SUMMARY:
It's a good old fashioned, downhill soapbox derby going on somewhere in Angel Grove. Quite a disturbing number of people cheer on the sidelines, as a group of prepubescent kids race for the lead in this war of the cardboard cars. The boy in the lead, in the box marked "Mean Machine" is quite ugly, and greedy, indeed! Just when he thinks he's left those 'losers' in his dust, another youngster comes riding up beside him in a vehicle called "True Blue". Just when this helmeted child thinks he's going to take the lead, Mean Machine swerves hard and runs True Blue off the road. He slams into a haystack, as Kat & Adam rush to the boy's side, who appears to have obviously been Justin.
[opening credits]
True Blue is totaled but Justin is just fine. He's disappointed at the trashing of his soapbox racer, and Adam seems even more disappointed the boy survived (kidding)! Mean Machine wins this trial run, and Justin's assured he'll never fix this thing by the time tomorrow's official derby. Adam & Kat offer to help, but it's against the rules for anyone to help the driver work on their racer. The pilot of Mean Machine, named Warren, comes over to gloat on Justin's ragged steering. He asks the homely homeboy why he did that, and Warren states every race counts, even this practice run. Warren says he shouldn't be expecting to see Justin as the derby tomorrow, but little boy blue promises he'll be there. Warren pours some more salt on his racing wound by telling him there's no way he can fix that mess in one day. He tells Justin to face that he doesn't fit in, before calling him an "Egghead" and walking away. Kat tries to comfort the kid, but he realizes the twisted tot told the truth, he really doesn't fit in. Elsewhere in the Subcraft, Elgar steps onto the bridge with a surfboard, announcing to his 'people' that he has returned. Divatox sarcastically thanks him for the warning, and then tells Porto to get the lead out. She needs a detonator to destroy the racetrack tomorrow during Justin's derby. Porto tells her he's doing his best, but the detonator is a very sophisticated piece of equipment and complicated to manufacture. The pirate queen isn't known for her patience, she grabs hold of the pudgy little scientific advisor, not wanting to hear any lame excuses! She yells right into his face-glass and tells him to perform the Nike slogan and 'just do it'! He turns around, and under his breath he talks about how he'll just pull one out of his back pocket. Divatox pokes her head back in and asks him if he's complaining again, but he just twists his own words around to say he needs a 'back socket' to fix the detonator. She shuts him up, not wanting to be bored on the details. He continues mumbling about the reasons he's having trouble fine tuning the explosive, when Elgar then begins ragging on the marshmallowy guy. He reminds him they don't want to hear it, before leaving the usually docile evil genius by himself. This was the last straw, he's sick of wasting his superior intellect on this band of buffoons. It's time for Porto to go AWOL!
Meanwhile at Angel Grove Racing Technologies, Justin carts in the remains of his treasured True Blue racer. Tommy comes in and tries to comfort his little pal. Justin knows that this is going to take a lot of work, even for an egghead like him. Tommy heard about Warren, and reminds him not to let what that little turd said get to him. He knows he shouldn't, but sometimes he wishes he could be like other kids and not be a smart prodigy who skipped several grades. Tommy tells him he should be proud of his special gift of intelligence, and that they all think it's cool he has so much brain power. Justin's surprised at this, but it makes him feel better. The Turbo Leader knows he wants to fit in, but being smart is what makes him unique and special. Asking if he'd really want to give that up, Justin says no and thanks him for the pep talk. He hates to cut this Kodak moment up, but Justin's got a lot of work to do so Tommy leave him to his mind-numbing repair work. Later that night in the Subcraft, Rygog hangs upside down while sleeping on the bridge, Elgar sleeps on a cot below him with his giant mutant pet fishy in a bowl beside him. Porto comes waddling through, whispering those goons won't have him to kick around anymore and good riddance! He carries a torpedo strapped to his back, accidentally bumping it against some metal, he fears someone will hear him. Elgar stirs, but rubs the fish bowl, thinking his fishy has indigestion. That was a close call, but with Elgar the clod back in the land of nod, Porto is out of there, leaving through the access hatch!
[commercials]
The next day at Angel Grove Racing Tech, Justin's passed out on the ground with tools scattered about. His four Ranger teen friends stand above him, admiring how he spent all night working on his racer. They think he didn't finish it since it's covered by a blue cloth. Little boy blue groggily awakens, asking what time it is. Adam tells him it's time to rise & shine, Tanya notes today's his big day! She asks the prognosis on True Blue, and he says he had permission to work on it overnight and he tried his best. They say that's all that matters that he gave it his all, but they're all surprised to see what lies under the sheet. His racer's been rebuilt as True Blue 2! Happily misled, they question how he was able to pull off rebuilding overnight, and he tells him he used his egghead. The whole team chuckles, ha-ha. Under Angel Grove Lake in the Subcraft, Divatox yanks off Rygog's eyemask and tells him to wake up. He hoists himself down off the chains and slips on his metal gloves, as Divatox slaps her nephew's face giving him a rude awakening. She asks them where Porto is, and Elgar deducts he jumped ship. Rygog is sarcastically stunned by Elgar's powers of brilliant observation in noticing Porto's not on the ship. Elgar thinks he knows what happened to him, he was abducted by the aliens! But wait, THEY are the aliens! Divatox is none too pleased her scientific advisor disobeyed her and ran off, since she needs him to fix her detonator. Elgar, always looking for ways to help, offers to fix it for her. She noticed he does indeed have a point, yanking off his sleeping cap, she points out unfortunately the point is on his head! He begs to be allowed to fix it and destroy the racetrack, and his pleading pays off. She knows she'll regret this but is low on good help, so she reluctantly agrees to let him do it. He's overjoyed, until he looks at the detonator. He begins ripping off wires, complaining it has too many parts.
The Angel Grove Derby begins, the first race of the day won by the 'Zak Attack'. Some gorgeous woman with a sash that reads 'Miss Smoothie' is on the sidelines filling drinks for the thirsty patrons. Lt. Stone is the announcer, as the banner reads: "Angel Grove Derby: Sponsored by Ernie's Juice Bar" (Ignoring the fact Ernie is gone, when did they EVER call it anyone's Juice Bar? It was always just the "Angel Grove Youth Center, Gym & Juice Bar". Hmm, oh well). The Ranger teens accompany Justin to the starting line, telling him to be confidant. Everyone turns their attention to Lt. Stone giving a welcoming speech, and telling them to have fun and enjoy the exciting racing. Also if they have the chance, try a smoothie. The Bulk & Skull Chimps are sitting on the stand near the judges, Bulk getting another scheme to get back to being a human. He figures if they win the race, they'd be famous and maybe the Power Rangers would help revert them to their original state of existence. Skull isn't so sure, since cheetahs never win. Ya get it, Cheetahs, cause they're monkeys? Bulk gets it alright, but he sure doesn't seem to care. Their chattering gets a little loud, so Jerome gives them a talking to. He brought them out for some fresh air, and if they don't keep it down he'll take them back to the Juice Bar and put them on banana peeling duty again. This shuts them up for a moment, as Bulk spots the winning racer from last year's derby, the Slippery Shark, a few feet away unattended. Nearby, Elgar teleports to the race with his own Elgarfied detonator. Searching around for a place to stick it, he wants someone fast & mean to hide it on. The Mean Machine is right near him, so he figures it's fate and stuffs the bomb in the back, before teleporting away with hopes of ruining their dinky derby! Two hours click down on the clock, quite a generous amount of time I say.
[commercials]
It's a long wait for the race to start, so Warren wanders over to pick on Justin some more. He's surprised to see the 'geek-mobile' is repaired, but he asks the boy genius why he even bothered since he's going to win. Justin takes the anger in stride, extending his hand and wishing his competition a good race. The snidely little punk shrugs him off and leaves. Something similar goes on somewhere else in Angel Grove, as Porto prepares to show those who laugh at his intelligence just how powerful his brains really are. When he destroys Angel Grove, those simpleton sea urchins will give him the respect he deserves! Knocking over the stolen torpedo, the fallout smolders around him and slowly causes him to increase to the building crushing size. Porto strolls through the city, smashing and trashing buildings in his oversized wake. On the Subcraft, Elgar returns and dances gleefully at having succeeded in doing what his Auntie D asked. She's shocked herself even, but is still searching for her scientific advisor. Rygog spots him in the Periscope (and to put it as a line that gets close captioned but cut from the audio: "Porto's Gone Postal!"), and Divatox witnesses his rampage herself, wondering just what that barnacle ridden reject thinks he's doing. Back at the Derby, Justin loads into True Blue, when his communicator begins to chime. He gets up to go check on what it is he's needed for, when Warren stops him and says he figured he'd chicken out. Despite Justin telling him he has something he needs to do, Warren just looks at it as his only real competition retreating. Lt. Stone gives the final calls for all the racers to come to the starting line. The four other Rangers approach Justin and tell him Porto's on the warpath, and the youngster is disappointed he's going to miss his long awaited race.
In the Subcraft, Divatox is perturbed that Porto is ruining her plan to blow up Blue Ranger's derby. She orders Rygog to establish a beam to shrink her rogue blubberboy and get him back here immediately (in the background, Elgar swats a bat at a Hammerhead shark trying to get in through the window. That Hammerhead just happens to be Slippery Shark, the MMPR villain they named that racer after earlier in the show)!
Back on land, The Rangers have boarded their new Turbo Carts, racing toward the scene of battle as fast as their Turbo Powered Go-Carts can take them. Apparently, since Porto is one of the head henchbaddies, they are using as little force as possible to destroy him. Otherwise they'd form the Turbo Megazord and pop the blimpy badguy in no time. So the team rolls up in their Carts, and hop out ready to take on the megasized Porto. He eggs them on, trying to gloat his increased size, and Tommy calls him a bag of hot air. Porto opens up his faceplate and blows his nasty breath in a deep wind at our heroes, knocking them over. Porto tries putting his big ol'foot down right on them, but they leap away and whip out their Auto Blasters. Firing lasers upon his pillowy posterior, he just laughs off their attempts to deflate him. The Rangers pull back on their blasters, charging up and firing with the Auto Blaster Turbo Modes. This still doesn't faze him, as he tells the Rangers to read the sign, by knocking over a large billboard onto them. Increasing force, Red Ranger calls forth the Turbo Robotic Arsenal Mobilizer, Turbo RAM in other words. Once it races up to them, they take it apart and arm themselves with their Turbo weapons. Tommy's Turbo Lighting Sword, Justin's Turbo Hand Blasters, Adam's Turbo Thunder Cannon, Tanya's Turbo Star Charges, and Kat's Turbo Wind Fire! Red Ranger jumps up to Porto's chest plate and begins to attack, as below his teammates fire on the large menace with their weapons. Yellow Ranger's Charges strike against his ankle as Tommy's Sword slashes against his upper torso. Tanya gets kicked away, and Porto wraps his hand around Tommy, getting a firm grip on the Turbo Leader. His teammates shout for him (don't blink or you'll miss Carranger's Dappu in a cameo in the background) but can do nothing but watch as Porto causes explosions in surrounding buildings as he holds Tommy like a Red Ranger action figure. He can't break free, but Porto offers to lend a hand by throwing Red Ranger to the ground. He's alright, but they're still going to need more firepower.
Elsewhere at the Derby, the racers prepare to take off, Warren noting this will be almost too easy. He has no clue the detonator ticks down with thirteen seconds remaining just a few inches from his snobby behind. The flag gets waved and the soapbox children are off on their obviously rigged race. Within seconds, the detonator reaches zero, and instead of turning Mean Machine into an instant jerkyboy barbecue, it gives him an expected uncontrollable power boost! Trying to slow the thing down, his Styrofoam break busts off as he races aimlessly down the street. Elgar watches on the Periscope, noting that wasn't supposed to happen and the detonator was defective. Divatox's suspicions were correct on Elgar screwing things up, remarking for a head of his size you'd figure he'd have something in it that worked. Back at the big battle, The Rangers bring together Turbo RAM Cannon Mode, firing off a powerful blast at Porto, to which he turns around and bounces it off his ass, doing nothing but giving him a slight itch. Elgar finally does something right by locking in on Porto's coordinates, and Divatox asks him what he's waiting for, to get him here now! Porto's time among giants is up, as a beam strikes him and reverses the growing effects of the torpedo. Shrunk down to his normally short size, he's helpless against the Turbo Rangers he had just beaten to a standstill moments ago. Luckily a teleportal swoops in and picks him up, any fate at the hands of Divatox is surely better than being fried by the Rangers. With the looming threat finished, Justin might be able to make it back in time for the race so the team hurries off, leaving the Turbo RAM behind. Once they get there, there's a commotion going on about Warren's racer being out of control and no one can stop him. Justin knows True Blue can come to the rescue, so he drags the cardboard vehicle out, dons his helmet and hops in. Racing faster than the dozen or so others who had like a ten minute head start, Justin is able to pull ahead of the Mean Machine, informing Warren he knows a way to stop him. True Blue glides in front of Warren's racer, grinding the break and trying to slow both down at the same time. What a shocker, he pulls it off and they're both saved from going splat at a whole twenty miles an hour. Justin goes back to check on his arch-rival, and Warren's a whole lot grateful to have that ride end. He thanks the egghead, telling him he owes him one. Down in the Subcraft, Divatox is getting groomed by her servants. Elgar is filing her toenails square when she wants them round, and Rygog is combing her purple ponytail. Porto is standing there, telling her he can explain everything. She isn't listening, asking Rygog what the penalty is for going AWOL. He glances over at their evil pirate rulebook. It reads that he must walk the plank, Porto remarking they don't have a plank on this submarine. Divatox then suggests he start holding his breath, as all the monsters laugh at Porto's misfortune.
[commercials]
Lt. Stone hopes things go smoothly with the race this time, as it's been rescheduled for a little later in the day thanks to otherworldly interference. Justin returns to True Blue and is greeted by Warren, much more friendlier since he almost got blown to bits. He apologizes for the things he said, and admits being jealous of how smart Justin is. Warren offers to work on their racers together sometime and that he could learn a lot from him, Justin thinks that'd be cool (I guess the detonator did no damage at all to Mean Machine?). Warren wishes him a good race, and they shake hands. Lt. Stone comes howling down the street telling everyone to stop the race, as there's someone on the track already! It's the Slippery Shark, inside are the Bulk & Skull Chimps trying to execute their plan to regain their humanity. Bulk loses control of the steering and plows right into Miss Smoothie, causing her to fall on the ground and get a smoothie tossed all over her. Apparently, wet T-shirt contests aren't in her contract and she's mad as a wet hen. The Chimps use the attention this gets to try telling the people of Angel Grove they are Farkas Bulkmeier and Eugene Skullovich, but like always, nobody understands a word they chatter. Bulk says an evil alien ('mistress' in closed captioning) turned them into monkeys. Lt. Stone lays claim to the bumbling simian duo and picks them up, telling them he has a job for them they'll find very appealing. Miss Smoothie comes over and asks if they're his monkeys. He says he guesses they are, and she dumps a huge cup of smoothie over his head. He tastes it and recognizes the flavor of papaya, as everyone gets the same cheap thrill from this running joke they always do. The Bulk Chimp licks his face, which would be funnier if he wasn't a chimp, lemme tell ya.
[end credits]
_BLOOPERS:_
Tanya, Kat, Tommy & Adam stand around. Tommy calls Adam a "pouf-head", and Adam says he doesn't know what it means, alright?; The Bulk Chimp keeps kissing & licking Lt. Stone's smoothie covered head, he asks him if he likes the taste of Papaya; Skull Chimp keeps scratching his nose, until he resorts to picking it and smiling; Lt. Stone gets doused with a smoothie, take one! This better work he says; It didn't, he's taking another smoothie-bath as the Bulk chimps falls off his arm; Skull Chimp shouldn't have to do this drivel, he was Hamlet once (referencing Jason & Paul's stage performance)!
