Power Rangers Time Force
"Circuit Unsure"
Original Air Date:10/20/01		Footage and some story elements from: Timeranger #46 - Mirai to no Danzetsu (Alienated By The Future) Some Frax and future footage: Timeranger #47 - Don No Saigo (Final Moments Of The Don)
*Season 9, byte 36 *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1136 *36th episode of PRTF *414th total Power Rangers episode
Writers: Judd Lynn & Jackie Marchand		Director: Worth Keeter
Starring Cast: Jason Faunt _AS_ Wes (Red Ranger) Erin Cahill _AS_ Jen (Pink Ranger) Kevin Kleinberg _AS_ Trip (Green Ranger) Deborah Estelle Philips _AS_ Katie (Yellow Ranger) Michael Copon _AS_ Lucas (Blue Ranger) Daniel Southworth _AS_ Eric (Quantum Ranger) Vernon Wells _AS_ Ransik Kate Sheldon _AS_ Nadira		Additional Cast: Jason Faunt _AS_ Alex Brianne Siddall _AS_ Circuit (voice) Eddie Frierson _AS_ Frax (voice; uncredited!) Mark A. Richardson _AS_ Serpicon (voice) Monica Louwerens _AS_ Mainframe Computer (voice; uncredited!)

SUMMARY:

Yet one more sunny day at the Silver Hills Clock Tower. Inside the main room, Circuit sits on his perch, playing "Oral History Channel" to Lucas, Trip, and Katie, who all sit on the ugly yellow couch together, literally on the edges of their seat while listening to the robotic owl's story. Circuit proves his vast knowledge of history by explaining a rumor found in any elementary school science book, "The THEORY is, that a giant meteor hit the Earth, causing a GIANT cloud of dust to FLY into the atmosphere, blocking the sun. This wiped out ALL plantlife and caused the dinosaurs to become extinct!" Katie smiles at the wing-flapping robo-owl, exclaiming enlightenedly, "WOW, Circuit! You know EVERYthing about the past!" Lucas sarcastically jabs with a smirk, "Too bad he doesn't about the FUTURE. (scoff)." Jen & Wes enter the room from the stairwell together, as Trip gets up from his seat on the back of the couch, walking toward Circuit as he argues, "But... he DOES know about the future!" Circuit flappingly confirms, "I do indeed! Though, I'm not allowed to access that information." Katie anxiously arises and begs, "Ahh, come ON, Circuit! Just, ONE little thing? Like...?" Lucas stands up with her, and with an impatient expression, wonders, "...What's happening one month from now?!" Circuit swivels his head, and refuses, "Nope! Hmm-mm. Not supposed to!" Trip disappointedly groans, and pleads to his creation, "It's NOT gonna HURT to tell us ONE thing about the future!" Jen smirks and raises her eyebrows, while Wes anxiously lips his lips, both awaiting the info. Circuit gives into the demand of requests, and figures, "Wellll... JUST this once." The camera zooms into his eye & red metal-mesh eye, through the black pupil in the center. Inside, we see a sea of yellow and orange electrical energy wiring. The scene shifts through various layers of what seems to be Circuit's databanks, before finally pulling up a recorded image. The screen has numerous visible lines of resolution to enhance that effect. The historical footage of what's happening one month from now, shows the skies over the skyscraper-filled city of Silver Hills. A giant, black & blue Time Hole begins to form, crackling with electricity as it grows larger and larger. It's similar to the one we saw Alex exit in during the last bit of takeoff footage from "Destiny Defeated." Suddenly, four more Time Holes form over the city, in various areas of the sky! The epicenter of one of the wormholes appears ready to swallow the city whole in a symphony of temporal erasing. The image suddenly retracts back into Circuit's databanks, and back through the yellow energy circuits we go, before pulling out of the robotic owl's eye. Circuit ghastly gasps, "Ohh, NO! It's a...! Ahh... I'm not sure you guys WANNA know about the future." Trip concernedly looks at Circuit, then at his teammates. Lucas & Katie look at one another worriedly, with Jen & Wes doing the same. While the Time Force Officers express visible dread, Circuit just flaps his wings, and groans with discontent, "Hmmm."

[Opening Credits. Version 2.4, like last time.]

All five Time Force Officers are worriedly gathered around Circuit's wooden perch, as Trip asks the robotic owl, "What's the matter, Circuit?! What did you SEE?" Circuit flaps like crazy, before finally beginning to admit, "The enTIRE city! It just..." Concurrent to this event, in the year 3000, in the secret dark chamber of the Mystery Man, Alex steps toward his Holoscreen, located on the computer console. The holographic viewing screen is displaying a flickering image of Circuit about to spill the beans about the not too distant future. Alex presses a button on the Holoscreen control console with his black gloved hands, and instantly, Circuit's words begin to slur deeply in midsentence! He sounds like someone cutting the power while playing a record. Circuit's revelation halted, Katie quickly wonders, "The entire city WHAT?" The robotic owl stares at her with a voided expression, before replying curiously, "Hmm! I CAN'T access those files!" Trip asks (just as the title of the ep appears at the bottom of the screen), "Are you SURE?" Circuit confirms being unsure with a sharp, "Mm-hmm!" Trip informs his teammates, "That's... never happened before!" Circuit confusedly explains, "The data was there! And then... I lost it." Jen seems angry, as she blurts, "You LOST it?!" Circuit fearfully replies, "Mm-hmm." Jen comments with a disappointed insult to Trip, "You better double-check his wiring." Wes & Jen depart empty-handedly, Katie pats Trip on the shoulder on her way by, and even Lucas seems let down by this apparent system error. Trip just shakes his head, an expression of disappointment on his face, as well. Circuit apologizes innocently, "I'm REALLY sorry, Trip." Trip understandingly responds with loving care, "Don't worry, Circuit. EVERY computer glitches out, now and then!" Circuit flaps, blinks, and notes, "But NOT me!" Realizing this to be true, Trip looks downward, both puzzled and concerned. Meanwhen, in the year 3000, passing over the recycled footage of the strange pink buildings and flying hovercars, the scene leads to the white & blue Time Force Headquarters building. Deep within the bowels of said HQ, lies the chamber of the Mystery Man. Alex, former Mystery Man himself, stands before the console, where the Holoscreen is showing Circuit telling Trip, "I don't know what HAPpened!" Alex, wearing his usual white leather suit with black gloves and his silver TF-issued sunglasses, stands tall with his hands held together in front of him. He whispers ominously to himself, "Sorry, Circuit. They CAN'T know, yet."

Back in the year 2001 (or so), deep within the heavy greenery of the Silver Hills forest, is the lopsided Prison Ship. Ransik, mutant mastermind, marches over to the wall of freezer shelves. He opens an upper cold-storage cabinet, finding nothing within but a well-lit plum of icy mist. Ransik grunts frustratedly, closes it, then opens the cabinet below it. It too is empty, so he closes it as well, having trouble getting to shut for a moment, thanks to the door getting jammed. Ransik snarls, before opening the final cabinet, located near the floor. He peeks inside, finding it devoid of any Chrono-Frozen mutant, as well! Ransik grumbles annoyedly, then shuts it. Next, he opens another near the top. He looks inside, and finds nothing. Ransik opens the middle shelf, and also finds a whole lot of cold smoke, but not a single canister. After shutting it, Ransik then heads over to another cold-storage cabinet at eye-level. He finds nothing in it, but this time decides to leave the useless thing open, as he goes for the shelf next to it. At last, two Chrono-Tubes are discovered, sitting side by side! Gluto excitedly waddles around behind him, as Ransik carefully picks up one of the two canisters, and coos softly with success. He turns and takes one of the two Chrono-Tubes out, admiring it with both hands, while exclaiming, "I'm ALMOST out of mutants!" Gluto is silent as usual, just hanging out with his boss. Nadira lies on her leopard-print chair in the middle of the room, fanning herself with her pink-feathered fan. She whines aloud, likely still heartbroken from Lucas, "Daddy, I'm BORED with the 21st Century! WHEN can we BLOW this place?" Ransik walks over to her, and vows viciously, "We're going NO where until I find that traitor FRAX, and take my revenge." Nadira yawns and Gluto shakes his hands antsily in the air, while Ransik lifts the penultimate canister up, glares into it, and comments eerily, "Meanwhile, there's destruction, STILL to be done."

Elsewhere, at a secret hideout somewhere in Silver Hills, Frax has seemingly switched his new homestead from "massive warehouse hangar", to "dark, dank, and tiny two bedroom apartment." It's got wallpaper that seems to have pictures of downtown London on it. Beneath the single florescent light on the rather low ceiling, Frax is working on yet another robotic masterpiece. This one is hidden beneath a large, bulky silver sheet, draped across its body. Picking up a small, white, strange looking drill from his workstation, Frax does some tweaking on the robot's wiring. He does this for only a moment, before raising his hands and exclaiming like a madbot, "The WORLD will soon BOW down to my inCREDible power! Huhuheheheha!" Frax sets down the drill-tool, and picks up one of two "hourglass" shaped devices nearby. Within it, is a familiar-looking, orange, star-shaped gem, last seen in "The Time Shadow." Since Frax had a bit of the Zirium powder left over from then, it seems he went ahead and converted into several, ultra-powerful, Trizirium Crystals! He picks up the container for the volatile fuel source, and reminds us of their names, "TriZIRium CRYStals! Hehehahahah!" Did he use one to power Dragontron, hence the urgency to destroy the giant robot's power core? Hmm...

Over at the Clock Tower, sitting at the table (located directly beneath the large brass bell), Jen works on something via the Holoscreen. Katie stoops down over her shoulder, and watches her work, as Trip is shown doing something in the background with his back to us. Anyway, on the Holoscreen, is a computer display, with what seems to be a redline graphic of the city. After Jen selects a small section of buildings, she hits a button, and the display changes to an overview picture of the city. I have NO clue what the heck it's supposed to be, but to wager a guess, I suspect they're trying to figure out how Silver Hills compares to its location a thousand years from then. Sort of categorizing the layout of the city in relation to what it looks like in the year 3000, maybe. Katie remarks, "PART of it's solved. Keep at it, Jen!" Jen simply looks at her and grins smoothly, before pressing another button, changing the ever-flicking display image. Circuit comes floating in slowly from the always-open window, and lands atop his perch, with his red forehead circle glowing, and his butt making a hovering flutter noise. The moment he lands, the robotic owl enthusiastically asks the two girls, "HI, guys! Need some help? Looks like you're doing some research. I'm EXcellent at that sort of thing!" Jen & Katie exchange uncomfortable glances. Circuit, still flapping despite having landed, offers, "Why don't _I_ take a look?" Jen continues pressing buttons, as Katie gives a false smile while denying his assistance, "That's okay, Circuit! We can handle it." Jen gives us a clue as to what she's doing, when she sternly comments, "These records have to be preCISE. We can't afford any mistakes." Circuit blinks, flaps, and takes off into the air without a word. He flutters across the room, landing atop a tipped over crate, positioned directly next to Trip. The green haired Xybrian is fixing some silver, futuristic electronics with two red-light-blinky tools, adjusting wires with technological focus. Circuit courteously suggests, "I'M programmed to adjust that scanner. Why don't you let ME do it for you, Trip?" Trip denies with careful concern, "That's okay, Circuit! Until I can figure out where that glitch came from, maybe... it'd be better if you'd just take a break!" Squinting slightly, and expressing emotional dismay in his voice, Circuit responds, "Oh, okay! If you say so, Trip." Trip continues fixing the scanner, paying no mind to his robotic owl, as Circuit takes off into the air again. While fluttering back across the room, Circuit laments to himself, "I guess nobody NEEDS me around here, anymore." He swoops through the same window he entered from, flapping off to find solace elsewhere. How many licks does it take to get to the center of Circuit's broken spirit?

[commercials]

An orange sunrise (or is it sunset?) over the city of Silver Hills. Frax walks down a small flight of steps with his large, metal feet. He approaches his new little workshop room, where the latest of his robotic masterpieces lays atop a table, electricity crackling beneath the silver sheet covering its body. Frax grabs another hourglass container with a Trizirium Crystal within, off a stack of about 8 of them on a bench! He chuckles with a soft wickedness at first, before remarking aloud, "Ahh... YES. The Trizirium Crystals will supercharge my creation, giving it unbeLIEVable power!" Frax sets the crystal container down for a moment, and pulls back the silver sheet draped over his robot's body. The navy-blue metallic monstrosity simply lies there, showing us what amounts to its head, rather small in proportion to its body, with a very tiny face of two coal-black eyes. Frax laughs maniacally, before removing a single Trizirium Crystal from its container, and placing the orange, star-shaped energy source onto a small piece of glass. The glass slides itself into a brightly lit device, causing Frax to continue giving sporadic bits of gentle laughter. He pulls down on a joystick control over on the console, and the Trizirium Crystal, now firmly secured within a tiny glass oven of sorts, begins to gleam with an orange & red light. The crystal is converted, before our eyes, into the massive amount of pure energy that makes it such a dangerous anomaly in any time period.

No orange sunlight at the Clock Tower, it's just the same sunny day as we last left it, as a dove thinks it wise to go swooping by the exterior shot. Inside, Trip walks up the steps to the upper level of the main room. Ya know, the one they live in. Why couldn't they have given this room a catchy name, like the Time Zone? Whatever the case, Trip is up as high as you can get in the room. He looks around the dusty clutter of items, including a downed candle-filled chandelier. Trip calls out, "Circuit! Circuit?", but discovers no trace of his little robotic pal. He then turns and yells down over the railing, "Hey! Have you guys seen Circuit?" Wes & Lucas are just entering the room, when the pause and look up to Trip. Lucas nods, while Wes thinks about it for a second, and responds, "Uhh... Yeah! He came down to help us work on the Vector Cycles. But, then we sent him back up to you." Katie mentions with a worried look, "Well, he wanted to help us, too! But we were, afraid he might malfunction again." She glances at Jen, who's still sitting in front of the Holoscreen, nervously adding, "Ye-yeah! We said, we didn't need his help." Trip appears aghast, as he heads down the steps, noting, "I did the same THING! I think we hurt his FEELings! We've GOT to find him!" Eager to save his creation and close friend, Trip leads the other four out the door. Wes urges them to follow, "C'mon!" Soon, Katie & Jen are walking along a moderately busy sidewalk in the city, each calling out Circuit's name and occasionally glancing to the sky. Elsewhere, Wes & Lucas are walking through a moderately busy courtyard, both yelling out Circuit's name, with Wes cupping his hands and exclaiming it toward the sky. People standing around in the background don't seem perplexed whatsoever! Jen & Katie continue their Circuit-yelling stroll down the sidewalk. Wes & Lucas do the same in their location. Total number of times Circuit's name is called out in this paragraph: 10.

On a rocky cliff, overlooking the majestically crashing waves of the ocean just Northwest of Silver Hills, Circuit is drowning his sorrows in the wonderful view of the sea. He sits atop a bushel of wild plantlife, whining, "They're RIGHT. I'm just a useless tangle of wires and computer chips!" Circuit moans pitifully, shuts his big eyes, and ceases flapping his wings. Climbing along the steep dirt path leading up the side of the hill, Trip makes his way toward the top. His lengthy trip proves fruitful, when his strained expression switches to delight upon spotting the blue & white metal Strigiform just ahead. Trip quickly climbs on up, and reaches a sandy plateau. Rushing across, toward the plant Circuit is sitting on, Trip proclaims with a wide smile, "Heh. I KNEW I'd find ya here!" Circuit doesn't react too happily, simply wondering, "Hmm?" Trip looks out over the view of the beach, and points out, "This is where we LANDed!" (more like crash-landed) Circuit blinks rapidly, and grunts confusedly, "Yeeeeeah?" Trip reminds the robotic owl, "Remember? Thanks to YOU, we got out of the Ship before it exploded!" Circuit somberly states, "But THAT's when I wasn't defective." Trip sighs, and eagerly notes, "Don't WORRY, Circuit. We're gonna get you back into tiptop shape!" Circuit depressedly argues, "But what if you CAN'T? What if my NEXT glitch puts you and the others in DANGER?!" Trip promises assuredly, "It's NOT gonna happen." Suddenly, a loud boom echoes in from the near distance. Both Circuit & Trip turn, and spot a puff of violent black smoke rising slowly through a spot in the wooded hills. Circuit informs him, "That came from the direction of the SPACE Center!" Trip gives a distress alert express, and urges bravely, "Let's GO!" Circuit takes off, and swoops along through the air, as Trip races away from the ocean, toward the source of the disturbance.

The Silver Hills Space Center, which appears to be a white, two story building with a giant telecommunications satellite in the background, is under attack. There's a burning hole in the side of the complex, pouring black smoke into the air. Luckily, the shot displays only a few shattered windows, with only a tiny bit of fire within, meaning it narrowly skirts by the "don't show building destruction" mandate on Fox Kids at the moment. Inside, likely in the "all-Asian computer networking section" of the Space Center, gold-suited Cyclobots are herding the terrified workers around into easy to manage bunchings. The penultimate mutant has already been released by Ransik, and he's in charge of this operation. Serpicon is his name, and he seems to be a serpent mutant, obviously. He's scaly purple & red, with a silver & yellow snake-face chest plate, a muzzled mouth, spiky shoulders, and a big black flare-gun style laser pistol. The hostage employees cry out over one another, as the Cyclobots push them around. Serpicon aims his gun at one man, and points a finger, demanding in a deep, raspy voice, "Do what you're TOLD and no one gets HURT! Huhuhahah!" He then orders the Cyclos, "Take them away, and put them somewhere where I WON'T be disturbed. Hehehuhuhuh!" Once the room is cleared, Serpicon turns to a nearby computer terminal, twirls his pistol in his right hand, and reholsters it. He then proclaims maniacally, "It took YEARS to build this place, but it will only take an HOUR to tear it DOWN!" Serpicon hits a few random buttons on a keyboard, causing the formally blue computer screen to show a display with the terms "59:59 Self Destruct" across it, along with some other full-motion data diagrams, including a yellow ring-clock. A female voice, sounding exactly like Mrs. Fairweather-Rawlings, announces, "60 minutes, until Self-destruct." The digital clock continues counting down, reaching 59:55. Serpicon gets up from the chair, and boasts, "And there's NO way to STOP it!" Talk about lax security for such a deadly system program!

Outside, near the specifically designed Silver Hills Space Center sign, Trip sneaks around cautiously. He turns his head sharply twice, before dashing around close to the ground level of the complex. Circuit appears to be shut down, as he's not moving at all (though his eyes are wide open), just being carried around underneath Trip's right arm. Trip leans against a wall, and slowly peeks around into a window. He witnesses a pair of Cyclobots marching around an abandoned cafeteria area of the building. Trip whispers "Cyclobots!" in case we didn't notice. Without warning, Trip is overcome with his first onscreen psychic episode since "Uniquely Trip"! He throws his body back against the wall, and closes his eyes, as the camera zooms swiftly into the green-glowing mind gem on his forehead. His mind soaring through the clouds, via a tunnel of telepathic ions, Trip is shown a full-screen view of the computer display, as the clock reads 43:09. The Fairweather-Rawlings style computer voice announces with its robotic echo, "Self Destruct in 43 minutes, and five seconds." The vision retracts through the clouds and ions, as the camera pulls out of the forehead gem. It ceases glowing green, and Trip gasps in shock from the experience. He frantically looks around for a moment, and once he regains his barings, Trip lifts his left arm, and breathlessly shouts into his Chrono-Morpher, "Guys, we've got trouble!" Elsewhere in the Space Center, a silver-suited Cyclobot waddles around in a circle, wrapping up a group of labcoat-wearing scientists in a big coil of rope. The men & women of various ages & sexes sit frightened out of their wits, despite their collective intelligence. They're being tied to a green metal barrel in the middle of the room, with several Cyclobot guards standing around. Once the rope has been securely tied around the grunting and struggling scientists, the trio of Cyclos march off out of the room. Houston, they have a problem if they need to go potty.

Wes & Jen race past the Silver Hills Space Center sign. The perimeter of the building is devoid of life, save for them, allowing the two to make their way toward the center complex at a brisk speed unnoticed. Wes tries opening the silver handle of a door marked 34, but after several attempts to jiggle the firmly tight handle, he points out, "It's locked." Katie & Lucas come running around from the other side of the complex, where they meet up with Wes & Jen. Katie informs the two, "The backdoor's locked, too!" The moment they regroup together, all four of their Chrono-Morphers beep. The Time Force Officers stare at their Morphers, despite there being no hologram transmission. Jen steps forward, and asks, "Trip, where ARE you?!" Inside the lobby of the Space CENTER, Trip is crouching down behind the front desk, peeking around the side and watching a small platoon of Cyclobots marching around aimlessly. He leans back behind the desk, with Circuit sitting in the chair nearby (eyes wide open, as if he's frozen), and replies quietly into his Chrono-Morpher, "Circuit and I are in the building. There's Cyclobots EVerywhere." Jen tells him, "We're TRYing to find out way in!" Trip urgently stresses, "Wait! The building's set to self-destruct in 40 minutes. The entrance MIGHT be rigged to set it off." Wes & Katie lower their wrists, and begin to glance around in a bit of a disturbed panic. Jen gasps, "Self-destruct?!" Trip calmly comments, "We'll FIND the Mainframe. And try to shut down the computer." Jen's voice bids, "Be careful. Jen out!" Trip stares at the Morpher, then nods to it, before grabbing his frozen robotic owl, and remarking, "Alright, Circuit. It's you and me." He looks around, makes sure the coast is clear, and then dashes out from behind the desk. Soon, a pair of Cyclobots are marching around a hallway. They pause, jerk their necks around robotically, and then with springy mechanical noises, depart the apparently secure scene. Trip is right around the corner, and once he makes sure nobot-y is around, he takes off down the hall, stopping at one door, realizing it isn't the right one, then rushing off toward an open one at the far end.

Once there, he sees a big black sign with white letting reading, "Mainframe Computer" over the doorframe. Trip pauses for a moment, then quickly enters the room. The Mainframe Computer control area is a dark room filled with numerous monitors, chairs, and beepy electronical thingies. Trip looks around, finds the section of the large terminal console he needs to be at, sets Circuit down on the nearby desktop, then sits at the work station. He frantically tells his robotic creation/companion, "We... We've GOT to decode the self-destruct program!" Trip begins typing furiously on the keyboard, making the Mainframe Computer monitor display the same read-out screen from earlier, with the green-numeral clock reading 37:22, and counting down. Finally waking up from his self-induced coma, Circuit flappingly mentions with serious self-doubting in his childlike voice, "I CAN'T help you, Trip. What if I make a mistake?!" Trip shakes his head, and notes with honest trust, "But, Circuit! NO one can crack computer codes like YOU can! I mean... You're the BEST!" Circuit's voice seems to be tearful, almost sobbing, as he replies (notice his beak doesn't move one bit this entire scene), "Well, maybe I USED to be.... But, NOW I'm not so sure. I'm TOO afraid of the consequences of ME misCALculating! I just CAN'T do it!!" Trip gives up arguing, and instead resumes typing at the keyboard. He looks over and glares at Circuit, as if the robotic owl is being an ungrateful brat. Elsewhere, at the Bio-Lab building, the sector of the place that operates as the headquarters of the Silver Guardians has gone on high alert. Via stock footage, the SGs march down a hallway in pairs, with their Commander, Eric, calling out, "MOVE it, people!" The two Silver Guardian SUVs pull out of the parking garage with their lights on, only to become a single SG SUV in the city with its headlights off, before turning back into two as it rounds a bend, headlights also back on. The twin SG SUVs finally arrive at the Silver Hills Space Center in brand new footage. They park swiftly, the soldiers fall out perfectly, and line up at attention before their Commander. Eric orders with a salute, "All RIGHT, surround the perimeter!" They salute back, and scramble into different directions, leaving Eric standing there by his red-bereted lonesome.

Inside the complex's computer room, Serpicon is still hanging out in front of the terminal he hacked into the Mainframe with. He yawns, stretches his arms, and then leans against the keyboard with his left hand planted firmly on the keys. Serpicon boredly remarks, "I've still got 30 minutes to waste! WHAT should I do now?" Unbeknownst to the mutant, this holding down of buttons has caused the Self Destruct system to be increased, with the word: "RESET" appearing across the display screen. The Fairweather-Rawlings computer voice announces the final result of this accident, "Three minutes, until self-destruct!" Serpicon, his yellow snake-eyes wide, realizes his blunder too late, and gasps, "WHAT?!" Down in the Mainframe room, Trip turns his head and notices a small, red-digit clock over to the side, now reading 2:58. It loudly ticks down, prompting Trip to look back at the monitor, and cry against the red glow, "Oh, NO!" He begins typing even faster, to no avail. Somewhere else, the group of scientists are still bounded against the barrel. A blonde female technician moans and groans as she struggles against the ever-tight rope. A black woman, and a Will Ferrel lookalike also grimace and grunt, unable to escape from impending explosive doom. The Mainframe Computer voice announces for everyone in the vicinity of the complex to hear, "Two minutes, until self-destruct!" This includes Eric, who overhears the announcement. He dreadfully looks into the air, and gasps, "TWO minutes?!" With a low grunt, Eric slams his leather-gloved fist against the hood of the SUV. He pants repeatedly, appearing quite concerned about the destruction awaiting to occur after the commercial break, which is just about 2 minutes long for some people!

[commercials]

In the Mainframe Computer room, Trip presses a button on his Chrono-Morpher, and informs his teammates, "Guys! We've only got TWO minutes!" Outside of the building, the four Time Force Officers stare into their Morphers, as Jen responds affirmatively, "We're moving in!" They lower their arms, and once Jen turns and gives each of them a nod, the four race out past the Silver Hills Space Center sign, and into the street, motioning their arms, and proclaiming in unison, "Time for Time Force!" Full-screen morphs for each of them play in this order: Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow. The Chrono-Morphers are pressed, DNA strands are tossed, lightning strikes, molecules ignite, and Officers morph into Time Force Power Rangers amid digital-data tunnels. Once this is completed, the four never missed a beat in racing along the same area as they were at before morphing. Red Ranger urges, "Let's MOVE it!" Back in the complex's computer room, Serpicon contemplates the situation, gloating, "Two minutes?! Heh. Time FLIES when you're havin' FUN! But I'd BEST get out of here, about... NOW! Huhehuh!" The mutant makes a break for the exit, only to bump into the Quantum Ranger, who races into the doorway, and demands, "Stop!" Serpicon does as ordered, wondering, "Huh!?" Quantum Ranger boasts, "You're not goin' ANYwhere, lizard-breath! HUUAH!", before throwing the first punch. Down in the lobby, all-Asian Silver Guardians take on all gold-suited Cyclobots, and quite simply get their butts kicked. The four Time Force Rangers enter through the front door, finding this uneven match already in progress. They seem taken aback, but fail to assist. Red Ranger gasps, "Oh, no!", before suggesting, "Katie! Come with me. Jen & Lucas, you go the other way." Blue & Pink Rangers nod, saying together, "Right!", as Yellow & Red dart into the fray of SG & Cyclos. The computer display clock-ring continues ticking down, with the Fairweather-Rawlings voice announcing more regularly what it says, "15... 14..."

Beneath a red electronic eye (reminiscent of DECA), a large wall-like security door begins to lower down from the top of a doorframe. Pink & Blue TF Rangers enter into this empty chamber through a regular door, and upon spotting the slowly closing passageway, Jen gasps, "Oh, no! The EXIT door! We have to STOP it!" The moment the two of them step in closer, Cyclobots emerge from out of nowhere, one tripping Jen, and assaulting her on the floor, though she's able to fight him off. Lucas elbows a robodrone, then punches and kicks another in the golden single-eyed head. Somehow, the fight between the mutant & Eric has move out of the building, and into the area below the giant telecommunications satellite. Serpicon rolls across the pavement, then raises his pistol, firing a beam of green energy into the sky. This blast strikes the Quantum Ranger in the chest as he leaps forth in midair, firing his Quantum Defender at the mutant. Serpicon is struck in the chest by that return blast, his chest sparking with crimson smoke! Inside, the exit door continues to lower, as Blue & Pink Ranger tangle with a load of Cyclobots. In the Mainframe Computer room, Trip turns his head and spots the digital clock over to the right again. It reads a total of 10 seconds remaining, and counting down! A red light still shining deeply into his heavily sweating face, Trip cries, "Oh, NO!" He frantically dances his fingers across the keyboard, seeking a halt to the approaching explosive onslaught. As the computer voice counts the seconds down aloud, Circuit bemoans, "Ohh, I WISH I wasn't defective!" Back in the other room, Yellow Ranger hurries in, watches Jen & Lucas engaged in combat with the Cyclobots, and quickly spots the descending exit chamber. Katie gasps, "The DOOR!", and lunges toward it. The Mainframe Computer voice reaches zero, as does all the countdown clocks. She adds, much to Trip's relief, "ALL exit doors MUST be closed before self-destruct can be completed. Please close all remaining doors." Trip gasps with nervous joy, but doesn't get a break, as he presses onward with the relentless hacking.

Yellow Ranger braces herself beneath the large, lowering exit door, preventing it from closing by only about 5 feet. She grunts painfully, her Super-Strength taking much of the brunt, and notes in agony, "HURRY, guys! I can't hold this for long!" Pink Ranger hiyaahs as she chops down a Cyclobot, and vows, "I'm coming, Katie!", only to have another Cyclo grab her from behind. Red Ranger finally shows up, calling out Katie's name as he smacks a Cyclobot out of his way. Katie, barely holding the door up on her left shoulder, is in a vulnerable position. A single Cyclobot takes the opportunity to slash his Cyclo-Saber at her morphed body a few sparkily times. Wes reaches the robodrones before he can make Katie waiver, grabbing him, punching him, then kicking away a second bot. Katie wearily says aloud, "Trip! I CAN'T hold it!" In the Mainframe room, Trip presses a button on his Chrono-Morpher, and pleads into it, "DON'T let that door close yet! I NEED more time." He continues typing, as Circuit flaps his wings, and apologizes somberly, "Sorry, Trip." Yellow Ranger remains beneath the still-lowering door, causing it to stall only slightly. Katie groans uncontrollably, while her legs begin to buckle. Outside the complex, Quantum Ranger & Serpicon continue their sparring match. The mutant ducks as Eric throws his leg over his head in a failed kick. Immediately, they move into their next stances, that of aiming their weapons pointblank at each other's bodies! Eric points his Quantum Defender at the still-crouching Serpicon's forehead, and Serpicon holds his laser-pistol directly at Eric's heart. The tension mounts, as the two noble blaster-slingers remain frozen in a stalemate. Serpicon slowly rises, while commenting curiously, "Looks like we have ourselves a preDICament here, Quantum Ranger." Quantum Ranger figures in a tone just as vicious as his mutant opponent, "Why don't we settle this the old FASHioned way? A DUEL to the finish." Serpicon nods, "Agreed!" Both of them pull back their weapons, and stand back-to-back with one another. Holding their guns in their right hands, raised to the sky, Eric & Serpicon start to slowly walk away from each other. Smoke pours through the scene, with each opponent stepping widely, as if counting paces.

In the Mainframe room, Trip smiles somewhat, as he finishes typing in a line of data. The monitor display reads what the Fairweather-Rawlings computer voice says, "Invalid Access Code!" Trip slumps his arms, and sighs defeatedly, "I just CAN'T get it!" Trying one last time to beg reason with his robotic owl buddy, Trip pleads, "Circuit, PLEASE. You can break this program, I KNOW it!" Circuit states with a total lack of self-confidence, "I JUST can't help until we know I'm not going to malFUNCtion!!" Trip stammers sweatily, "Ahh, b-but, Circuit!" Unable to handle the pressure, Circuit denies one last time, "I just CAN'T.", before fluttering off and landing atop a nearby tall locker. Trip glares at his pal disappointedly once more, shakes his head, and resumes typing. Circuit blinks, flaps, and more or less sulks high out of reach. Back in the outer chamber, Yellow Ranger has buckled down to one knee, as she strains to keep the descending door firmly on her weakening shoulder. Red Ranger swats, then elbows a Cyclobot in the back, and urges, "Katie, hold on!" He rushes over, and gets beneath the doorframe. Katie is losing her grip, as the door lowers to less than 3 feet off the ground. When she spots her teammate helping out on the other side, causing the door to be lifted up somewhat and slack shifted, she cheers, "Wes! Alright!" He just grunts along with her. Pink & Blue Rangers finally finish off the Cyclos, and join their teammates in a round of "hold up that door." They only remain under it for a moment, before Katie mentions, "You guys need to get the people out! We'll hold it as long as we can, GO!" Lucas confirms, "Right!", as he & Jen slide under the exit door, entering the complex proper. This removal of the extra support causes the door to drop sharply on Wes & Katie, making them groan with bruised shoulders as they struggle to keep it up.

Back in the Mainframe, Circuit watches Trip rapidly typing from above, lamenting pathetically, "Oh, I WISH I could help him. At THIS rate, he won't break the code in time! This is awful!" Trip types up something, it doesn't work, so he angrily jerks his hands, and tries yet again. Circuit holds his eyes half-shut, as he neutrally awaits the inevitable. Suddenly, a familiar voice speaks through the robotic owl's inter-temporal transmission systems, saying simply, "Circuit." Circuit turns his body around, facing away from Trip, as he seems to see the person calling him, asking in reply, "Alex?!" Indeed, in the year 3000, watching Circuit looking at him through a Holoscreen, the Wes-lookalike-in-white with dark hair stands sternly in his dark console chamber. Alex, with silver sunglasses on as usual, informs Circuit in an emotionless tone, "Yes. I'M the one who erased your history databanks." Circuit replies, "You?!", prompting Alex to simply nod. The robotic owl can't help but wonder, "But, WHY?" Alex raises his head, and paces across the room, explaining, "You were about to tell the Rangers information, that could JEOPardize their mission. I had NO choice." Circuit is beyond relieved, as he happily asks, "Then _I_ didn't make a mistake after all. Did I?!" Alex confirms, "No, Circuit. You're perfectly functional. You've got to do your BEST to help the Rangers." Circuit promises, "You GOT it, Alex!" The former Mystery Man presses a button on the Holoscreen control, causing Circuit's image to switch off. Overwhelmed by this joyfully revelation of his lack of internal flaws, Circuit doesn't even seem to care that Alex was messing around with his mind. Instead, the urgent matter at hand... err, wing, come first. He turns back around, and looks toward Trip, and thinks, "Okay. Now WHERE do I begin?!"

In the outer chamber, Red Ranger grunts while keeping a firm amount of resistance beneath the closing exit door. He asks his partner, "How ya doin' Katie?!" Yellow Ranger remains with a tight grip, wearily replying, "Ugnh. I can't hold on much longer! Unhh!" Elsewhere, Pink & Blue Ranger fight their way through yet another batch of Cyclobots, who must be holding a convention nearby. In the Mainframe room, the computer voice announces, "Access denied!" Trip slams his arms against the desktop, and cries into the blinking red light from the monitor, "Come ON!" With renewed vigor, Circuit hovers down from above, and offers, "Hey, Trip. Let me see if _I_ can do it!" Trip smiles through his sweat-drenched face, giving a slight chuckle as the robo-owl he knows and loves (secretly, late at night) has regained his eagerly assisting personality. Elsewhere, Jen & Lucas, wielding Chrono-Sabers, pass through a dark doorway. Lucas points out, "Down THERE!", and they rush in that direction. Running out of energy and thoroughly fatigued, Wes groans aloud, "Trip! We CAN'T last much longer!" Katie adds gruntingly while in the process of becoming a pancake, "Trip, HURRY! Huuuh!" At last, Circuit lands on the keyboard, and connects to the system through the processors in his curves toes. He determinedly notes, "I've got access to the Mainframe. Locating self-destruct override! I've ALMOST got it!" The monitor display switches to a scan mode system, with the flashing word: Searching. Trip smiles proudly at this instant progress. In one of the Space Center's storage rooms, Lucas & Jen discover where the remaining scientists are being held. Blue Ranger tells the panicking group of people, "Hold still, everybody!", as he cuts into the rope binding them to the green barrel with his double-bladed Saber. Pink Ranger does the same with her double-blade, helping to relieve them of the rest of their multiply fastened constraints. The technicians immediately race for the door, as Jen urges, "Hurry everybody! Get out of here!" Lucas also tries calming the fleeing crowd by claiming, "C'mon, get going! You're gonna be okay! ...I hope."

In the courtyard, Serpicon & Quantum Ranger remain standing a bit across, and facing away, from each other. They patiently await the proper moment to act, with Eric slowly lifting his left arm, as if about to call upon the Q-Rex with his Quantum Morpher. Instead, he implores, "Make your MOVE, Serpicon." Eric taps his Quantum Morpher against the back of his left hand, just as he did when he made his debut in "The Quantum Quest." After only one loud clanging tap, Serpicon snarls and spins around, firing his laser-pistol at the Quantum Ranger. The green beam sprays into the empty air, as Eric dives to the ground, dropping onto his back, and firing at the mutant with his Quantum Defender. The red ray hits Serpicon perfectly, causing him to howl in agony, as his body bursts with scarlet smoke. In the Mainframe room, Trip presses his Morpher, and tells his teammates, "Hold on, guys!" Circuit flaps a tad, as his golden feet continue to interface with the keyboard, making modem-connection sounds. He remarks, "This should just take a FEW more seconds." At the exit door, Yellow Ranger groans, "I can't hold on!", as her body trembles and the weight of the door proves to be too much for her weakened form. Outside, Quantum Ranger remains on his back with his Quantum Defender aimed, as Serpicon sparks wildly, howls loudly, and falls on his back, spewing red smoke. Inside, Wes & Katie have apparently cleared the collapsing doorway. The exit door slams completely shut, and Katie, clutching her helmeted ears, cries, "Oh, NO!!" She quietly awaits the explosion, only to hear the Fairweather-Rawlings (patent-pending) computer voice announce, "Self Destruct Aborted!" Yellow Ranger slowly lowers her hands and lifts her head, cheering, "What? All RIGHT!" Red Ranger concurs, "Oh, YES!", as he relief-breathingly collapses onto his back in weary success. Down below, Circuit giggles, as Trip lifts him into the air, and commends, "YES! You did it! You DID it, buddy!" Circuit praises back, noting, "WE did it, Trip!" Above, Katie joins Wes in lying on the floor from triumphant exhaustion. Wes weakly speaks into his Chrono-Morpher, "Trip, Circuit. You guys REALLY came through. But DON'T cut it so close next time!" Circuit replies, "You GOT it, Wes! But we're not done, YET!" Trip nods, then holds Circuit closer to his side, as he looks into the camera intensely.

Outside of the Space Center, Serpicon has already yanked the gold & black DNA patch off his left leg, and is growing to colossal heights, laser-pistol included. Quantum Ranger, though the winner of the duel, has no choice but to summon into his Quantum Morpher, "Q-Rex, aRISE!" Deep in the woods, as the music goes for a tribal drumbeat soundtrack, the snarling Quantasaurus Rex rips through the soil with his massive metal tail. Tearing through surrounding trees, the Q-Rex howls extensively, and begins to race into the city. After that lengthy scene, Red & Yellow join Blue & Pink Time Force Rangers just outside the Space Center. The Green Time Force Ranger has also morphed and rejoined the team at last. They all look skyward, with Wes pointing out, "Whoa! The Q-Rex is taking on Serpicon!" The five TF Rangers are dwarfed, not only by the giant satellite near them, but the majestic Quantasaurus Rex in the distance, as it lunges at the equally large Serpicon. Q-Rex growls, but the mutant is able to snatch the savage Zord's head beneath his arm. When he breaks away, Q-Rex snarls viciously, and bites down on Serpicon's left arm in slow motion! The mutant sparks some, before smacking the Quantasaurus off with his right hand. Q-Rex tumbles onto the building-debris strewn street. Quantum Ranger presses the upper left button on his Morpher, and commands into it, "Quantasaurus, Megazord Mode... NOW!" Q-Rex shifts its head upwards, and its shoulders down into fists. The head snaps down, another head pops out, and the fully-erect Quantasaurus Rex Megazord stands fully formed amid volcanic explosions. Eric activates into his Morpher, "Fire Missiles!" Q-Rex does as ordered, aiming his 6-red rocketed right hand at the mutant, and unleashing every one of the projectiles. They blast all around Serpicon, but fail to hit him, as he rolls out of the way, growling annoyedly. Once back on his feet, Serpicon aims his laser-pistol at the Q-Rex, and fires a direct blast from across the city, making the Megazord spark furiously.

On the ground, the Time Force Rangers don't even bother calling for their Zords, and instead whip out their V-Weapons. Pink Ranger leads the charge, "V-Weapons, fire!" All five of them shoot off their Vector cannons into the air, bombarding Serpicon from below. He sparks a little, and is more dazed than anything, something he quickly recovers from, and turns his attention their way. Red Ranger lowers his weapon, and gasps, "Huh? It didn't even PHASE him!" Serpicon points his giant pistol at the five tiny Rangers below, boasting deeply, "Here's some REAL firepower!" Wes shields his face like a baby, and cries out, likely wetting his pants instead of calling upon the 900 different mega weapons he has at his disposal to take down giant mutants like him. Where's Circuit during all of this? He's behind a wall, taking a dump! Well, pretty much so. He floats up from behind the wall, and proclaims, "I GOTTA help them!" (call the ZORDS, then, you silly bird!) Serpicon aims at Green Ranger, noting, "You're first!" Trip gasps, "Oh no!" Circuit flies across the scene, calling out, "Hey, Serpicon! Over HERE!" Trip goes, "Huh?!", and Serpicon merely laughs. He fires his gigantic pistol at the speck of a robotic owl. Now, given the size of the pistol, you'd think a blast from it would literally scorch the football-sized bird into nothing but smithereens. Nah, the green beam just shrinks down to well below its normal range, and blasts into Circuit's left breast. Circuit sparks, squeals, and plummets. Green Ranger yells out his pal's name, and leaps into the air. Circuit falls uncontrollably, screaming & smoking like crazy. Trip grabs him before he can smash into the pavement, and rolls to safety. He praises the not-visibly damaged robo-owl, "Gotcha, little buddy! You saved us AGAIN, Circuit." Circuit, no longer smoking, and no wounds apparent, bemoans, "Maybe not! I can't call the Megazord. He FRIED my transmitter!" Red Ranger takes it in stride, noting, "We'll cover for YOU, this time, Circuit!" He presses his Morpher, and summons, "Alright. Time Jet, online!"

The tiny white & black Time Jet unsnaps itself from its orange case, and expands to full size in the sunlight. It zooms off, and the Rangers all hop on with mighty yaahs (Wes STILL needs Jen's help in leaping up to reach it!). The Time Jet spins around, and once the Rangers board it, Serpicon turns and spots them streaking his way, stunned. The Rangers ride swiftly through the air with the wind in their helmeted faces, before Trip proclaims, "Let's DO it!" Wes orders, "Fire laser, NOW!" The control cannon is the first to blast, with the rest of the weapons on the large white Time Jet unloading in succession. Serpicon is engulfed with explosions, thanks to the rapid blast of blue lasers. He howls and bursts, dropping his pistol on the ground, as the Time Jet swoops by through the acrid smokey air. Quantum Ranger takes the incentive, presses his Morpher, and calls upon, "Alright! Q-Rex, Max Blizzard!" The Quantasaurus Rex Megazord lowers its hands, and unleashes the full fury of both its shoulder-cannons. The incredibly powerful green beams surge forth, slamming into Serpicon. He cries out, as his mutant body explodes into a large fireball, which dissipates as the residual green energies swirl around counterclockwise. Serpicon's body glows, and immediately shrinks, dropping his tiny, cold-smoking form onto the cement, Chrono-Frozen once again. The Time Jet flanks back, allowing the five Time Force Rangers to leap off. They freefall in a shot we've seen numerous times, and lands perfectly on their feet beside the Space Center. Green Ranger leads the rush over to where he left the still-smoking robotic owl, shouting with concern, "Circuit! Hey!" Jen also says Circuit's name, as Trip picks him up off the ground where he apparently dropped him before getting on the Time Jet. Trip informs the injured robo-owl, "Guess WHAT? We did it!" (captions read "Guess what, Circuit?", but one less Circuit-naming this episode, the better) His brass eyelids already half-closed, Circuit responds only in a weary moan, before his eyes shut completely, and his head ceases moving. All five Rangers, crouching down beside Trip, gasp with shock at what seems to be the death of their robotic ally. Trip cries, "Circuit? Oh no!" yet again, and somber bells toll in the music as a sign of dire foreboding.

[commercials]

Sunset, or sunrise, whatever. It's an orange sky somewhere in the middle of the city of Silver Hills. Deep within the darkened laboratory of Frax, Cyclobots march around, doing work for their formally-human boss. One Cyclo does welding on what appears to be yet another robot of Frax's, which lies on a table in the middle of the workshop. It's solid gold, and kinda looks like a metal version of Rygog's Catzord from Turbo, except for its broad gatling shoulders, glowing red eyes, and multiple-cannon chest. I should stress, this is NOT the same robot that was shown being worked on earlier in the episode. Frax approaches and comments, "ALL excellent! It's TIME to test my creation. Cyclobot, PLUG me IN!" A Cyclobot does as ordered, taking a cable from a nearby device, and attaching the connector end of it into a port on Frax's left arm-joint. The Cyclobot then attaches another end of a cable into an outlet near the bright bulb on Frax's right shoulder. Frax lifts his finger-cannon left hand into the air, and excitedly demands, "Raise your LEFT arm!" The golden robo-creation follows instructions, lifting its left arm, which has a long curved claw for a hand. Frax laughs wickedly, and adds, "And now your RIGHT arm!" It does so, showing its right hand to be equally crescent clawed. Frax yanks out the cord in his left arm with a grunt, causing the powerful drone's left hand to fall instantly. He pulls out the cord from his shoulder, and the robot's right hand also drops back down. Frax gloats, "My new creation will do my bidding exACTly! HuhahaHA!" His facial features pop open from all the excitement. Meanwhile, citizens flee through the streets. Cyclobots march around, frightening everybody. Smoking rubble from buildings destroyed offscreen litters the sidewalks. In the skies above, the first dark blue & black Time Hole begins to form above the city. Several others as well, JUST as we saw in Circuit's vision from earlier. The centers crackle with lightning... but WHEN is this scene taking place? Is this just the shapes of things to come?

Keep pondering that, as over at the Clock Tower, it's a nice, Time Hole-less, sunny day. The five Time Force Officers huddle around the wooden perch-post, as Circuit sits atop it, eyes closed, his entire system shut down. Katie does some ventriloquism, as she whispers without moving her lips at all, "Wake UP, Circuit! Is he oh-KAY?!" Circuit remains in off mode. Trip, who's closest to the robotic owl, "Circuit? Circuit!" They say a watched pot never boils, and if you pick at a scab it'll never heal. But Circuit, who's a little of both those things, suddenly revives from his cybernetic slumber before the watching gaze of five pairs of eyes. Circuit opens one eye, then the other, then flaps his wings, and the light in his eyes switches on, along with the other lights upon his body. During this, the restored robo-owl greets chipperly, "Whoa! HI, guys!" All five TF Officers seem delighted by his recovery. Trip asks with a smile, "How'd you feel?" Circuit's eyes blink out of order, as he shakes off the linger effects of his rough day, replying, "I feel... well... absolutely GREAT!" Trip is visibly pleased. But his teammates seem otherwise, glaring at the robotic owl as Katie pushes Trip aside, and they step in closer. She scolds Circuit sternly, "If you EVER run away from us again..." Circuit asks for the rest fearfully, "... Yeeeeah?" Katie playfully adds, "Wellll.... we're all coming WITH you! Got it?!" Wes & Jen chuckle, and put their hands around Katie's back as she departs, trying in vain to keep a straight face, something even Lucas fails at. Circuit confirms, "GOT it!" The four walk off toward the stairway (with Wes & Jen appearing to leave arm in arm), leaving Trip behind to happily inform his robotic companion, "Hey! I checked your systems. There's NOTHING wrong!" He then wonders, "So... WHAT was it you were saying about the future?" Circuit stalls for a moment, before flapping his wings, blinking, and casually replying, "The future? Nothing important! NOTHING at all. Just the usual, ya know? The sun will come up, and we WILL catch the evil guy!" Trip smiles, and picks Circuit up off his perch, carrying him across the room. Did Alex implant a happy ending into Circuit's databanks, or is the robo-owl blissfully ignoring the depressing truth about their "mission"? Stock footage of the year 3000, as we've seen loads of time before, with people hanging around on top of their weirdly shaped pink houses, as hovercars zoom past. In the bowels of the Time Force HQ, Alex watches the formation of the massive, deadly, unnatural Time Holes forming over the city of Silver Hills. Instead seeing it on the Holoscreen, he has the transmission up on the overhead viewing screen. It's VERY clear, replying the same footage we've already seen twice this episode. Alex just stands before the console, watching this disaster unfold. His sunglasses-covered eyes may shield the windows to his soul, but his expression betrays his cold attitude. Alex lowers his head slightly, and seems to be fighting back an inner rage. He knows what's going to happen to his fiancee, his former teammates, and his DNA-double ancestor. But for some reason, Alex is preventing himself from revealing anything to anyone, and by his expression, the struggle may be tearing him apart inside.

[In Memory of Thuy Trang]
[Scenes from "A Calm Before The Storm"; End Credits]