Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
"Wheels Of Destruction"
Original Air Date: 03/18/00		Gold beaked monster from: GoGo Five #09 - Mesu Mareta Chikara (Robbery Of Capabilities) Elestomp and other footage from: GoGo Five #17 - Matoi No Hanayome Kouho (Matoi's Bridal Candidate)
*7th Regular Season (6th of the 8th Season by Series) *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1006 *6th episode of PRLR *344th total Power Rangers episode
Writer: Judd Lynn		Director: Isaac Florentine
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) Monica Louwerens _AS_ Ms. Fairweather Ron Rogge _AS_ Captain William Mitchell Jennifer L. Yen _AS_ Vypra		Additional Cast: Neil Kaplan _AS_ Diabolico (voice) David Lodge _AS_ Loki (voice) Kim Strauss _AS_ Jinxer (voice) Wen Yann Shih _AS_ Impus (voice, uncredited) Neil Kaplan _AS_ Gold Beaked Monster [24 Karat Bat] (voice) Steve Apostolina _AS_ Elestomp (voice)

SUMMARY:

[Scenes from "Operation Lightspeed", "Lightspeed Teamwork", & "Riding The Edge".]

Inside the Lightspeed Aquabase's secret Weapons Lab, we find the ever absent Ms. Fairweather, hard at work (whole lot of former Ranger items that are in need of ripping-off!) on a Rescue Power Systems Analysis terminal. Her work is calm and steady, until the voice of the Green Ranger Joel is heard, calling out to "Miss F". He walks over from the spiral staircase, and approaches her, saying that he was thinking that maybe later on they might have a chance to... The sexual advances interrupted by the sound of the klaxons blaring and the alarms sounding, his Rescue Morpher beeps with the voice of Captain Mitchell alerting him to a code red. Dana leads the other Rangers into the room, passing on the other side against the wall where their Jackets are held, shouting out to Joel that it's time to go. Fairweather gives a crooked smile and with fake concern by saying "Darn it! Guess you have got to go". Joel tips his cowboy hat and says that duty calls, rushing over to the Lightspeed Humvee (Rescue Rover, same thing), hopping in just as its lowered down with his teammates in it. Chad asks Joel if he forgot something, and then tosses him the Jacket he carelessly left behind without realizing. Ms. Fairweather folds her arms and watches the five teens prepare to roll away into action.

Soon, in the middle of the city called Mariner Bay, a bat monster swoops through the skies, with the Lightspeed Power Rangers chasing after him on foot. The track him down to the middle of an empty courtyard, where he lands and orders the Batlings to attack. The bat monster, by the way, is only called the "Gold Beaked Monster" in the end credits. So i've named him a little more aptly as the 24 Karat Bat. He's sort of the Demon Batling Pimp, what with all the gold implants in his face and all. The Batlings advance, and our already Morphed heroes break off into individual sections to take on the dark drones. Red Ranger gives a might foot sweep and takes a few down while on the ground. Green Ranger flips around on the scenery, before eventually elbow punching a Batling down, and punching another in the stomach before socking it to its knee. Yellow Ranger backflips a bit, using the stair-railing to gain some leverage in battle, as she knocks the crunchy critters all over the place. Pink Ranger does some flips and kicks, while Blue Ranger does the same in his own way, utilizing nothing short of fancy footwork.

The Batlings apparently defeated, the Rangers face Beak-brain, who stands on the steps and call that just a warm, asking them if they can handle this, as he fires some beak-blasts at them. Pink Ranger barely dodges the explosions, and flips backwards into her teammates. They must have been doing some intense training maneuvers lately, because the four Rangers grab her safely as she falls, lifting her body up into the air with ease. Dana yells to the monster about that being no problem, and asking him if he can handle this, as her teammates launch her body into the air. Pink Ranger pulls out her Rescue Blaster, the 24 Karat Bat takes a fall and ends up elsewhere in the area. He recovers from the attack, whining about hating when he pounds the pavement. Our heroes regroup perfectly so as to let Beaky offer to let them try the pavement pounding thing, by whipping up his wings and causing bursts of wind that rip the tile off the ground and send bricky debris right at them. The Rangers brave the wind and cement chips, and once they've fallen over, they wait for the 24 Karat Bat to laugh, and then they pull out their Blasters and fire away at his well-polished face-mask. The barrage of lasers is too much for the monster, and for the first time since Ghouligan, the Power Rangers have completely defeated a demon by just using their Rescue Blasters (I guess Jinxer wasn't paid his cut of the Batling-Pimping racket, and decided not to throw Beaky a booster card). Our heroes finally get their wind-blown butts up, Carter commends them on nice teamwork and the five twirl their Blasters back into the holsters. Red Ranger notes the monster won't be bothering Mariner Bay again, to which Green Ranger says he's got that right.

The group begins to race off, when Dana halts them, claiming to hear something. The others take a listen to the breeze, as the sound of an engine roaring and tires squealing begins to grow in intensity. Kelsey wonders what it is, and soon they see, as Vypra rolls in with a remodeled Galactic Rover! Vypra parks her go-cart rather swiftly in front of our heroes, they remained stunned at the sight long enough for her to let them try a taste of her new wheels' firepower. With the flick of a button, the cannons on the roof fire away at the Lightspeed Rangers. This quick flash of laserpower is enough to startle them into battle, all quickly whipping out their Blasters and firing at Vypra in return. Her new cart has a pretty nice shielding system, which blocks all attacks with a purple forcefield. Carter is shocked at how all five of their blasts didn't even leave a scratch, and Vypra merely laughs, as she revs up and peels off towards the Rangers.

[opening credits.]

Vypra burns rubber with her new wheels, we later learn is actually called the "Vyprari". Green Rangers steps forward from his team and claims that he's got her, leaping into the air at the oncoming vehicle and firing at it with his Blaster. The blasts do no good, and even worse, Joel manages to bumps his leg on the well-shielded vehicle, which sends an electrical jolt into his body, knocking him away and down into a world of pain. Blue Ranger cries out for his injured pal, just as the Vyprari rips through the Rangers, one by one, sending them each down in a sparkly heap. Vypra comments from her seat (she may be evil, but even she knows enough to wear her seatbelt! Though now i'm wondering how someone locked away for 5000 years knows how to drive so well....) that they had no effect. She steps on the brake and spins around to a perfect stop, taking a good look at the beaten Rangers, and shouting that it's just as she thought, in her Vyprari, she's invincible! Vypra takes off again, leaving the Rangers behind with no choice but to follow and revoke her license. The Lightspeed Rangers race to the Rescue Rover, hop in, and despite being Morphed and thus protected, Carter makes a mention for them to put their seatbelts on. Safety first, kids!

The Humvee soon speeds after the Vyprari, and makes it within range of her, so Carter tells his pals to hold on tight and for Chad to try to take our her tires. Blue Ranger begins firing his Rescue Blaster at Vypra, and soon the others follow suite (even Green Ranger, whom if you look at the footage, is just holding his blaster like he's pretending to fire, as no lasers exit the weapon! Joel, you goof!). The Vyprari manages to hold the shielding during the blasting, and turns a corner, leaving the Rescue Rover in the dust, and laser-smoke. She seems to be getting away, and when the Humvee makes it around the corner, Vypra's completely gone from sight! The Rangers take a good look around (Blue & Green have unbuckled themselves and are standing while scouting), only to find that the Vyprari has completely vanished. Fortunately, every motorist from Mariner Bay is also missing, as the streets are totally devoid of moving vehicles of any kind. I guess every did take the Train after all. Carter's right about how she didn't just disappear, as Vypra seems to have lapped our heroes, as she comes up from behind them! The Rangers can't react quick enough to the sneaky trick, and are completely unprepared for the cannon-blasting by the Vyprari. With the Power Rangers fried senseless, Vypra races away, back the way she came from earlier. Red Ranger isn't about to let her escape, and backs the smoking Rover up, pulling it around just in time to see a trail of purple-fire tire trails left by the Vyprari as it shifted into turbo. Our heroes hop out of the Humvee with their Blasters ready, only to realize Vypra is now long gone, as they watch the fires fade away. Carter can't believe it, she was just playing with them, and totally kicked their bumpers!

Soon at the Aquabase, Ms. Fairweather gets a shock when she sees the Rescue Rover return, as a beaten, smoking mess (though all of the black spraypaint on the sides of the Humvee I think really came from the Rangers taking a wrong turn into the bad side of the tracks). Fairweather asks the weary Ranger teens what happened, they're somberly silent, except Carter, who informs her that Vypra has a new battle vehicle. The five exit the Rover and slowly make their way into Aquabase, and on the way by, Joel takes a long lovelorn look at Ms. Fairweather as she stands in front of the Humvee with her arms crossed, pondering what to steal, err, do next. Later in the Conference room, the Lightspeed Rangers sit at the table, debriefing Captain Mitchell, who finds the situation interesting. Dana says that they had the Rover's defenses up, but her lasers just blasted right through them. The Captain asks if they returned fire, Carter says they were ineffective as her shields deflected every shot. Joel notes the incredible speed of Vypra's vehicle, saying that she ran circles around them. Mitchell soaks the battle info in by standing up and walking around the room (though, why didn't he know all this? Lightspeed has always monitored their fights before! Down for repairs?). Chad gets a line, and says that he thinks she was testing them, to which Mitchell mentions is exactly correct, and now she knows for sure they can't beat her with the Rescue Rover. The Rangers look at each other, dramatically.

Back in the Transport Bay, Lightspeed Technicians are hard at work on fixing the Rescue Rover. Ms. Fairweather pulls a charred piece of the engine out from under the smoking hood, and shows it to Captain Mitchell. Fairweather says that if Vypra could damage the Rover like this, she'd hate to think what else she's capable of. The Captain asks her what they can do, Fairweather doesn't know, yet, smiling as she heads back into her lab, likely already plotting to recycle a few old Ranger toys she's had her eye on. Meanwhile in the Skull Cavern, Diabolico & Vypra spend some quality time together inside the main palace room. He waves his pointy-staff around, as he mentions she says the Rangers didn't even come close to touching her, but asks if her Vyprari is so powerful then why didn't she just destroy them?! Diabolico aims his staff at her and forces her to answer him, she says that she will once it's recharged (what, did she use Serpentera brand Batteries?) she'll lay waste to Mariner Bay so that their Queen Bansheera will rise again. Vypra smiles cherubly at Impus, who coos out for mama upon hearing her name, as usual. Loki drops by (wherever he just was is a mystery to us, since this is apparently the only room they've bothered building a set for!), and complains about Vypra and her silly Vyprari, telling her to grow up as she'll never beat the Rangers with that toy. Diabolico stomps his staff down and asks if he has a better idea, to which Loki grunts he always does, handing a Demon Card to Jinxer, for his collection. And like most kids when they get CCG cards, Jinxer calls it an excellent choice and quickly throws it away. Into the monster mouth, of course, and recites a spell "Like the elephant who will never forget, make the best Ranger-stomper yet!" The mouth spews forth a green spirit that forms into Elestomp, an elephant demon who stamps his feet down a lot (hence his name), and asks what they want him to smash. Loki mentions Mariner Bay and the Power Rangers, Elestomp promises to stomp them into dust, and continues to stamp his feet. It shakes the palace, and irks Vypra off majorly, so she storms off with her wings in a huff.

[commercials]

Inside the Weapons Lab, Ms. Fairweather is busy working with her team of nameless Lightspeed Technicians in building something (or, as we all know better, busy ripping something off). She's called over to sign a form, when Joel enters the room and gives her a loud hello, to which she replies in kind. He walks up and says he was wondering, if she's not too busy, what she is doing later. Fairweather informs him she's actually very busy and will be tied up for quite a while. The sound of the old Astro & Trans Morphers, and reused for the Rescues in "Trial By Fire", makes a semi-return as the sound of Ms. Fairweather's computer! She heads over to the terminal and types away, prompting Joel to query what she's making. Fairweather smiles coyly and says he'll find out soon, as it's a surprise. Joel is a bit confused, but once he hears the sound of engines being prepared and fueled up, he suddenly thinks he knows what's going on, asking her if it's for him. Fairweather says that actually it is, in a way, and Joel tells her not to worry, he didn't see a thing and doesn't want to ruin the surprise. He covers his eyes away from the booster testing and leaves, causing Ms. Fairweather to laugh and return to her computer-bound duties.

Joel heads off to the Aqua Apartment, this time it's the premiere of the guys' quarters! It looks basically like the girls', except the door is located on the side inside of at the front, and there are four bunkbeds in the back, rather than two separate ones in the girls'. Also, items from each of the guys are scatter about the place, one such item is above the couch, a framed picture of Ms. Fairweather, which Joel grabs and admires as he sits with his boots up on the table. Carter & Chad are also there, Carter asks Joel if he asked her out, Chad asks if she said yes, and after taking a long loving look at her picture (where he got the pic is unknown, since it wasn't taken in the Aquabase!), he tells his pals she didn't have to, she's building him a surprise! Joel puts her picture down and informs his friends that she thinks its a surprise, but he pretty much knows what it is. Chad asks what it is, and Joel hops up, wipes off a green apple with his handkerchief, and says he thinks its a supersonic jetpack. He says that obviously she's trying to impress the old Sky Cowboy, and they wouldn't believe it, but she's got the entire lab working around the clock on his gift and boasts that he almost feels guilty for turning on the charm a little too much. Chad is wowed, saying he wishes he had his touch with girls, Joel tells him it's not too late, just keep an eye on him and he'll learn a thing or two. Joel never gets to eat his well-(snotrag)-polished apple, as their Morphers go off, with Captain Mitchell announcing a code red!

The Rescue Rover seems to have been repaired, and takes off from the Aquabase instantly, racing into the city at the scene of an apparently disaster. Injured people are strewn out all over the place, with debris surrounding them along with smoke & fire. Dana shouts for her team to c'mon and go, they hop out of the Humvee with their rescue tools to help out. Joel takes out a few small flames with a normal fire extinguisher, Kelsey helps a guy up, Dana puts some bandages on a few people, Chad rushes over and asks a guy laying on the ground and covered with soot if he's okay. Kelsey continues helping that one guy up, as she ponders aloud about what could have done this. The source becomes evident to Carter, as he hears the sound of a roaring engine nearby, and when the smoke clears, the Vyprari is seen at the center of the accident! Vypra eyes Carter, who doesn't seem to be doing much in the way of rescuing people, and motions him to come get some hot demon tail, as she speeds away in her go-cart. Carter, ever the hothead, heads over to the Rescue Rover and drives off with it, Dana calls out his name too late to stop him from making a futile gesture at stopping Vypra. The Lightspeed Humvee follows pretty closely with the Vyprari, down the always empty street. Carter thinks he's got her this time, but Vypra just giggles, presses a button on the dashboard, and shifts into turbo gear once more, leaving the Rescue Rover eating her purple-flaming dust! Vypra's totally out of sight, and all Carter can do is beat up the steering wheel.

Later at the Aquabase, Carter talks with Captain Mitchell in the Conference room, saying that they never had the chance to stop Vypra as she's too fast. Carter sits down at the table and says that by the time they got there the whole area had been destroyed, people were hurt, and the next time she shows up the whole city is fair game. The Captain remarks with a grin that the next time she's in for a bit of a surprise. He orders Carter to get the others and meet him in the Transport (Bay). Carter does so, and the four head down, passing Joel, who's going the other way (as usual). He asks them what's going on, Kelsey comments that Fairweather has a surprise, Joel chuckles "oh really?", straightens the brim of his hat and rushes off to join his teammates for his expected present. In the Weapons Lab (which is connected to the Transport Bay), the Rangers stand before Ms. Fairweather (who flicks some buttons on the Rescue Power Systems Analysis machine) & Captain Mitchell, Carter says they're all here, though Joel comes in last, casually gliding in. He whispers to Chad, telling him to remember to act surprised, Chad nods and grins, and Joel removes his hat in the presence of Ms. Fairweather. She walks over and addresses the group, stating that every now and then her job gets personal, prompting Joel to elbow Chad in the back as a way of saying "see what I mean?". Fairweather says that this is one of those times, and struts over to a red switch, and upon pulling it down, it is her honor to present to them the latest weapons in their arsenal. The switch turns on a light in the nearby room, visible through glass are a set of five Ranger-colored motorcycles.

Joel does a double take, not entirely what he expected and seems to be a surprise to everybody, he's the only one let down. Fairweather mentions her team has been working around the clock building them for the Rangers and she thinks they'll prove quite useful against Vypra, who'll never see them coming (unless she decided to recycle the Zeo Jet And/Or Shark Cycles herself as well, like Fairweather did). Kelsey gives a "whoa", Dana says they're amazing, Carter calls them impressive but asks what they're called. Ms. Fairweather introduces them to their new Lightspeed Cycles, which are capable of supersonic speeds and have the most advanced weaponry systems (that she could philter, like I said). Carter calls them incredible, and as the camera pans back, we see Joel, who remains silent. The expression on his face if one of deep hurt, he genuinely (and selfishly) thought Fairweather was making him a jetpack, and now is left to sulk. Kelsey (or Dana, or Santa Claus) calls Ms. Fairweather a genius (though why is anyone's guess), Chad exclaims that Vypra better look out, and Fairweather notices Joel is strangely quiet. She gets his attention and asks him if he doesn't like them. The whole team turns to the Green Ranger, who overcomes his sadness to call the Cycles great, as he puts back on his cowboy hat. Chad blurts out that Joel thought she was building a, when Joel stomps on his foot, causing Chad to cry "Ow!", and Joel to growl an apology. Just then, a man contacts the Captain through his headset and alerts him to the city being under attack. Carter asks if its Vypra, Mitchell mentions it's a monster and they've got work to do. The five Ranger teens race out to once again defend Mariner Bay.

[commercials]

Elestomp finally makes his appearance in the city, I guess he simply forgot what he was made to do for a few hours. The Republican Demon shouts out for everyone to prepare to feel his power, stamping his foot on the ground. Red Ranger is quickly there, leaping at Elestomp with his Blaster Baton, but getting smacked aside just as quickly. Carter lands on his back in the wooded area, likely a park, just as his teammates join him in battle. Elestomp says it's time for his next trick, the Trunk Spelunker, he stomps each of his feet, lifts his nose into the air and slams it into the ground, digging into the soil deep. With one strong burst of fiery wind, Elestomp causes the entire ground in a line towards the Lightspeed Rangers to rumble and quake, until it finally reaches where they are standing, and erupts like a volcano! Our heroes down, Elestomp says good-bye to Mariner Bay, and does another Trunk Spelunker move, this time directed at the city. It rips through the park and into several large buildings in the city, causing large explosions. Though as rich as those buildings were, maybe just evil corporate CEOs where inside, and the monsters did us a favor. The Power Rangers recover and face Elestomp, who turns towards them again, grinds his foot against the ground like a bull, and stampedes at the Rangers. He barrels through them, and eventually pins Green Ranger painfully against a tree, before flipping him over (this has just not been his week!). Elestomp now has the Rangers all in a nice enclosed space, so he fires his eyebeam blasts at them, taking out heroes down (they should learn by now to SPREAD OUT!).

Elestomp says they can't stop him, but Red Ranger will just have to see about that, calling on the Rescue Bird for assistance. It fires off from the Train Bay, which is now up, despite the Rangers not needing or using the Megazord today. The Rescuebird flies in, breaks apart, comes back together in Unilaser mode, the Rangers take position behind Carter, and ready, aim, fire, the blast of energy tears into Elestomp, stamping him out for good. Carter tells the monster "see ya", it explodes, they pose. Ta-da! Boy, the bad guys are getting so much easier since Jinxer got grounded by Diabolico! The rescue work never done, Captain Mitchell spots the Vyprari on the viewing screen in the Aquabase, and informs the Rangers that Vypra's back. The team decides to show her what they've got, racing off to get their new bicycles. Vypra's off at what seems to be the airport, laughing and saying that she'll destroy Mariner Bay herself, as she presses the button and fires the cannons. Stock footage must be running low, as we see the exact same buildings Elestomp trashed get blown up again! Oh, but this time we get, like, two extra buildings falling apart, to which Vypra laughs unconvincingly. Her ride to destruction comes to a halt, when her vehicle is struck by two laserblasts from afar. The shields protected her, but causes her to swerve out of control for a moment. She recovers and spots five colorful blurs on the horizon, Vypra wonders what it is (I guess even demons can be nearsighted, coming soon, the quest for the Glasses Of Orion!), but soon sees it's just the Power Rangers on their Lightspeed Cycles. Our heroes ride in the standard V formation, with Red out in front, as each of their Cycles flashes red lights. The Cycles come to a stop, and we get one of those "hey, check out our bikes!" scenes where each possible angle is shown of the bikes.

Vypra comments on them fighting fire with fire, and tells them to prepare to get burned. The Vyprari peels out, racing towards the Rangers. Carter tells his team to execute defensive maneuvers, they give a simultaneous "Right!" and speed off at Vypra. When the Vyprari cannons fire, the Lightspeed Cycle gang splits up, thus dodging the blasts. The Vyprari continues driving around, this time with Pink & Yellow Rangers on her tail. They're able to catch up to her thanks to their Cycles, and once on her sides, they pull out their Rescue Blasters and fire away, Vypra's shields barely helping any, and causing her to swerve. Thinking herself clever, Vypra drives the Vyprari backwards down the very open area (good thing she chose such a large empty space to drive), as Blue & Green Rangers race after her. She fires the cannons at them, but misses, and allows Joel & Chad to return the fire with their Lightspeed Cycle lasers, striking her ever-weakening defense systems. The Vyprari parks for a moment, just as Red Ranger shows up, ready to take things from here, cause this time it's personal! Oddly, Carter is quite a few yards away, so Vypra has to drive pretty fast at him in order to get close enough to fire her cannons, to which she tells him to chew on. He gives her something to eat as well, firing his lasers, and both sets of blasts counteract one another. Except Carter has his Rescue Blaster ready, telling the always chuckling Vypra good-bye as he fires it at her cannons. With the shield busy with the other lasers attacking, there's a sudden backlash of energy, her rooftop weapons explode and the Vyprari goes screeching off into the cardboard boxes on the sidelines. The Red Lightspeed Cycle regroups with the others triumphantly, but Vypra's far from through. She vows that they haven't seen that last of her or her Vyprari, Carter hops off his bike and notes that she just doesn't learn. Vypra comments that she's learned, but they'll wish they hadn't taught her! She drives off in her damaged Vyprari, and the Rangers high-five each other over this easy victory. They leave the Lightspeed Cycles behind unattended while they run offscreen, so chances are someone sneaks up and steals them when they aren't looking.

[commercials]

Later in the Lightspeed Aquabase, Ms. Fairweather hangs up a small lifevest on a coat rack in the Weapons Lab. Joel, making an entrance to the room via a small elevator like lift, says hello to Miss F., she smiles and returns the greeting. She asks how he liked his Cycle, he says it's great but so complex, and he was thinking maybe they could take the Cycle out and she could give him a private lesson, just the two of them. Ms. Fairweather pauses and removes her glasses, saying to Joel that unless her calculations are incorrect, which they never are, she'd say he was asking her on a date! Joel tries to play it off as not the case, but he asks that if he was, what would she say. Dana is entering the Lab when she notices the oncoming romantic crash & burn of Joel, and decides to eavesdrop out of sight. Ms. Fairweather takes Joel's arm and leads him over to his Lightspeed Cycle, saying that she'd say he's one of the most handsome, charming, courageous young men she knows. Joel yanks of his hat and asks "then... you'd go out with me?!", Fairweather smiles and says absolutely... not. She cites Lightspeed Regulation Number 322.1: "There shall be no fraternization between squad members". Joel "awws" this, and says that if not for the silly rule, she and he would have a great time! Fairweather puts her hand on his cheek and says that they would paint the town red (green, in his case, though). But for now, she asks him to take his Cycle out and give it a test run for her. He quickly agrees, placing back on his hat and rolling the Green Cycle out for a spin. Dana pops in, mentioning that there is no Regulation Number 322.1, Ms. Fairweather laughs and says that perhaps in his case there should be! Out on the freeway overlooking Mariner Bay, around the orange light of dusk, Green Ranger can be seen riding around on his Lightspeed Cycle, shouting "whoo-hoo" and pumping his fist in the air.

[scenes from "Cyborg Rangers"; end credits]