Power Rangers Time Force
"Full Exposure"
Original Air Date:07/14/01		Artillicon footage: Timeranger #08 - Geijutsu ni Bakuhatsuo (An Explosion In Art) Ironspike footage: Timeranger #10 - Ashita he no Daashutsu (Escaping From Tomorrow) "Iguanacon" monster suit from: Timeranger #40 - Ayase Dattai!? (Ayase Quits!?) Some story elements from: Timeranger #11 - Shitou no Machi (Life-Or-Death Struggle City!)
*Season 9, byte 23 *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1123 *23rd episode of PRTF *401st total Power Rangers episode
Writers: Judd Lynn & Jackie Marchand		Director: Worth Keeter
Starring Cast: Jason Faunt _AS_ Wes (Red Ranger) Michael Copon _AS_ Lucas (Blue Ranger) Kevin Kleinberg _AS_ Trip (Green Ranger) Deborah Estelle Philips _AS_ Katie (Yellow Ranger) Erin Cahill _AS_ Jen (Pink Ranger)		Additional Cast: Zach Bostrom _AS_ Mitch Rod McCary _AS_ Mr. Hampton Angelique Madrid _AS_ Secretary Brianne Siddall _AS_ Circuit (voice) Bob Papenbrook _AS_ Artillicon (voice)

SUMMARY:

The city of Silver Hills, USA. Just an unusually quiet day amid the numerous skyscrapers and office buildings? Not in the least, as there's already a battle between the city's chosen protectors, the Time Force Power Rangers, and a mutant from the future, going on! Seems we must have been napping and missed quite a bit. In a warehouse shipping area, Pink & Yellow TF Rangers are shown getting sword-slashed into a swath of smoking sparks by the unnamed mutant. He's a tall, metal-spiked covered Gladiator type creature, reminiscent of Loyax or Barbarax. He's unnamed here, but later in the season, in "Reflections Of Evil", he's named as Ironspike (I once called him "Barbaricon", too good a name, I suppose). He's appeared sorta before, as a cardboard drawing target in "Trust And Triumph!" (is it possible this whole scene takes place just before then? Maybe, maybe not. Your call, cream-of-wheat!) Aside from shoulder & helmet spikes, Ironspike has got a white & grey camouflaged colored chest-plate, reddish skin poking out around the edges, and a very big broadsword. Ironspike shows off another attack, by shooting bluish laserbeams from his eyes at Jen & Katie, sending the both of them falling in a smokeful scream. Immediately, the mutant strikes once more with a growl, sword-slashing at Yellow Ranger. She tries to defend herself with her double-bladed Chrono-Saber, but he's too quick and powerful, causing Katie to fall backwards into a set of barrels, knocking the discarded cans of paint thinner atop them onto her weary body. Ironspike cuts into Pink Ranger, sending her flying into an old wooden crate, which rips apart when her body slams into it. Red, Blue, and Green TF Rangers finally make the scene (they weren't off fighting over a woman again, were they?!), leaping into action. Wes & Lucas snatch Ironspike up by surprise, pulling him high into the air and bashing his body against the metal railing of an exterior side stairway of the warehouse. They then release, causing the mutant to plummet to the ground harshly. Blue & Yellow Rangers roll along the ground and regroup together, with Lucas remarking, "Don't stop! We almost got 'em!" As they charge into battle, neither notice that nearby, just around the corner, a young (late teens or so) photographer has shown up. He's got short brown hair, a black vest for carrying film around in, and a medium sized camera, slung around his neck. Hidden by some bushes in a lunching area, the photographer is in a perfect spot to get candid with our heroes. He snaps a first shot, which we see to be the Red Ranger crying out as he's blasted into the air by Ironspike. Wes isn't the only one who falls, as Yellow, Green, and Pink Rangers also drop onto their backs from the blast. The photographer focuses slowly. The four TFs rush forward just as the Blue Ranger is flung across the ground their way, painfully. Katie asks concerned, "Are you alright?!" Lucas grunts, "Yeah!" She & Jen start to help him up, while Green Ranger guards them in a fierce pose and Red Rangers readies his double-bladed Chrono-Saber. This shot is snapped, the screen freezing for effect. The photographer snaps several more times, including the Yellow Ranger, motioning her arms and letting out a loud hiyaah!

Suddenly, Pink & Yellow Rangers (both holding their double-blades, as they had at the beginning, but lost mysteriously when the guys appeared) are standing in front of the docks, alone, with Ironspike eyebeam blasting them yet again. The explosion knocks the two morphed ladies off their feet, allowing the photographer to snap a shot of Pink & Yellow Rangers clutching their right shoulders in agony. The photographer, later named Mitch, has gotten an awful big variety of angles for someone who has remained in the same exact position this whole scene. He lowers his camera, and smiles at the sight of the female Rangers lying on the ground injured, before looking into the camera again and refocusing. Ironspike, speaking in a very deep and raspy voice, walks slowly towards the females, and asks, "Ready to give up, Rangers?!" Katie & Jen just sit on the ground together, with Yellow Ranger replying protestingly, "NEVER!" Ironspike lifts his sword, and remarks bloodthirstily, "Then I guess i'll have to do it the HARD way!" Mitch looks over the camera, smiles some more, whispers, "Yes!", and snaps several more shots. Either he's anxious about all of the great pics he's getting, or he really enjoys watching the Rangers get nearly eliminated. Red & Blue TF Rangers reappear (where'd they go? Bathroom break?), both simultaneously leaping into the air with their Chrono-Sabers in hand. Mitch snaps the shot. They land and confront Ironspike, slashing into him at the same time, with the same sparking smoke results. Mitch snaps the shot, and several more. Wes & Lucas bombard Ironspike with Saber-strikes, causing the tall mutant to stumble back in a daze. Mitch keeps squeezing the camera trigger like mad. Blue Ranger stands with his arms outward, allowing Red Ranger to jump onto his shoulders, launch himself into the air, and activate, "Time Strike!" The large red clockface is formed by his Chrono-Sabers at a setting of roughly 3 o'clock. The twin slashes of pure red energy rip through Ironspike, and despite putting up his armored arms in defense, he's overwhelmed by an onslaught of explosions in and around himself. Blue & Red Time Force Rangers flip around, about-face of the burstings, and pose, as the explosions get larger. Another shot snapped by Mitch. Speaking of getting larger, Ironspike turns out to be a dud, as he drops to the floor in tiny Chrono-Frozen mode, without having yanked off his DNA patch! Mitch is in awe, but manages to keep taking pictures without ever being spotted. The five TFs gather around Ironspike's little steaming body, as Jen does the resealing honors, picking up his Chrono-Canister and announcing to him, "YOU'RE under arrest!" Mitch takes one last pic, before hastily making a run for it.

Soon, at that really tall and roundish building in the dead center of downtown, lies the offices of the Silver Hills Inquisitor. It's a tabloid magazine published weekly. Mitch works for them, apparently. Wearing the same light blue shirt he just had on the last scene, he enters the rather small office of his editor, an elder man named Mister Hampton (a reference to the casting director, Iris Hampton). Hampton's on the phone, demanding to someone, "Yes, well-well, keep them there! I'm sending a photographer over." He hangs up just as Mitch enters, and pulls out a fresh pile of 8x10 glossies. Handing them to Hampton, Mitch smiles and presents, "Here they are: the Rangers in action!" The editor, who looks surprisingly like Barney Miller, takes the packet of about 6 or so pics, and flips through them quickly. It's of the battle with Ironspike, that we just saw, right? Nope! It's of the TF Rangers fighting an unnamed green & yellow lizard mutant! When did THAT happen, you ask? Simple: sometime before this scene, offscreen! I nickname this unnamed mutant, Iguanacon. Cause, well, he looks like one. Two shots have Yellow Ranger fighting Iguanacon, with Red Ranger helping, while another is a group semi-pose, and the last is Pink Ranger punching Iguanacon in the gut as Blue Ranger readies his fist. Mr. Hampton finishes checking the pictures out, and states, "Good job, Mitch!", causing the boy to smile. The editor quickly adds, "But not good enough! I've seen this before!" Mitch's smile quickly fades. Hampton stands up, puts his arm around Mitch, and leads him through the offices, explaining like the hard-nosed tabloid editor he is, "You wanna GO places, right? You wanna move up, up, to the top, right?" Mitch nods, replying amateurishly, "Yeah, sure!" Hampton explains, "People who read The Inquisitor, are people DYING to see photos of the Rangers WITHOUT their helmets!" Mitch nervously asks, "Expose their secret identities?" Mr. Hampton offers, "You do THAT, and i'll give you an office on the top floor!" He hands the stack of pictures back to Mitch forcibly, noting, "Give me more of THIS... and you're fired." The editor walks off, leaving Mitch standing in the middle of the busy newsroom, faced with the pressuring dilemma of doing in one episode what Bulk & Skull tried for a whole season to do!

[Opening Credits, version 1.2.]

At the top floor of the Clock Tower, there's a bit of routine cleaning going on. Katie runs the vacuum cleaner across the old dusty wooden floor, likely picking up loose crumbs of the countless bowls of popcorn they've eaten. She lifts, over her head with only one arm, an entire three-seater couch! Where did THAT come from, you ask? Simple: sometime before this scene, offscreen! Trip is sitting in the middle of it, reading the latest issue of The Silver Hills Inquisitor. The front page story interests him most, as he lowers the newspaper and gasps in astonishment, "Wow! This woman raised a baby Bigfoot!" Katie slowly lowers the couch gently back onto the floor, and continues vacuuming around it, prompting Trip to lift his feet up slightly, with his alien nose still firmly buried into the paper. It should be said that the ugly yellow couch appears to be secondhand, and is placed directly in front of a brown crate (aka, makeshift coffee table) and a dirty old rug (Trip's backpack is lying in a heap nearby). Took them long enough to buy furniture, didn't it? Wes comes walking down the steps from the sleeping level, and on his way past the couch, he spots Trip's magazine. He quickly yanks it out of his teammate's hands, and proceeds to comment naysayingly, "The Inquisitor?! Hehahaha! NONE of this stuff is real. These guys do whatever it takes to sell papers. It's ALL hype." He walks across the room, allowing us to see Lucas scrubbing the picnic table, while Jen dusts off Circuit's perch, as the robotic owl remains atop it. Wes closes the paper, and checks out the cover. A picture of the strange looking woman holding a monkey creature, with the caption, "Woman Raises Baby Bigfoot! Shock Details Inside!!" At the bottom, is a small picture of an Egyptian stone face, with the caption, "Stinging Insults. 'So ugly the tide wouldn't take her out.' See Page 12 For The Frightening Facts!" Next to that is a caption, "4 Aliens From Space. Stoned to death by French in 840 A.D." Finally, is the caption, "Best Friend Frozen Solid Since 1962! Reunited with loved one!" Just above all of that, though, is a picture of the Red Time Force Ranger, preparing to kick Iguanacon, with the caption, "Red Ranger Rights Wrong. Urgent! See Page Two." Wes excitedly shouts, "Guys, come look at this!" The other four drop what they're doing and rush over to him, only to have him point out the caption concerning him, with a starstruck chuckle, "Haha! Front page!" Jen gives an amused grin to his instant hypocrisy.

The bell rings twice. Is it the Postman? Nah, it's someone down in the Nick Of Time Odd Jobs office. As Lucas & Trip join Wes in a round of staring at the Inquisitor cover, grinning like goons, Jen mentions to Katie, "Oh, maybe it's a job!" The two women head down the stairs, and find Mitch waiting patiently by the counter. Jen asks him pleasantly, "Can I help you with something?" He replies straight to the point, "I hope so! I need to hire someone. Someone who's quick on their feet and strong, so they can help me carry my camera equipment?" Jen instantly puts her arm around her teammate, pushing her forward while stating with a smile, "Someone strong? We've got JUST the person!" Katie gives a sly expression during this support of her abilities, and once she's nudged forward, she greets Mitch with a smirk and a chipper, "Hi!" They shake hands, with Mitch returning the gesture. Momentarily, they arrive at the ground floor shipping & receiving zone of the Inquisitor building. Mitch checks out his camera, and stuffs it into a black bag. Katie lifts two large cases into a white van, exclaiming gleefully, "THIS is exciting! I've NEVER been on a photo assignment before." Mitch notes with equal excitement, "Well, you're lucky then. Cause this one's gonna be BIG." They close the doors to the back of the van, and head up front. Mitch takes the driver's seat, while Katie the passenger side. As they get in and buckle up, Katie asks, "So, what is this 'BIG' assignment?" Mitch explains, "We're gonna expose the TRUE identities... of the Power Rangers." Katie worriedly looks away, breathing heavily as she realizes that, hey, that's her! Mitch starts the van up and they pull out. They drive along the empty streets of Silver Hills (are there any other kind?!), until the CB radio comes to life with the voice of Mister Hampton. He tells the ace photographer, "Mitch! We have a report of a mutant attack. Ya know, where there's a mutant..." Mitch picks up the receiver, and adds arrogantly, "... There's Rangers!" Katie stares at him with pleading eyes, when suddenly, her Chrono-Morpher beeps! She covers the wrist-worn device with her hand, trying to protect her secret identity at any cost. Though, you'd think with the number of pics he's taken of the Rangers, he'd recognize the Morpher by now! Hampton reminds Mitch, "Remember! I NEED to see faces!" Mitch replies, "Alright, we're on our way!" He hangs up the receiver, looks at Katie with a smile. Katie returns one, quite forced, trying to act nonchalant while keeping her right hand firmly covering her left wrist.

The Inquisitor news van continues down the road, when four Vector Cycles, with the only four TF Rangers currently in action riding along on them, flank around the vehicle. They appear to know their teammate is stuck inside it, considering how the van is the only car on the road and they still choose to clump together around it. Mitch anxiously shouts, "Bingo!", while Katie's face becomes even more overcome with dread about where this situation is leading her, helpless in many ways, despite her strength. The van soon pulls up to the park, where smoke fills the air and burning debris litters the ground. Suited up with his camera and equipment, Mitch races towards the eye of the storm, with Katie following, dragging along two bags of photo equipment as well. They reach a nice spot behind a bush, allowing them view of the action while still being far enough away. Mitch looks at Katie and smiles, prompting her to force another one out, before resuming her somber expressive mood. What they're witnessing is the Time Force Rangers taking on a large robotic rocket-tailed parrot-type mutant, officially named Artillicon! Green Ranger recovers from a fall, while Blue Ranger gets bashes sparkily in the chest, and Red Ranger waits for his turn close by. Mitch prepares his camera. Pink & Red Rangers begin to attack Artillicon at once, with Jen throwing a kick at the immense width of the mutant. Mitch gets into focus, and snaps a shot of the Blue Ranger being flung into the air by Artillicon! Lucas lands with a grunt & thud across the park, as the growling mutant turns back around to face the rest of the Rangers. Artillicon aims his right hand at the team, shooting off a five-finger salute of green laserbeams. They explode at Red Ranger's feet, knocking him over with a cry of pain. Pink Ranger rushes to his side, comforting him with a gentle touch, asking, "Wes, are you alright?" She doesn't even wait for an answer before turning to face Artillicon, and vowing vengeful, "He's going DOWN!" Wes sits up and shouts in protest, "Jen, NO!" That doesn't stop the Pink Ranger, who flips over the mutant and throws another kick at him. Artillicon blocks it, and attacks with a smack in retaliation. Mitch gets the shot, of sparks filling the air around the airborne Jen. She screams from the hit, and soon lands and rolls across the ground limply. Mitch begins to reload his camera, urging quietly to the unsuspecting combatants, "Don't demorph yet!" The sound of Rangers getting smacked around, and their agonized groaning & moaning, echoes in the background. Katie appears intense with concern, barely able to restrain her desire to help her friends versus preventing Mitch from seeing them should they power down! Mitch snaps his camera twice...

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Artillicon turns around, squeezes his arms together, and unleashing a rapid rain of green energy from the sox gems placed in the center of his oversized chest-mouth. The bolts strike the four TF Rangers, in particular, knocking Green Ranger against the trunk of a tree. Mitch takes a photograph of that, and seems quite excited. As we hear Trip in pain, Mitch keeps his eye on the action and orders, "Katie, give me the zoom." He turns to look, and finds no trace of his hired helper anywhere (judging by the amount of smoke pouring through the background, she likely slipped away through that)! All that remains are the bags of equipment she left, thus allowing him to get the zoom lens himself. Mitch attaches it, and returns to actively snapping, his first shot being the Red Ranger blurrily in midair. He was thrown by the mutant, and when he lands bruisingly on his back, the other three TFs regroup around him. Artillicon laughs wickedly, as the Time Force Rangers recover and prepare for more. Suddenly, the Yellow Ranger appears, leaping over her teammates, with a flying kick. Mitch snaps her kick in midair. She lands with several rapid kicks into Artillicon, before flipping backwards and landing perfectly on the ground. Katie charges back in, two kicks, both failing to faze the raspily growling mutant. He tries to hit her, so she ducks by falling onto her back, then springing back up and blocking two more punches thrown by Artillicon. Yellow Ranger repeats his actions against him, double-punching his chest, and sending the mutant toppling over! Red & Blue Rangers take the incentive to hop into the air with flying kicks. The two manage to land leaping kicks into Artillicon, but his solid stature causes both Wes & Lucas to be knocked away by the sheer force of unsuccessful impact! Their bodies fall in a heap against the grass, at the feet of Yellow, Green, and Pink Rangers. Artillicon begins racing at them, quipping, "Fun time's OVER!" Mitch snaps pictures like crazy, presses the button on his camera so much that it's likely getting worn down. Yellow Ranger pulls out her V-4 cannon, and announces, "V-Weapons!" She fires a few yellow beams at the mutant. Green Ranger follows suit, firing his V-3 cannon at Artillicon, green bolts streaming at him. Artillicon remains unwavering against the energy attacks, simply walking through their laserfire like they were nothing! He then offers, "Let me show you some REAL firepower!" Artillicon pops open the metal spot in his chest-mouth where we saw the six gems earlier, allowing him to shoot off another concussive charge of green laser-juice! All five TF Rangers get shaken by the resulting blast, through Pink Ranger rolls away and pulls out her double-bladed, "Chrono-Saber!" She slices into the air, shooting a bolt of pink energy from the blade at Artillicon. He smokes & sparks, but is unharmed, laughing the failed blow off. Jen then gasps, "Huh?!", as Artillicon's arms, legs, and torso instantly fold up into his rocket-powered oversized head. The strange teleportation method then concludes by his rocket-head taking off into the air at a lightspeed rate, the back end glowing yellow from propulsion.

Red Ranger gets back on his feet and laments frustrated, "He got AWAY!" Mitch snaps another photo, and urges for the prized pic he hopes for most of all, "C'mon, c'mon!" All five TF Rangers stand and stare into the sky defeatedly. Red Ranger vows, "We'll get him NEXT time." He then lifts his left arm up, and begins to shout, "Power Dow...", when Yellow Ranger grabs his hand, stressing, "Wait!" Wes ceases demorphing, and wonders, "What's wrong?!" Katie explains in a near-whisper to the whole team, "That photographer is watching us. He WANTS pictures to expose our identities." Wes, likely sick of getting his cover blown by nearly everybody, angrily reacts, "WHAT?!" He begins to turn towards Mitch's location, when Katie pauses him, calmly demanding, "DON'T look. Just act natural and walk away." Pink Ranger stammers slightly, "But, what if...", trying to protest their uninvolvement with the situation. Yellow Ranger quickly takes charge for a change, telling Jen comfortingly, "It's okay! I'll keep an eye on him. I'll meet you guys back at the Tower later." Red Ranger's fine with this, agreeing, "Okay. Let's go!" He and all but Katie slowly walk in one direction (Jen still carrying her double-bladed Saber in hand), while she casually heads off into the park. Mitch fails to notice their separate ways, simply dropping onto his rear end in an unsuccessful mood. He hangs his head low for a moment, before getting up and returning to the van. When Mitch arrives, he finds Katie already waiting for him! He comments surprised, "THERE you are!" Katie gives an embarrassed grin, and chuckles, "I went to get more film, but the van won't open!" She grasps the handle of the side door, struggling to open it to no avail. Mitch snickers, reaches for the passenger door handle, and opens it with ease. Katie smiles sheepishly, and admits with a red face, "Hehehheh! Boy, do I feel silly! Heh." She slides the conversation back to him, enthusiastically asking, "So, did you get the photos?!" Mitch regrettable replies, "Nah, not their faces." His depression takes an upswing, when he optimistically promises, "But, don't worry! We will! C'mon, let's go." Katie smiles, and once he walks around the van, she collapses against the side of the vehicle, wearily exhausted not from battling Artillicon, but from fighting to prevent Mitch from invading her Rangering privacy!

Later, in Mitch's darkroom, lit only by the crimson glow of a red bulb, he begins developing the most recent pics. Katie walks around the aptly named darkened room, checking out the scarlet-tinted photos hanging along a line to dry. They're not of any Power Ranger, but rather flamingos, a sparrow, a butterfly, and even a polar bear. Katie comments, "You TOOK these?! They're BEAUTIFUL!" Mitch takes a recent Ranger snap out of the fluid and begins drying it off, replying graciously, "Thanks! If I had my way, i'd take these type of pictures all the time." Katie asks, "Oh? So, why DON'T you?" Mitch picks up two bottles of developing fluid, carries them across the room, and explains bluntly, "The Inquisitor doesn't pay for pictures of animals!" Katie remarks tongue-in-cheek, "Unless, of course, it's a Bigfoot! Or a three-headed dog!" Mitch admits, "Yeah, some of our stories are pretty silly, but... ya know, it's... harmless." Katie's smile vanishes, when she takes aim of his words, stating directly, "Maybe not. Like your big assignment? MAYBE the Rangers keep their identities secret for a reason. If you expose them, you MIGHT be endangering their whole mission." Mitch fights off logic, nervously denying her reasoning, "I-I CAN'T think about that right now! And, this STORY'S gonna take me places! Come on, let's go." He grabs his camera, leaving his whole collection of pictures scattered about, and leads Katie out of the red-tinted glow of the darkroom, which appears to belong to The Inquisitor. They walk through the busy newsroom, and soon, Mitch pulls out a couple of bucks, hands it over to his assistant (likely enjoying the feeling of being able to boss someone ELSE around for a change), asking, "Hey, Katie. Why don't you pick up some lunch for us?" Katie eagerly responds, "You GOT it!" Mitch thanks her, and starts to unload his camera at what appears to be his desk, smack dab amid the countless other desks in the crowded Inquisitor offices. Elsewhere in the city, a couple of people are randomly walking around, when the rocket-powered beaked head of Artillicon hovers in. His body expands outward, returning to its normal state, laughing evilly. He doesn't even have to attack, just stand & laugh, causing everyone in the vicinity to run screaming in terror. Back in the Inquisitor building, Katie approaches the elevator. A big sign reminds us that she's on the 8th floor. While waiting for the lift, playing with the lunch money, her Chrono-Morpher beeps! She immediately slips into an empty hallway, near a tall plant, and answers the call, "Go ahead, Circuit." She appears to be psychic, as instantly upon pressing her Morpher commlink button, a tiny fuzzy hologram of Circuit appears over the faceplate. Circuit informs her urgently, "Artillicon has returned!" Katie replies affirmatively, "On my way!", before rushing off to take advantage of the break from Mitch to get to the battle on time for a change.

Artillicon begins slowly marching his large metal body forward, proclaiming, "My mission is to destroy something BIG! Ahh, THAT will do!" He pops open his chest-mouth, and unleashes a barrage of green-beams from the six blue-gems within. The bolts cause an excessive amount of stock footage of buildings exploding to erupt. Asian citizens flee for the lives as debris rains down atop them. The fat nerdy guy from Dairanger who turns into Tor the Shuttlezord makes a cameo, proving just how damn old this stuff is. At the Inquisitor offices, Mr. Hampton hurries through the newsroom, heading over to Mitch with a slip of paper, stating, "Here. The Rangers have been spotted here." He slaps the boy on the back, and like his name was Jonah Perry, urges, "Get me those photos!" Mitch, appearing a bit reluctant, looks around for Katie, before taking off to do his job. Speaking of doing jobs, the five Time Force Rangers are already in the city, racing through the smoke & debris filled streets. Panicking citizens are fleeing past them, prompting Pink Ranger to order, "Get these people to safety!" They do, with Blue Ranger grabbing a young damsel in distress, asking her, "Did everyone get out alright?!" The woman, an extra and thus not paid to speak, nods her head and continues running. Lucas watches her hastily retreat, bidding, "Okay, don't worry. We'll GET him!" Down the road, Artillicon ceases his reign of ruin when the Red Ranger appears, holding his blinking TF Badge in the air and announcing, "Time Force! You're under arrest! This TIME, you WON'T get away." Artillicon boasts unafraid, "I'm not going ANYwhere! But YOU are!" He aims his right fist at Wes, firing a focused beam of green energy at him. The Red Ranger is blasted into the air, knocking him for a screaming loop. He falls onto the cement on his back, groaning, as Pink Ranger rushes to his side yet again, worriedly shouting his name aloud (they worry about keeping the IDs secret, yet don't get the concept of keeping quiet about their real names when in action?). The Inquisitor news van pulls onto the scene of burning rubble. Mitch hops out of it, and finds the action already underway without him. He gets into a cozy spot, crouching down behind an abandoned BLANKsan truck. All five Rangers are piling on Artillicon at once, throwing caution into the wind, as well as strategy. Mitch begins taking pictures, his first shot being that of Green Ranger throwing a jump kick into the mutant's head as it bends down. Footage of Mitch moving around is then shown in reverse for some reason. Trip gets bashed away by Artillicon, who poses with a fierce snarl as the other Rangers rush to their downed teammate's side. Pink Ranger embraces Green's shoulder, as Wes notes, "This guy's TOUGH!" Jen mentions desperately, "We need more power!" Red Ranger rises up, presses his Chrono-Morpher, and shouts, "Right, let's DO it! Vortex Blaster!"

Instantly, the Vortex Blaster is brought together, with all five TF Rangers stationed around it. Red Ranger activates, "Lock on!" Artillicon holds his arms out and promises in a singsong voice, "You'll be SOR-RY!" Wes calls out, "FI-RE!", and the Vortex Blaster unloads its surge of magnified energy. Artillicon simply takes the streak of light into his oversized mouth, more-or-less swishes it around, absorbing the stolen power in a redirected manner. The Rangers, no Vortex Blaster-less, watch confused, with Red asking, "What's he doing?!" Artillicon growls continuously as the Vortex energy is gargled in his gaping maw, before being shot back out with added force from his six mouth-cannon-gems. The bolt turns from pinkish, when shot at him, to green, when he returns it to them. The Rangers are taken nearly by surprise, though Wes does manage to shout, "Look out!", before the intensified burst of green energy slams into all five of our heroes. Mitch shields his eyes, as a massive eruption of fire barrels skywards in the area that the Rangers are standing. This happens three times, each one instigated by Artillicon's usage of the recycled Vortex Blaster power. With the last blast, all five of the Time Force Rangers are lying on the ground, surrounded by smoke & small fires, groaning loudly. Mitch watches dreadfully as Artillicon gloats, "Ahahaha! I've got more destroying to do! See ya on the next battlefield! MOVE out!" He motions his arms, and folds his metallic body up into his rocket-powered head once again. Mitch witnesses Artillicon jetting away, and once the mutant has taken to the sky, the true vulture moves in. He slowly walks into the cloud of smoke, snapping picture after picture, aiming at the spot he last saw the weak & weary TF Rangers. The closer he gets, the more he realizes that he's stumbled onto exactly what he's been hoping for. The smoke starts to clear away, revealing Wes, demorphed and lying on his stomach, with his head hidden behind a chunk of concrete. Slowly, the red-shirted man begins to lift himself up, and the moment his bruised & soot-covered face peeks out from behind the cement, Mitch happily snaps a picture. Not that it really would PROVE anything, since they could easily say they were bystanders caught in the crossfire or something. Mitch deals in pictures, not video! Then again, like facts really matter to the Inquisitor? Mitch could take pictures of his neighbors and tells Hampton they were Rangers, and he'd probably publish it. Anyway, Mitch snaps a shot of Lucas lying on his back, grimacing in pain. He then moves over, and snaps a very unflattering pic of Trip. Next, Jen, struggling to stand up against the weariness of her injured body. Mitch turns his camera to the last remaining Ranger, surprisingly finding the Yellow Ranger to be his hired assistant, Katie! He lowers his camera in shock. Katie opens her eyes and spots him, which speeds up her progress in recovering. Really! All of the others have their eyes closed, taking nearly forever to shake off a single rerouted Vortex Blaster attack. I stand firmly behind the idea that, at least subconsciously, they're just ASKING to get their covers blown. Katie begins pleading, "PLEASE! Don't!" Mitch watches her desperation, and it only fuels his desire to be a cutthroat reporter. He does hesitate some, though, but eventually begins taking several pictures of her, as she reaches outward, begging for him not to do it. Mitch then lowers the camera, shaking his head slightly, before running back to the van. Katie, despite how she could beat the snot out of him and trash all of his camera equipment, merely remains in the same spot, dropping to her knees in exasperation. The other four Rangers do the opposite, standing up, staggering around, and watching Mitch escape while in a daze. All covered in soot and bruises, all at a loss for solutions concerning the mutant & Mitch. Katie, meanwhile, sulks somberly in the middle of the trashed-up street.

[commercials]

At the Inquisitor darkroom, the red-tinted light shines against the developing fluid, as the million-dollar shot of Katie reaching out at Mitch comes into focus. He pulls it out and hangs it on the line to dry. Mitch smiles at the sight that's gonna earn him a Pulitzer... pizza. A pic of Lucas, two pics of Wes, a pic of Trip, and the shot of Katie. Where's the Jen photo? Why two for Wes? Mitch doesn't know. He's too busy gazing into the Katie pic, likely remembering the argument she made earlier. Mitch appears to be having a change of heart, but that doesn't last long before self-interest instincts kick back in. He takes the stack of pictures, in a manilla envelope, through the Inquisitor newsroom. Mitch doesn't walk far, before finding Katie, all cleaned up, standing in his way with that same desperate look on her face from earlier. He looks away from her, and pauses for but a moment, before continuing on his way. She pleads, "Mitch, wait!" While walking behind him through the busy newsroom, Katie stresses, "You don't know HOW much damage this can do to us!" Mitch simply states, "Not my problem. Look, they're gonna pay me a lot of money for these. I'd be an IDIOT not to turn them in." Katie, speaking from personal experience, tells him, "Well, SOME things are more important than a paycheck!" Mitch halts, looks at her, then looks at the pack of pictures, and decides, "Look, I gotta go." He heads off, leaving her standing in the newsroom, her eyes like a puppy dog's instead of the usual rabid pitbull. Mitch goes over to his editor's office, but finds the elder man missing. His hot young brunette female secretary is piling papers on his desk, prompting the photographer to ask, "Umm, excuse me? Where's Mr. Hampton?" The secretary reveals, "Oh! He'll be back in about five minutes." Mitch thinks for a second, before handing her the envelope, and asking, "Would you see that he gets these? They're VERY important." The secretary agrees, "Yeah, of course." He thanks her, and immediately rushes off. Katie watches this from several feet away, turning her head in disappointment when she sees him emerge empty-handed. Mitch heads over to the elevator (should've known they'd use this set often the moment we saw the specially made "8th floor" sign nearby), presses the button, and the door slides open. A man & women exit, allowing him to get in solo. The doors close, and the elevator begins to descent, Mitch putting his hands in his pockets, appearing a bit regretful about selling out his new friend and the city's protectors.

Elsewhere in downtown Silver Hills, Artillicon picks on the biggest building in the city, the Inquisitor skyscraper! With a mighty roaring laugh, the mutant fires a few green beams from his chest-mouth, tearing pockets of fire into the top floor of the building. In the lower levels, namely the 8th floor, everyone within is rocked about violently. The camera tilts sidewards for some reason, and it isn't because the building is tipping over. Various reporters fall over, while Katie remains on her feet, trying to make her way out of the newsroom as the lights flicker on and off. In the elevator shaft, the explosion has seemed to have damaged the gears holding the cables together! Mitch, naturally, begins to freak out. Katie gets only so far in the quaking newsroom, before she's forced to brace herself against a desk, as people scream in terror all around her. Artillicon fires a few more green beams at the building (which appear a tad bit yellowish in this shot), lowering his attack to a few floors down from the bellowing smoke & fire of the top. Katie witnesses more chaos in the newsroom, such as a metal cabinet collapsing nearly atop a reporter. She starts walking again, keeping calm, as the lights flicker at an intensely rapid pace, and papers are blown about the room. Mitch is also experiences mood-enhancing light flickering, attempts to escape his elevator coffin by repeatedly pressing the door open button. The door does open, but hardly two inches before getting jammed. Mitch strains his hangs between the cracks, struggling to force the metal doors apart. It's no use, so he's forced to cry out into the 8th floor, "Help! Somebody help!" Katie follows several reporters out to the stairway, when she overhears, through the deafening disorder, the sound of Mitch's cries for help. She wastes no time following his voice to the elevator, trying her best to get the doors open, despite his noting that, "It won't open." Katie encourages, "Just hold on!" Before she can make use of her super strength, the pulley responsible for maneuvering the elevator malfunctions again, causing the whole box to drop down a couple of feet! Mitch's hand is held by Katie, trying to keep a grip on him. He begs, "Don't let go!", likely wanting his arm to be ripped off when the elevator plummets at any second. Indeed, the whole cable system snaps, sending the elevator dropping like a rock. Mitch's arm is safely pulled back inside the elevator, as the whole thing zooms down the shaft uncontrollably. Mitch drags across the wall, and ends up pulled up against the ceiling by the gravity-defying speed. Katie manages to get the doors to the shaft open, and, reacting swiftly, reaches out with both of her bare hands, snatching the cable between them. The black wire is moving so fast that smoke begins to spew from her hands as she attempts to cease the plummeting of the elevator far below. Her hold finally overtakes the cable, causing it to stop slipping through her palms, which in turn causes the elevator to slam to a halt, just a few feet from the bottom of the shaft!

Mitch is shaken and a bit stirred, but unharmed by the events. He opens up the maintenance door in the roof, and looks through the mangled cable & debris upward, seeing Katie several floors above. She calls out, "I'll be right down, Mitch!" Katie wisely opts to take the stairs. She reaches the lobby (as the sign says), and helps Mitch out of the elevator, which is safely stuck between the lobby and the basement. Once he crawls out, Katie asks, "Are you okay?" He replies gratefully, "Yeah. But... you'd save me, even after I did that to you and your friends?" The lights continuing to flickering during every scene frame of all of these scenes, I should point out. Katie tells him coldly, "See, that's the difference between you and me. You only think of YOURSELF." She quickly departs, leaving him alone in the darkened room... no, wait, the well lit room... err, scratch that, the dimly-lit... no, dark... the lobby. He takes the time to think about the consequences of his actions. Katie is soon on the burning-debris filled streets, racing in slow motion. She charges at the camera, motioning her arms to her Chrono-Morpher, and proclaiming, "Time for Time Force!" While running, a yellow digital data tunnel flashes around her, as she morphs mid-step into the Yellow Time Force Ranger! Near the docks, the Blue TF Ranger leaps into the air with his two Chrono-Sabers in hand. He lands and begins ripping into a few Cyclobots, peppering kicks in with the slashing. Above him, Red Ranger punches and kicks some Cyclos on a small walkway. Nearby, Green Ranger does the same, taking on two robodrones at the same time with karate-fied ease. Yellow Ranger pulls out her V-4 cannon, announcing, "V-Weapons!" She's on a narrow bridge out on the water, with numerous Cyclobots on either side. Shooting in one direction, and then the other, Katie takes out the entire army of Cyclos with yellow-laser precision, even blasting one standing out on land! Pink Ranger dashes into action with her double-bladed Saber yet again, cutting through several Cyclobots in a dramatically blurry scene, which quickly jumps into super-fast mode, before grinding to a complete halt for effect. The moment Jen slices out the last robodrone in her way, several yellow laser bursts (different than Katie's... I think. Talk about friendly fire!) blast her body! She grunts loudly, and while rolling along, her Chrono-Sabers split back into two. The other four TF Rangers regroup around her, with Lucas holding her arm to help her stand back up.

Artillicon is revealed as the culprit, menacingly exclaiming, "It's time to finish you Rangers, for GOOD!" He pops open his chest-mouth one more time, shooting off a round of green-bolts from the six blue-gems within. Our heroes are taken down instantly, with Jen looking over at the mutant while on the ground, and gasping, "Huh? Oh, no!" Artillicon slowly approaches them, wiggling his fingers intimidatingly, vowing, "And THIS time i'm not stopping 'till the job is FINISHED!" The Rangers get back up, and begin backing up as he comes their way. Pink Ranger finally comes up with a plan, and informs the team, "Guys, the ONLY way we'll be able to beat him is to take out his cannon!" Artillicon opens his chest-mouth one more, giving us a close view of it. Seems what I was calling six blue-gems are more greenish than lead on to be earlier, and actually resembles the chamber of a six-shooter pistol. He growls as he prepares to fire. Jen shouts, "Chrono-Sabers!", prompting her teammates to immediately have their Sabers, in double-blade modes, in their hands. All five give a combined hiyaah, and slash out a barrage of their own-colored streaks of energy from the blades. The bolts bombard Artillicon's jaw, filling it with too much direct energy for him to absorb, more or less making him choke. Our heroes try an old trick again, bring the Vortex Blaster together for a second time today. They waste no time getting it set up, with the green-guidance screen pinpointing his smokingly-damaged mouth-cannon. Jen notes, "Target, locked on!" Wes gives the command, "Alright, FIRE!" The Vortex Blaster bursts off a swirling charge of bluish energy, which slams into the mutant and causes a large explosion to envelope him. While surrounded by a raging fire, Artillicon boasts, "You won the small battle, but NOW let's take it up to the next level!" He yanks off the gold & black patch on his left leg, causing his exposed DNA to expand massively. The giant Artillicon laughs even deeper as he grows tall. Pink Ranger calls into her Morpher, "Circuit, we need you!" At the Clock Tower, perch-sitting Circuit (with action-flapping!) responds happily, "Say no more! Time Flyers are ON the way!" In the year 3000, the Trans-Warp Megazord swings its arm around, as the female computer voice announces, "Launch one and two. Launch three and four." The pairs are sent into the Time Gate, and pass through the timestream vortex, meeting up with their fifth member within. The Time Flyers exit through the dome roof, and begin flying over the city. The Time Jet takes the five TF Rangers to a spot overhead, allowing them access to leap into their individual Flyers. Red Ranger shifts the control stick, and summons, "Megazord, Mode Blue!" The five Time Flyers come together into the Time Force Megazord in the aptly named Mode Blue. The Time Jet transforms into its handheld Blaster, completing the sequence with a giant glowing TF Badge behind the Megazord.

Artillicon lifts his body into the air, and slowly hovers slightly above the city. He fires off several green-bolts from his chest-mouth, trying in vain to strike the Mode Blue Time Force Megazord. The swiftly swooping Megazord soars through the blue skies, avoiding each and every one of the green beams blasted its way, with incredible ease. In the control room, Red Ranger orders, "Return fire!" Mode Blue dives towards the ground, firing its Time Jet Blaster at the mutant. Multiple blue-bolts strike Artillicon in the body, stunning him with sparking results. Mode Blue quickly begins spinning its entire form into a blurring twister of sorts, landing its feet directly into Artillicon's head! The mutant is groggily sent hurtling through the air, his mouth still smoking as he lies on the ground moaning in agony. Wes calls out, "Change to Mode Red, NOW!" Mode Blue breaks apart in a flash, allowing the Time Flyers to reposition themselves into the Megazord Red-colored Mode. The Saber exits through the green chest portal, causing Wes' control stick to turn into a remote version of it, as he summons, "Megazord Saber! Full Power!" He slashes it around a few times, before resting it against his left shoulder. The Mode Red Megazord holds its Saber upward, creating the green clockface, with 9 & 3 highlighted as usual. Artillicon plans to go out with a bang, as he rushes towards the Megazord, howling viciously. Red Ranger cuts the remote Saber through the air, with golden digitized trailing. The Mode Red Megazord flashes its eyes green, and cuts its Saber horizontally through the oncoming mutant. Artillicon glows bluish-white, and bursts, before his explosive body freezes in place. Wes lifts his left arm, fist balled for a moment, then opening it, and proclaiming, "Your time's UP!" The Mode Red Megazord Saber begins to countdown/up on its green clockface, reaching 12 and causing Artillicon to go out in a blaze of sparking glory. His DNA retracts, and his tiny Chrono-Frozen body plops onto the cement steaming, with but a whimper, not a bang.

[commercials]

The next day at the Clock Tower, several boxes are being filled with clothing and other items, down in the NOTOJ office. Wes somberly packs up one box, while Trip & Katie come down the stairs with boxes in their clutches. Jen, also packing, urges, "Hurry up! We've gotta move outta here, FAST!" After setting the next two boxes on the worktable, Trip asks the team leader, "Jen, are you sure we have to leave? I kinda like it here!" She busily continues packing, while informing him (and us), "When that paper hits the stands today, the whole WORLD will know where we live. INCLUDING Ransik." (honey, if Ransik wanted to know where you guys lived, he'd know by now. Look how easily Contemptra found the guys!) He quietly helps her pack, joining Katie & Wes in a collection if frowning faces. A knock is suddenly heard at the door. Jen heads over to answer it, finding Mitch on the other side. She asks emotionless, "What do you want?" He states, "I NEED to see Katie." Jen rejects him, "She doesn't want to see you!" Before she can close the door, he grabs it, and begs, "Please?" Jen lets him in (and lets us see that, over on the counter, the yellow case with the shrunken Vector Cycles is lying open, as is the orange case with the Electro Booster components. There's still three other yellow TF cases stacked up nearby, containing who knows what), and immediately he walks over to Katie. Mitch pauses at the sight of all the boxes, confusedly asking, "Where're you guys going?!" Katie flatly tells him, "Well, it isn't SAFE for us here anymore... thanks to you." Mitch smiles in the face of a possible bodily harm (given the unpleased expressions of Wes & Trip), explaining, "That's why i'm here! I came to tell you..." He gets cut off by Lucas, who anxiously enters the office, shouting, "Hey-hey, guys! Look!" He holds up the latest issue of the Silver Hills Inquisitor, with the headline: "Glowing Green Aliens Found In Salad!" Lucas happily breaks the good news, "There's NOTHING in here about us!" Trip's face lights up with a smile, as he asks, "So we can STAY?!" Wes is dumbstruck, while Katie slowly starts to smile as well. Jen exclaims in the background, "That's fantastic! Let's put everything away!" Wes carries a box upstairs, and is soon followed by Lucas, also with a box. Mitch approaches Katie, handing her a manilla envelope. She opens it, and finds the stack of pictures of her and her friends demorphed amid battle within (most specifically, her "reaching out" pic is on top). He tells her, "I got these back at the LAST minute. I think... you should have them." (One question remains, though. Who has the negatives?!) Katie wonders, "What about your job?!" Mitch is proud report, "I quit! I'm gonna find a new job where I can take the type of pictures _I_ want to take." Katie smiles excitedly, closes the manilla envelope, and stares near-lovingly, nay admiringly, at Mitch. If photographer doesn't work out, Mitch can always get a job working for Lightspeed Rescue with his uncle, Captain Mitchell.

[Scenes from "Movie Madness, Part 1"; End Credits]