the downed Omega Megazord. Just when the orange flag waver guy is about to pack up his things, Jinxer & some Batlings teleport down on the flatbed truck right behind him! He's frightened, and ends up picked up and chucked over the side. The Batlings harass the men, smacking them around, and even stomping one on the chest. Jinxer orders them to follow him, "Batlings, let's gooo!" They do so, tagging along with the final living henchdemon, as he rushes into the head of the Omega Megazord!

[commercials]

Inside the cockpit of the Omega Megazord, Jinxer sits at the controls, cautiously pressing a few buttons. The Batlings have taken their seats, though aren't violently rowdy like those piloting the Lifeforce Megazord are. Jinxer is enjoying this, remarking, "Ooo! I've wanted to fly one these since I was a kid!" Over in Skull Cavern, Red Ranger rips into as many Batlings as he can. Though we must wonder, with great amount of weapons, why does he not use any? Pull a Blaster out, something! That's where you've got them for! Come to think of it, why didn't he take the RMAV and just fly it into there, guns ablazing? Was he afraid he'd actually have to use its never before seen Armor mode? Anyway, it's a Carter vs hundreds of Batlings fight. With moves you've seen so often, you know them by heart and can even pull them off at home. Eventually, a Batling swipes him in the chest with a Bat-blade, and he winds up being pinned against a pillar by two of them. Titanium Ranger (who I know everyone feels deserves more screen time than Red. I mean, if you're going to bore us with another Batling battle, at least make it with a Ranger who's been underused!) gets bashed into the air, smashing his body sparkily against a column, knocking it down. Both Rangers are now restrained in place by Batlings, prompting Queen Bansheera to fire a double discharge blast at them with her mighty hands. Red & Titanium Ranger are blasted backwards, and dropped to the floor. They struggle to arise, but can muster up no more strength, both lying in the mist until Batlings rush over and pick them up. Bansheera informs them, "You're finished! Mariner Bay is mine!" She points them to the good old wall fire-puddle/viewing screen, which shows the Omega Megazord in action in the city! Bansheera mentions, "We even have control of your Zords!" Ryan is stunned, likely thinking all that time he spent in the desert for naught, as he exclaims, "This can't be happening!"

The Omega Megazord is shown stomping through the streets, back on both its two feet once again, fully repaired. It purposely stamps its feet around near where citizens are standing and watching, causing them to be shaken about. The Megazord has a massive rock over its shoulder, which it is carrying past the various buildings. Jinxer is still in control, swiveling the stick around and saying, "Putting the first stone in place!" That he does, causing the Omega Megazord to slam the stone down into the streets, the backlash from the sudden slamming causes quite a few of the citizens below to be pummeled with debris. The stone, which is as tall as the buildings, is long, and made of rock. It's down right phallic, actually, though it looks more like something some kid's bad clay art project gone worse. Anyway, it's just slightly smaller than the Omega Megazord, which turns, and slowly marches off to retrieve the second stone. The citizens of Mariner Bay begin to panically flee down the streets, what they do best. Queen Bansheera commends her lackey, "Jinxer, you've DONE it!" Jinxer replies through the puddle, "Thank you, my queen! Hehe!", with his Batling copilots all giving him a round of applause. He adds, "I'm putting the stones in place as instructed!" In Skull Cavern, Bansheera exclaims, "Yes! Once the circle of stone is complete the ceremony will be able to begin. And no one will have the power stop me, not even YOU!" She lifts her hands and fires another double douse of thunderous electricity. One blast of energy for each of the two Rangers, knocking them clear of the Batlings that were restraining them, at least. Titanium & Red Ranger are struck so hard by these attacks, that they're actually blown OUT of Skull Cavern, shooting off from the skullface's eye sockets. Ryan & Carter spin around in the air, screaming, as they plummet down into the wasteland surrounding the Cavern. In Mariner Bay, the Omega Megazord caused a building to explode as it makes way for the second of the large stones. The populous run for their lives, but all the running in the world won't help them soon enough. Finally, back under the bay, the Lifeforce Megazord continues bashing its Saber into the shattering hull of the Lightspeed Aquabase. Chad & Kelsey arise from their places sitting on the floor, as they witness something awful. Dana & Captain Mitchell are next to each other, with Dana gasping aloud at what is shown. The crack in the window has given way to the point that Rescue Ops is taking on water. It begins to pour slowly down the side of the wall, frying with some of the electrical circuits it rolls over. Our helpless heroes watch as the water drips faster and faster into the Aquabase. Ms. Fairweather clutches Joel's hand in fear, as the others rise to the feet and await the inevitable. Sure hope they know how to do the breaststroke, cause it's sink or swim time!

[To Be Continued...; Scenes from "The Fate Of Lightspeed, Pt.2"; end credits]