SUMMARY:
We get a stock footage shot of the planet Earth, as a mysterious large ball of green energy streaks towards the surface. On said planet, in Angel Grove, Justin is busily playing a game of soccer with his new friend Nico. They're on the winning team it seems, and all the kids are enjoying the game when the so-called "U.F.O." makes a powerful landing somewhere near the park. Nico has just scored a goal and Justin & he are celebrating, when they hear the thing land. They figure it's just a sonic boom from a jet, and brush it off as they return to playing.
[opening credits]
The kids are still alright, the supervising coach I assume tells them this is the last goal, Justin kicking it a little too hard and sending it out into the woods. Nico goes to get it himself, slipping through an opening in the fence around the forested area, and searching for the ball. He discovers it down the steep hill, but upon picking it up he notices something even more amazing and breathtaking! The other kids call for him, so he acts like he saw nothing and returns to his friends. Meanwhile on the Subcraft, Divatox is once again at what she does best (since destroying Rangers is so hard to do), counting all the loot she's stolen! The totals come to 860 diamonds, 645 rubies and 2000lbs of gold, Porto helping to keep calculations as the bridge is literally full of treasure! Divatox depressingly stands up and sighs that it's not enough, Elgar telling her actually today's grand total including cash and all those fabulous prizes comes to over $10 million dollars (American, or Intergalactic?). Divatox whines against her Periscope, saying she's practically broke, Elgar whispers to Porto that he should be so broke! Divatox is really down, peering into the periscope and spotting something that makes her chipper and evil once more! It's the Angel Grove Bank, Elgar excited as well over the prospect of tons of cash in there. Divatox purrs it's time to make a withdrawal, planning an evil scheme as she speaks. Back at the park, Nico takes Justin down the forested hill to show him what he saw. Justin triple-duty promises not to tell anyone what's down there, as the boys head down behind a tree. Before them floats a spaceship, both boys at awe, Nico thinking there may be gooey aliens inside. They hear a branch breaking, which sends Nico running home to mommy but Justin sticks around a second, checking out the apparently vacant space craft from afar before leaving as well.
Later at Angel Grove Bank, Bulk & Skull are on their newest job attempt. No, they're not Junior Police Patrol Officers again, but security guards for the bank! The main guard gives Bulk the job of guarding the front, then showing Skull his post inside. Bulk says he has eyes like a hawk, but the officer has his doubts. After they leave, an old lady exits the building holding groceries, Bulk stops her and tells her he has to search it. She says not a word, as he rummages through the bag and finds a bucket of ice cream, believing it to be the old 'hide the money in the ice cream' thief tactic. He rips the bucket open, and buries his hands inside, finding nothing but melted ice cream all over his hands. He realizes his mistake and gives the woman back her stuff, telling her to move along and have a nice day, she does so only after assaulting him. Nearby, Rygog & Elgar with a few Piranahtrons are in disguise, ready to rob the bank, but first they need to get past Bulk. Elgar's got a perfect plan, taking a P-Tron with him, and telling it to untie Bulk's shoelaces while he distracts him. Bulk licks his hands clean of ice cream, while he bearded and trenchcoated Elgar asks him if he knows the time. Bulk slaps his bare wrist, pointing out he isn't wearing a watch, Elgar apologizes. The P-Tron gives an a-okay sign that he's untied the laces, Elgar mentions this to Bulk, and sneaks away. While Bulk is bent over, Rygog, Elgar and the P-Trons rush into the Bank. He finishes tying them, just as the alarm bell goes off as the bank is robbed offscreen.
[commercial bumper Mountain Blaster]
[commercial bumper Dune Star]
In the Power Chamber. Alpha notices Divatox is (or rather her cronies are) robbing the bank, Dimitria telling him to contact the Rangers. Everyone in the bank comes running out at the sight of the aliens, Bulk facing the stampede head on, until Skull comes out and slams into him. Elgar, Rygog & The Piranahtrons exit as well, holding large bags of money, Elgar having forgot how much fun these family outings could be. Without warning, Elgar's moneybag gets knocked out of his hand, followed by several P-Trons getting picked off one by one. As each of them gets plummeted by an unseen attacker, the moneybags fly through the air and land on Bulk & Skull. Within moments, every evil bank robber from outer space is lying on the ground, taken by surprise. The Turbo Rangers finally show up, and Ashley finds the scene of henchmonsters laying around odd, TJ warning it could be a trap. Elgar and the rest regain their footing, Elgar telling whoever did that they're lucky he hasn't had time to go to the gym, before they all teleport away empty handed. The Rangers ask Bulk & Skull what happened, they say something stopped the baddies, and the bumbling duo trying pretending they were the ones who rescued all the loot. That old lady from earlier returns with a few bystanders who witnessed the event, slaps Bulk, saying they did no such thing but "it" stopped them. Red Ranger asks what 'it' is, then spotting a security camera above in the corner of the front of the bank. He wonders if it was on the whole time, as the old lady says whatever stopped the aliens was invisible sort of. Another guy says that he could see it sometimes, though, it was like a phantom! The old woman REALLY needs her medications for today, saying it moved like 'shoo, shoo, shoooo!' as she waves her hands around violently. TJ ponders this 'phantom', as the other Rangers help Bulk & Skull pick up the loose money that's fallen all over. Pink Ranger glances up for a moment, and spots something ghostly lurking nearby. She stands up to get a better look, but whatever was moving around is totally gone now. She asks Justin if he saw that, pointing it's direction, but nobody saw a thing, Cassie explaining it was kinda there and kinda not.
Soon at the Power Chamber, Dimitria asks the teens to describe this phantom to her, Cassie saying that's a problem as nobody seems to know much. Ashley says some guy mentioned it was like a ghost, it moved so fast it was all a blur. Carlos states that whatever it is, he's glad to know it's on their side, TJ wonders where he came from, Ash saying probably not Earth. Justin suddenly remembers the spaceship, telling everyone to wait a minute loudly, but retracts his statement when he recalls the promise he made to Nico. Alpha's checked all scanners twice, nothing's entered Earth's atmosphere that they know of anytime recently. Dimitria tells Alpha to keep looking, he didn't just appear out of thin air, as Justin carries a guilty look on his face. On the Subcraft, Divatox interrogates Rygog & Elgar about the phantom menace they encountered. Their stupidity gives Divatox a chance to yell at them when they say they saw it but it was invisible. Rygog explains it was half visible and half ghost, a phantom! She thinks in disbelief that now she's heard everything, ordering them to get back to the surface and not come back till they have enough gold to sink a ship or else! Elgar asks for details on what kind of ship, and she shouts in frustration, the two henchmonsters teleporting away as quick as they can before facing her wrath. Elsewhere at a gold mine somewhere in Angel Grove, the security guy brings Bulk & Skull to their new post. He figures they couldn't get into trouble out here if they tried, hoping they won't try at least. Skull wonders what could possibly go wrong, just as Elgar, Rygog & some Piranahtrons teleport onto the scene! Elgar mentions they placed an order for a shipload of gold to go, lashing out at the workers with a few cardsword blasts. Everyone runs for their lives, Bulk thinking this could be their chance to jump in, save the day, and earn their wings. Skull has another option, they could quit, and with a simultaneous throwing down of badges, they quit their latest job and run away as Elgar continues blasting randomly. At the Power Chamber, TJ gets the bank surveillance camera tape on the Viewing Screen, hoping to find a glimpse of this Phantom Ranger as he calls it. They watch several P-Trons being knocked around by something invisible, Cassie thinks she saw something on the tape, but it was nothing. No time to analyze any further, the alarms go off as the View Screen shows Rygog & Elgar playing in a cart of gold at the gold mine. All five of our heroes Shift Into Turbo, and teleport to the scene.
Once they get there, all the P-Trons are scattered about on the ground, along with a bruised Rygog & Elgar! It's pretty obvious the Phantom has been here again, Elgar yelling for them not to even mention that name around him as all the evil space pirates teleport back to the Subcraft. Red Ranger thinks he may still be in the area, Pink saying they should split up and see if they can find him. They do so, combing the mine and it's surrounding areas with no luck. Cassie approaches a truck in her search, when she notices an image in the side mirror on the other side of the truck! It's the Phantom Ranger, totally visible but hiding out. She can't understand why the secrecy, sneaking around and trying to take him by surprise. Turns out there's nothing there, she thinks she may be going crazy, until where there was once nothing a moment ago, there now is a slight blurred image of someone standing there! Pink Ranger walks slowly toward the stealth defender, reaching out and touching it to see if her eyes are playing tricks on her. It's solid alright, asking him who he is, and he responds by saying he's a friend. She asks where he comes from, as he turns and walks away. He never gives an answer, and she's not quite sure if he's even still there or not.
[commercial bumper Wind Chaser]
[commercial bumper Red Lightning]
Later in the Power Chamber, TJ is intrigued by the Phantom's mention of friendship. Cassie is giving everyone a rundown on what she knows, writing the info onto a clipboard, saying he was in black with some kind of armor coating with a helmet. Suddenly he was invisible before her eyes, the Viewing Screen displays the events at the gold mine where the Phantom fought the gang of Piranahtrons. Alpha's scans turn up a slightly blurred image of Phanty fighting, Ashley noticing he's invisible until he moves, Carlos saying he's not even human, but a ghost! Dimitria tells the Rangers teens they have determined the planet Eltar is the source of the mysterious power (by 'the' I assume she means 'Phantom's'). She thinks perhaps this Phantom Ranger may be an Eltarian voyager, Ashley asking why he would come here. Dimitria says that if this is true no one, not even she, will know his true purpose until he chooses to tell them. Justin has a guilty look, asking if this Phantom Ranger would have a spaceship to travel to Earth. Carlos notices how odd the boy is acting, asking if he has something to tell them. Justin is reluctant to reveal anything, beating around the bush before saying he triple-duty promised not tell. Ashley tries to tell him promises can be broken if there's a good reason, and he knows that, but first he's got something he has to do. Carlos wants to go with him, but Justin tells him it's okay, Carlos reminding him how close they are if he needs help by pointing to his wrist Communicator. Soon in the forest, Nico is scouting out near the spaceship, eating popcorn and watching the ship with binoculars. Nico's acting gets worse by the moment, as Justin approaches and then is turned down for space cookies because Nico's saving them for the aliens. Oh how I wish there would be aliens to eat this kid instead. What a surprise, Rygog is nearby with some Piranahtrons, saying he knew one of the Rangers would lead them to the Phantom. Elsewhere, the Ranger teens search all over trying to find Justin, Carlos finding out from Nico's mom he went to play soccer with Justin. They decide to track them down just to be on the safe side, TJ almost using his Communicator in front of the ever crowded Juice Bar before remembering to sneak off to do so. In the Subcraft, Divatox watches the empty spacecraft hover around from her Periscope, anxious for Phanty to return to his ship. She notes that when you don't want him around he's all over you like a sunburn, but when you do want him he's shy. She likes that in a man, of course, but Porto points out he's likely not shy, he just knows they're waiting for him. Divatox needs to bait him out, ordering Porto to send Rygog one of her good old Detonators!
Back at the forest, Justin's Communicator goes off, Nico wondering what the sound was. Justin says his watch, it's time to go home, but Nico has permission to stay out late. He'll be home in time for supper if he isn't supper now, as some Piranahtrons sneak up and kick the space cookies out of his hands. Our heroes notice there's no answer from their little pal and begin to worry, as Rygog carries a Detonator right past the captive Nico & Justin. Rygog knows they'll get the Phantom's attention now, this'll teach him not to mess with Divatox, as he places the bomb right on top of Phanty's ship. Once the timer's activated, Rygog hides behind a tree awaiting the thing to be blown back into space in a million pieces. Justin waits until Nico isn't looking his way, then he gives his P-Tron captor a good elbowing & flipping. Justin pretends the fishdrone tripped, as Rygog orders the Piranahtrons to get him! Nico is now free as Justin fends off the scaley-soliders, telling his wimpy buddy to run while he fights the Piranahtrons by himself. He's unable to do any good, finally being overpowered and defeated once more before he can contact the others. Rygog counts down to destruction, ten seconds remaining, Divatox watching from the Subcraft as the clock ticks down. Five seconds remaining, the invisible Phantom Ranger races in, whipping through Piranahtrons and knocking Rygog on his blue rear as he runs toward his spaceship. As he approaches it, he drops his stealth mode as he grabs the Detonator and throws it high into the air right as it explodes! Having failed with her Detonators one final time, Divatox orders the Torpedoes fired at the spaceship to destroy it once and for all. Phantom Ranger takes on as many Piranahtrons as he can, while Justin makes his escape, calls for Alpha to send the other Rangers, and Morphs in the literal blink of an eye. The other Turbo Rangers make the scene, the whole team now Morphed and in the mood for some P-Tron smacking action! As Phanty knocks the baddies out, he suddenly notices the Torpedoes in the sky, thanks to his enhanced helmet vision we get a peek at. Only problem is, he also notices Nico is captured by Rygog & his gang and must decide whether to save his ship or save the boy.
Phanty goes invisible again, running through the bad guys and grabbing Nico before they even know what hit them. He sets the kid down gently, then reverting to visible mode right in front of the child. He asks him if he's okay, and Nico shakes his head in shock just as the Torpedoes blast down upon Phanty's spaceship! The explosion is large but quick, Phantom shielding Nico from the brunt of it, but failing to save the thing as Rygog & friends teleport away victorious. As he watches the fires burn where his ship once floated, Phantom Ranger walks towards the flames while the Rangers rush to Nico. Pink Ranger calls Nico by his name, but of course, nobody seems to notice the blatant disregard for them not knowing him! He's alright, but is sadden that Phanty lost his ship because of him. Phantom Ranger approaches a clearing behind the flames, and motions his arm, causing his spacecraft to decloak itself! The Power Rangers are overjoyed his ship wasn't destroyed after all, Nico looking as Blue Ranger suspiciously as the Morphed boy acts childish in his celebratory remarks. He acts serious again and thankfully Nico is never seen after this episode so his identity is safe. Phantom Ranger's ship begins to hover higher as he prepares to board it, Red Ranger telling him to wait a moment. TJ tells him he doesn't know who he is or why he's here but he thanks him for all his help today. Phantom remains silent as he stares at our heroes, slowly entering a small hatch at the bottom of his Phantom Cruiser as our heroes look on. The hatch closes and the ship lifts off before turning into a beam of orange light and blasting away, Phantom obviously returning to whatever ghost planet he comes from. The Rangers cheer, as Nico acts like he just met E-friggin-T.
[commercial bumper Mountain Blaster]
[commercial bumper Desert Thunder]
The next day, Justin is once again playing soccer with his new buddies, telling two kids he just ran and ran the previous day, Nico was the only one who saw the Power Rangers. Nico says there were evil aliens everywhere, he ran too but one of them flew in and caught him. The kids don't believe him one bit as he talks of the good alien's spaceship that the bad guys wanted to blow up. They laugh at the notion they only came to save him, the coach telling them to knock off the tall tales and get to playing soccer. Justin puts his arm around Nico and tells him he believes him, Nico wishes Justin could have seen them too. They go off to play, as Carlos sits on the bleachers playing with his soccer balls between his legs (i'm not kidding!) as Cassie sits down next to him. He thought she wanted to play today, but she just grunts in a not-in-the-mood manner. She stares at the sky, asking Carlos if he thinks Phantom Ranger will ever come back. Carlos looks around to make sure no one is listening in, mentioning Dimitria's words of them only knowing as much as he wants to tell them. Cassie shakes her head, looking at the heavens above and smiling like a crazy lovesick fool.
[end credits]
_BLOOPERS:_
After the old lady hits him and walks away, Bulk stands there with ice cream on his hands and suddenly does his Shatner impression, calling for Spock!; Elgar & Rygog play with the stolen loot, Elgar saying there's no need to shower him with love baby, look at all the gold he's got! Show him the money!; Rygog has fallen and he cant get up, needing assistance from the stage hands to get out of the scene properly; Justin is surrounded by Piranahtrons, but stops to rub his hand, having got a boo-boo.
