Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
"Riding The Edge"
Original Air Date: 03/04/00		Based on: GoGo Five #02 - Tatsumaku Saimaa Zoku! (The Saima Clan Tornado!)
*7th Regular Season (4th of the 8th Season by Series) *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1004 *4th episode of PRLR *342nd total Power Rangers episode
Writer: Judd Lynn		Director: Koichi Sakamoto
Starring Cast: Michael Chaturantabut _AS_ Chad Lee (Blue 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) Ron Rogge _AS_ Captain William Mitchell Jennifer L. Yen _AS_ Vypra		Additional Cast: Rachel Monet Koda _AS_ Nancy Cooper Gillian Holt _AS_ Reporter Neil Kaplan _AS_ Diabolico (voice) David Lodge _AS_ Loki (voice) Kim Strauss _AS_ Jinxer (voice) Wen Yann Shih _AS_ Impus (voice, uncredited) John Hyke _AS_ Whirlin' (voice)

SUMMARY:

[Recap of "Operation Lightspeed", "Lightspeed Teamwork", & "Trial By Fire"]

Nancy Cooper casually jogs down a sidewalk in Mariner Bay with her dog, Dorsie, on a fairweather morning. She encourages her dog by telling her she's doing great in keeping up, and soon, Nancy pauses to tie her shoelace that has come undone. In doing so, she release her grip on Dorsie's leash, allowing the mutt to run out into the middle of the street! Nancy calls out for her dog to come back, but it just sits down in between oncoming traffic, and waits for someone to drop a Chalupa. Nancy begins to dart out after it, but is grabbed by a man nearby, preventing her from getting flattened by a car passing by! Nancy continues calling out for Dorsie, gathering quite a crowd of bystanders, awaiting the sight of dog-brains splattered across the road. Suddenly, a car is headed right towards the conniving canine, the driver unable to swerve away in time! Luckily, just then, a rollerblading Kelsey leaps over some parked cars on the side of the road, racing into the street, snatching up Dorsie and peeling off just as the car comes to a screeching halt where the dog once was and a likely pile of poop remains! Nancy spotted Kelsey coming to rescue, but covered her eyes in fear during the actual event, uncovering them to see a smiling Kelsey across the road, waving with Dorsie safely in hand. Kelsey shouts that she got her, continuing to wave as Nancy breathes a sigh of relief. Kelsey slowly skates backwards, out into more traffic! Nancy screams for her to look out, and Kelsey barely ducks in time, rollerblading right under a large packing truck! Kelsey makes it to the other sidewalk before any more vehicles can hit her, and comes to a wobbly halt with Dorsie no worse for the wear. Kelsey gives a thumbs up, the heroic bystander who saved Nancy and had been holding onto her to prevent her from running into street finally lets go after taking a look to see the area clear, and the crowd of people rush to the other side to greet the rollerblading dog-saver. Dorsie is back in her loving master's arms, and is rewarded for its near-death stupidity with hugs and petting. Nancy thanks Kelsey, she calmly replies about there being no worries, they exchange names and Kelsey is pleased to meet both of them. Nancy remarks Kelsey must be crazy but is very glad she is, and Kelsey continues her new catch-phrase by saying crazy is her middle name! Both laugh, Kelsey has to be going, much to Nancy's dismay (what, are they setting up a romance between these two already?), she says her good-byes and skates off into the sunrise.

[opening credits. Again, Fairweather credited, but not on the episode. She under the (fair)weather or something?]

In the thunderous pocket dimension where the Skull Cavern castle (or Skull Palace) resides, we find the present master of evil Diabolico addressing his small band of demons. He states that he grows tired of these pesky Power Rangers, and it's time to reclaim Mariner Bay, to finally rebuild their palace. Loki asks Diabolico to let him go take care of them, assuring him that he can handle it. Vypra says she wouldn't do that if she were him, they need a monster the Rangers can't even get close to (obviously talking from experience after her recent near-defeat at Carter's hands). Loki takes offense at this, asking her what she means, but she just folds her arms and doesn't say a word about it, but the implications of Loki being a slow dolt weight heavy. Diabolico says Vypra's right, and she's given him an incredible idea, telling Jinxer its time to create! He quickly summons forth one of those evil demon RPG cards, handing it to Jinxer and explaining that he wants something that will blow everyone away. Jinxer cackles evilly and says it'll be his pleasure, taking the card and heaves it into the smoky gargoyle mouth against the back wall. Jinxer then begins his incantation: "Tornado winds, blow from the East, transform this card into a monstrous beast!" The golden rod atop the statue's head glows with energy, Jinxer laughs, Loki watches in amazement and Diabolico shouts a triumphant "yes!" as the mouth opens up into an evil universe. Jinxer continues waving his hands as Vypra stands around in the background, he commands the spell to bring them a demon that will make the Queen proud! As per usual, the mention of the Queen's name causes Impus, her son, to coo for Mama. The spell completes, as a monster pops out of the mouth in a swirl of energy! Diabolico takes a good look at him and calls him absolutely perfect. The creature calls himself Whirlin', mentioning he's at their service.

Underwater in the Lightspeed Aquabase, inside the Aqua Apartment (which, so far, is only the female living quarters), Dana is sitting down, eating pretzels and reading a magazine while the television is on. Not really paying attention to the tube, as the program on is interrupted by a special news report by Live 5 News! A female reporter (talking like its a regular news report, rather than late breaking stuff) reports that Mariner Bay Space Development Program is launching its new shuttle. Footage shown is of the NASADA shuttle, awaiting liftoff from the hanger. The reporter states that as final preparations are underway, a space program spokesman has announced that this shuttle flight will launch a low orbit satellite. The mission will be flown by first time pilot Nancy Cooper, a first in her class graduate of Mariner Bay's flight academy! Dana turns to the news, and soon Kelsey enters the room, grabbing a pretzel and putting her things away over at her bed. She overhears the news report, and takes a look just as footage of Nancy (it looks like someone from the news followed Nancy on her morning jog, as its just reused stuff from earlier in the show!) comes on. Kelsey recognizes her, rushes over to the tv, kicks up a stool and sits close to it. Dana asks who Nancy is, Kelsey reminds her she's the girl she told her about, with the puppy. The news shows Nancy and her copilot in the cockpit, getting ready for liftoff and around about to start the countdown. The three Ranger guys enter the room, Joel asks them if they're ready to go as he picks up the pretzel bowl and munches away. Dana tells him to wait a sec as Kelsey's friend is on tv, the Lightspeed Ranger teens take a moment to watch as the Space Shuttle lifts off into space. Again, the footage is from Megaranger, or to be continuity-specific, "Chase Into Space" & "Save Our Ship". The Astro Megaship "M" is even clearly seen on the side of the ship, for now, and i'll mention it again later.

The reporter fills in info on the shuttle's mission, that is will spend only a quick 4 hours where it will run several ships maneuvers and vacuum tests which have been strategically mapped out, as well as the satellite launch. This seems to be proof that NASADA didn't give up on their space program after the Rangers took off with it years back, as visual evidence suggests. The short flight time also matches the instant shuttles we saw used in PRLG quite often, space exploration has come a long way in the PR universe, which this series is a continued part of whether you like it or not! The Rangers watch the takeoff in awe, and even the reporter is impressed by the spectacular shuttle launching sight. Joel's scarfing down the pretzels when his Rescue Morpher beeps (a different communications sound than last time). He quickly utters a "go" into it while continuing to view the tube, and Captain Mitchell is in the operations headquarters, telling his team they've got trouble! The viewing screen reveals a tornado in the city, Joel asks if it can wait, but Mitchell sternly states his name and he quickly complies by telling the Captain they'll be right there. Our heroes grab their Jackets, hop in the Lightspeed Humvee, it lowers in the Transport Bay, they drive out into the city via the tunnel. Meanwhile, high above the atmosphere, the Space Shuttle floats around (in reused "Quasar Quest 1" footage), mission control congratulates the two pilots and says that they may now engage the autopilot, which Nancy does. The Shuttle glides gently through the air in outer space.

Back in Mariner Bay, the dark twister whips around above the water, getting closer to an outdoor cafe! The Lightspeed Power Rangers are already Morphed and on the scene, Red Ranger calls this crazy, ordering his team to get everyone inside, and he begins aiding people out of the dangerously high winds into shelter. Each of the Rangers helps in evacuating the area, but the tornado approaches faster, increasing the winds to the point that one guy ends up hanging onto a fence! He loses his grip and is sent flying into the air, until Yellow Ranger leaps up and takes him safely down. As quickly as it came, the tornado vanishes, leaving the cafe a mess. Where the tornado disappeared in the sky, there is now a ring of fire floating above, projecting inside it an image of Diabolico! The Lightspeed Rangers rush as close as they can get and witness their main villain at last! Diabolico laughs and introduces himself, Carter asks what he wants, and he tells them he's come to destroy their precious city and restore Queen Bansheera's magnificent palace! The fiery ring fades, Carter shouts for him to wait, but the image has returned to its original form, that of the deadly twister. It blasts out heroes with a gust of wind as it rips through the docks and heads into the city. Red Ranger tells his team to come on, as they've got to stop him, apparently having been told of the Whirlin' Monster by Mitchell earlier. Elsewhere, the Space Shuttle floats in the heavens above. Where there was once the "M" symbol there is now only a black square and a blank space. It burn off in liftoff, or did Ms. Fairweather sneak onboard and rip it out before anyone could foil her next attempts at stealing Zord technology?

[commercials]

The Shuttle flies through outer space. If you've seen the movie "Heavy Metal", you might be half-expecting a Corvette to come popping out of it, floating down to Earth for a Soft Landing. Speaking of "Heavy Metal", the Lightspeed Rangers chase the tornado into the huge shipping crate area every town on PR seems to have. They brave the winds, rogue rolling barrels and loose pieces of newspaper flying around, and come within range of the twister at last. Red Ranger does a scan with his helmet visor, discovering via a thermograph that the monster is inside the tornado. He gets a lock on him, aims his Rescue Blaster and fires at the baddie dead-center. The tornado dies off, and Whirlin' lands before the Rangers, steaming mad! Whirlin' tells them to realize that they can't stop him, cackling evilly, until Carter tells him to save his breath, promising that he & his friends will stop him. Whirlin' decides to introduce them to his own friends, as a group of Batlings sprout from the ground. Blue Ranger notes that the monster's got a lot of friends, Red Ranger buts that they've got each other. Whirlin' orders the Batlings to destroy them, the Bats whip out their swords and squirm towards our heroes. The Rangers take their Rescue Blasters and shift them into Baton Mode, before rushing into battle. Blue Ranger gives a mighty shout as he bats his way through the crowd of Batlings, poking them in their chest with the blunt object he's been given. Green Ranger climbs on a conveniently placed telephone line above, eventually reaching the top of one of the crates, where he uses it to maneuver around as he faces four Batlings. He swings around on and over it, kicking the creatures down, and if that's a power line, i'm sure just touching them is shocking enough. Pink Ranger is trigger happy, firing at Batlings with her Rescue Blaster like crazy, compensating for her lack of skills. Yellow Ranger confronts a group of Batlings (what, are they multiplying by the second?), but escapes when the going is good via an automated rope attached to her belt. All that mountain scaling proves worth her time, as she reaches a high point on the rafters above and uses it to fire down at the Batlings with her Blaster.

The four hours are up (the Rangers must have been chasing that twister for quite a while!), as the Shuttle makes reentry into the atmosphere. Nancy is going over system checks, stating the booster engines are clear, as the ship swoops downwards through the clouds. Back at the shipping yard, Red Ranger gets knocked around by Whirlin'. He finally is thrown to the ground, but gets back up with his Baton still at the ready. Whirlin' boasts he can't be defeated and is invincible, but Carter will just have to see about that, rushing back into battle. The demon stops his progression for aggression by blasting some firebolts from his head into Red Ranger, taking him down. Not fit to do any driving, the other Rangers have finished up the Batling parade and scramble to their team leader's side. Carter rubs his back and assures them that he's alright, but they still comfort him anyway. All then turn to Whirlin' who quickly is seen standing over the smoking remains of an overturned vehicle, as he fires some more eyeblasts at the Rangers! The whole team falls to the ground, where they quickly whip out their Rescue Blasters and fire at Whirlin', causing him to retreat, but promising to be back. He reverts to twister mode, and begins to plague the skies once more. In the skies above, the Shuttle approaches the city, Nancy notices the weather condition coming up on them. It's clearly a tornado, she watches in shock for but a second and then tells her mute copilot to hold on as they fly right into it! High winds and loads of debris batter the shuttle, but Nancy acts fast to keep everything as steady as possible. Her copilot, by the way, isn't paid to speak, so anytime he says anything, like here where he mentions they're at an altitude of 48,000 and dropping, it's someone else's voice dubbing in.

Red Ranger calls on the Rescue Bird, the schematics then fill his visor screen. The Shuttle continues riding the edge of the tornado, Nancy frantically flipping buttons and wrestling with the controls. The Rescuebird separates in mid-flight upon the word of Carter, the components fall into each of the Power Rangers' hands, but don't have time to be used. Instead, Carter attaches his Blaster Grip to the Cutter section, announcing Unilaser formation to be created, now! Each of the pieces are packed on tightly to create the Rescuebird's blaster form. Red Ranger holds the Unilaser in his hands as his teammates back him up, helping brace for the kickback from the firing of the weapon. Readying, aiming and firing it, a stream of energy blasts up into the tornado, striking Whirlin' and blowing him into small chunky pieces of beef on the ground! The Lightspeed Rangers twirl their Blasters into their holsters (where the hell did the Rescuebird go?!), just as Captain Mitchell contacts them. Kelsey answers it, the Captain informs them the Space Shuttle is in trouble. He has Nancy on the viewing screen, she's calling to mission control about the loss of altitude. Mitchell tells the Rangers the tornado hit the shuttle hard and there's lots of damage, saying that they don't think she'll be able to land on her own (of course not, that's why she has the copilot with her, Silly Willy!). Kelsey remembers Nancy is in there, but Joel pats her shoulder and tells her not to worry, recommending to Captain Mitchell that he help out with Aero Rescue 3. Mitchell, recalling Joel's last bout of brash showboating, warns him he can't do it alone because he won't be able to land safely and they'll both crash! Green Ranger understands, but knows they've got to do something. Yellow Ranger then announces she's come up with an idea of what to do, Red Ranger asks her to let them hear it, but Kelsey, who thrives off being crazy, says she'd tell them but they'd think she was crazy (that's bothered her before when?)! Yellow Ranger turns around, presses her wrist, and calls for Rescuezords to mobilize.

The Train Bay rises from the Aquabase, and once it surfaces (to the usual crowd of onlookers on the seaside), each of the Rail Rescues roll out on their own, no annoying robot needed to pilot them! Supertrain links up, crosses the bridge, races through the city and past that same Monorail as last time, finally reaching the center of Mariner Bay City, coming to a halt in the street. The Lightspeed Rangers run down the road, Joel shouts "let's hit it" as they board their Rail Rescues. Carter tells Kelsey to call the shots, as each of the Rangers takes charge of their Rescuezords by means of the Blaster Grips. Kelsey has Joel locate the shuttle up in the air, he tells her she's got it, as he takes off in Aero Rescue 3. Kelsey takes Haz Rescue 4 and tells Dana to follow her (a complete reversal of the conversation in "Lightspeed Teamwork", where Dana told Kelsey to follow her), Dana does as ordered by her teammate and follows in Med Rescue 5. The Space Shuttle is coming down fast, and Nancy seems panic-stricken for what to do, as her copilot remains silent. I suspect he may have swallowed his tongue by now.

[commercials]

Shuttle swooping, Nancy plays with the control stick in the cockpit. Green Ranger contacts the shuttle with a jaunty hello, informing them Aero Rescue 3 is at their service! Nancy glances over in shock at the sight of the Lightspeed Rescuezord flying parallel to the ship, and her copilot could easily be replaced by a piece of cardboard. Nancy tells Joel that her controls are jammed, including the landing gear, and he tells her not to worry. He then tells Kelsey he's in position, she gives the word for him to attach his cable magnets onto the shuttle. Nancy asks what they're for, Kelsey tells her they're going to help them land! Joel rogers that command, swerving over above the shuttle, telling Nancy to try to hold 'er steady as he locks on with the magnetic hooks. Nancy reminds him to be careful as she doesn't have much control, and the magnets latch on slowly but surely. Aero Rescue lifts the shuttle back into a horizontal hold, as Chad notices as such on his readings display, mentioning it to Carter, who calls that fantastic, but notes they can't land at the speed they're going in. Kelsey tells Dana to clear the freeway, it's about to become a makeshift landing strip! Med Rescue backs up into the jam-packed streets, and lowers its back hatch. The people, who are standing around and honking their horns, listen as Pink Ranger tells them this is an emergency and they must clear the freeway by driving their cars into the Med Rescue vehicle. The people quickly comply, proceeding into the incredibly spacious Rescuezord, within seconds filling both levels of the Parking Garage/ Zord. Dana seals them all up inside safely, but hopefully cracks a window so the exhaust doesn't kill everybody.

The car load complete, Dana salutes Kelsey and tells her the freeway is open and all hers, presumably then taking the cars and dumping them all into the bay. Yellow Ranger drives the Haz Rescue down the freeway, telling Green Ranger to set the shuttle down on her roof. Joel is baffled by this plan of landing the shuttle on her Zord while its moving, Nancy also astonished by this, saying that Yellow Ranger must be crazy! Kelsey replies that crazy is her middle name, which sparks Nancy's memory, asking if that's Kelsey, to which Yellow Ranger replies "the one and only". Nancy figures if the insane fearless rollerblading dog-saver traffic-dodger thinks this will work, then she does to, calmly accepting the plan by shouting "let's go!". Kelsey says that's the spirit, Joel begins the descent and Aero Rescue 3 lowers the Space Shuttle slowly towards the open (but building-surrounded) freeway. Kelsey's all set for them to land, Nancy gets a visual of Haz Rescue below, telling Joel to be steady and smooth with the landing. Joel claims he's all over it, this reminds him of his air show days (way back 3 episodes ago), telling her to hold on cause here comes the Sky Cowboy! Approaching the Haz Rescuezord from above, Aero Rescue lowers the Space Shuttle close to it, and then detaches cable magnets. The shuttle is on its own, floating slowly downwards onto the Haz Rescue, which is driving in a matching speed (luckily, no curves in the road at all!). Kelsey apparently needs no hands to drive it, as she claps her hands and proclaims its almost over! Nancy lands the shuttle safely (but a bit harshly, i'm sure the paintjob is going to be ruined on both) atop Haz Rescue. Kelsey asks Carter how she's doing, he tells her to ease it down as she's running out of freeway. Chad quickly shouts "you can do it, Kelsey", for support. Attempting to slow down is easier said than done, as the brakes are applied, the shuttle slides forward. Nancy is able to control its speed to match the Zord's, bouncing the shuttle several times on the roof of Haz Rescue but holding on strong. Kelsey grabs the control stick, and goes full reverse on the throttle, yanking Haz Rescue aback, just as the freeway comes to an end thanks to a huge chunk of it taken out by the tornado. Thankfully, the shuttle has also stopped as well, and doesn't move an inch from the Zord during the sudden stop on the edge of the bridge. Nancy and her copilot are very shaken, but no worse for wear. She realizes they did it, high-fiving her useless partner and shouting to Kelsey about the fact that they did it! Kelsey breathes a sigh of relief, calling that whole stunt crazy, even for her!

Pyro Rescue 1 approaches, with Rescue Ladder Arms extended, picking up the Shuttle and placing it gently on the ground. Kelsey thanks Carter for that, he remarks she did all the hard work, she mentions she sure didn't do it alone, but nothing is like doing the impossible. Nancy thanks all of them for saving her life, but that damned copilot remains very ungrateful indeed! Ha-rumph! Meanwhile, over by the shipping yard, the remains of Whirlin' are smokin' where they lie. Above them, on a large metal tower, Jinxer appears, lamenting about the things he has to do. Jinxer tells Whirlin' his task isn't finished yet, as he throws another evil trading card into the well-roasted monster meat. Jinxer recites a spell: "Demon of wind, demon of bats, pull yourself together and defeat those brats! Rise Whirlin', rise and destroy!". The beefy remnants of Whirlin' suddenly turn into bats, which swarm together in the sky and resurrect Whirlin' in giant mode! The Rangers, and Nancy, gasp in horror as Whirlin' heads their way, blasting up buildings and parts of the bridge. Chad mentions to Carter that it's time to step it up a level, and Red Ranger initiates Lightspeed Megazord mode! The Lightspeed Rangers bring their Rescuezord together like usual, creating the huge corporate-owned Mecha called the Lightspeed Megazord.

The Lightspeed Megazord stands ready for battle with all systems go. Whirlin' does what he calls a "wind spin", spinning around in place and creating a tornado that attacks the Megazord. Our heroes hang tight, struggling successfully to keep the Megazord from moving at all during the debris-ridden cyclone. The arms are lifted up, and once Whirlin' pauses from doing the evil twist, Carter activates Lightspeed Ladder Arms in full power thrust! Whirlin' takes a major beating, and then is given a lift, the Megazord picks him up like it did to Magmavore a while back. The Megazord swings him around in the air and tosses him into a crowded area of the city, killing hundreds of innocent people in the process. Oh, well, that's progress! Green Ranger jokes that's the last of the windbag, but Blue Ranger tells them not to go celebrating too fast and take a look. The smoke clears from the explosion between the buildings where our heroes tosses Whirlin', revealing the monster alive and well! Red Ranger quickly calls on Lightspeed Megazord Saber to ignite, it pops out from within the Lightspeed symbol on the belt buckle of the Megazord and charges up. With a full power, fired up blazing circle made in the air for no reason other than it looks pretty, the Lightspeed Saber slashes down and rips through Whirlin's, spinning him right round one last time. Whirlin' dies in a big blast, proving he must have been full of a lot of hot air after all. Nancy is watching from the Shuttle cockpit, speaking into her headset to the Rangers that nothing seems to be impossible to them! The Lightspeed Megazord poses between two shiny buildings reflecting the sun off of them.

[commercials]

Nancy ditched the Shuttle, and is now out on the smoking debris filled streets, waving for Kelsey. Kel rushes over, carrying her helmet, with her still fully Morphed teammates in tow. Kelsey & Nancy hug, Nancy says she should have known she'd turn out to be a Power Ranger. She asks what it is like to be a part of Lightspeed Rescue, Kelsey energetically shouts that she loves it! Kelsey calls it funny though, that she actually always dreamed of flying a Space Shuttle. Nancy replies by saying that after seeing the kind of rescues the Rangers have to do, she suggests she keep her job and Kelsey keep hers! Everyone laughs, Chad seconds that to Joel, who agrees. Kelsey puts her arm around Kelsey, and the pearly white smiles begin to blind the cameramen. Meanwhile, in the Skull Palace, Diabolico stands among his henchmonsters, remarking that the Rangers may have won this battle but they shall win the war, Mariner Bay will be destroyed and their palace will rise (presumably on the physical plane, assuming the Skull Cavern palace IS Bansheera's Palace, just unable to form physically on the surface of the Earth anywhere but Mariner Bay) again!

[scenes from "A Matter Of Trust"; end credits]