Goodbye Thunder (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)

Another day at the beach, this time it's Angel Grove Vs. Stone Canyon in the Annual Volleyball Championship. The Glory hogs, uhh, I mean the Ranger teens make up the AG team, of course. The other team consists of no-name nobodies (don't Aisha, Rocky & Adam feel traitorous to their former hometown?). Ernie announces the winners get free lunch at his New Outdoor Cafe, Bulk & Skull are catching rays at the beach as well, asking if that also applies to fans of the winners. Our teenage overactive heroes get ready to go for the gold and win the championship with the final play of the game. Meanwhile on the Moon, Rita is lead into the Throne Room blindfolded by Lord Zedd, who surprises his "putrid peanut" with a small gift he selected especially for her! He unveils (a large red sheet with a "Z" on it was covering the present) a new Repulsascope, similar to the old one she used to use to peek into the Rangers' bedrooms at night, supposedly an anniversary gift from her hubby Zeddy. She happily kisses his cast-iron lips, asking him how long they've been married. Zedd says his happiness is so complete, it feels like only a matter of moments. Rita mutters under her breathe that it seems more like a century, before taking a peek into the Scope just as her husband looks through the other end. She gets an eyeful of his ugly face, shouting for him to move back a few hundred miles.

Once he's out of the way, she's scopes out the Volleyball game with amazing clarity, calling this one better than the old Repulsascope, she loves it, and can now watch all that action! Suddenly, Zedd hears a sound approaching the moon, and not so far away from the Palace, a fireball is shown crashing into the lunar surface. The impact shakes the moon so hard, Rita & Zedd fall over, having to be helped up by Goldar, Baboo & Squatt. The phenomenon is so loud, it distracts Billy on Earth, causing him to hit the ball off course, landing it right on Bulk's head. Skull shouts that even he could do better than that geekoid, Ernie tells them to give him a break, the bumbling duo tells the Juice Bar owner to shut up. Billy's teammates ask him what's wrong, he asks if they heard that loud rumbling, but Adam states he didn't hear a thing. The game reconvenes where it left off, like we don't already know who's going to win. And on the Moon, the source of the disturbance has left a smoking crater. Two skeletal hands reach out from within...

Whatever just crashed on the moon is finally revealed, as a decaying skeleton solider! He emerges from the hole and stretching out his weary bones from the cramped trip, his eyes glow red as he yawns and looks around, mentioning he thought he'd never find this place. The solider pulls out an egg from a sack full of several, wandering around trying to find a nice spot to nest them, picking a nice cold, rocky crevice without a drop of water in sight, calling it a nice neighborhood. After he gets done he plans to pay old Rita Repulsa and whats-his-name a visit, he can't wait to see the look on her face when she finds out what he's got buried there. Once all six eggs are planted and covered with dirt, the solider says he'll catch them after they hatch, before finally teleporting towards the Moon Palace in his fireball form. He enters through the Balcony, plopping down on the Throne Room floor rather abruptly. Lord Zedd orders Goldar to seize the intruder, to which the gold monkey quickly does, picking the solider as he says that someone should put up a sign as that last step's a doozy. Rita gets a good look at his face and shouts his name with a smile, Zedd asks if she knows this klutz, and she says that Rito Revolto is her brother (and Zedd's brother-in-law)! Baboo & Squatt are shocked that their queen has a sibling, Goldar notes he thought he smelled something rotten, to which Rito lifts his arm and smells its pit, confirming that smell would be him alright.

In the Command Center, Alpha & Zordon try to figure out what the disturbance on the moon was, but thanks to the parametric spectrometer acting up again, they're having difficulty. Alpha promises to work as fast as he can to repair it, since it's the only tool they have to monitor Lord Zedd's evil activities. At the beach, the Ranger teens are down by two points in the volleyball tournament, but thanks to some cheers from the sidelines by Ernie, they catch up quickly. Up on the moon, Rita spots the eggs Rito left at his landing site through her Repulsascope, which are incubating and getting ready to hatch, and she quizzes him about them. Rito is polishing Zedd's Z-Staff, breathing his foul breath on it and shining it rather nicely when Zedd shows up and grabs it, telling the bonehead not to touch that as he sits on the throne. Rito gripes to Rita that he's worse than dad, but won't reveal the secret of his wedding gift to them, which have to remain buried until they hatch. Rito quips to Zedd (calling him Ed, which he loathes, a running gag of which Rito will never completely break the habit of) that he can get rid of those pesky Power Rangers for him. Zedd screams that he couldn't even get rid of a flea, Rito boasts he couldn't do worse than he has already. This gives Rita an idea for a plan, about Rito leading an army of monsters by being their decoy. Rito shouts an affirming "Yeah!", but has to ask Ed what a decoy is. Zedd calls him a fool and understands his wife's plan aloud, that the Rangers will be busy fighting Rito, allowing the monsters to take them by surprise. Finster (who strangely is wandering around the Throne Room, odd since he usually is reclusive in his Workshop) thinks this idea wonderful, and offers to break out his best monster molds to get started right away. Rito states he also has an idea and asks if they want to hear it, but each of the three evil space aliens sternly tell him no, he turns away with his head held low.

Back on Earth, the Rangers teens waste more time playing the volleyball game. If you enjoy watching our six heroes jumping into the air in shorts and tanktops, you'll love this scene. It evens with Billy slamming into the sand, having scored the winning point, giving Angel Grove 16 to Stone Canyon's 14. Ernie is such a jolly chap, he decides to give free lunch to all the players, winners and losers (and apparently everyone else who shows up at the grand opening of his new Outdoor Cafe). Soon on the Moon, as Rito bench-presses two large boulders (with Goldar spotting him), Rita watches the eggs grow and move through her Repulsascope with curiosity. She still doesn't get any info out of Rito, who wants them to be a surprise when they hatch, his sis can hardly wait. Rito finishes his workout, flexing the dead muscle tissue hanging off his skeletal frame, and preparing for the upcoming battle royale.

It's the Grand Opening of Ernie's Outdoor Cafe, a subsidiary of the Juice Bar, of which it's located right outside of. The Ranger teens are enjoying the flowery shade, Rocky high-fives Billy & Kim on the good game. Billy asks where Tommy is, Kim mentions he took the volleyball net back to the athletic department. Adam walks over with several stacks of sandwiches in his possession, handing one to Aisha and another to Billy, telling them all to hurry if they want their free lunch. Bulk & Skull are there too, stuffing their pockets with as much free food as they can get, calling this their kind of party. They overhear two girls talking about how much they'd just die if they found out who the Power Rangers are, a topic B&S are experts in failing on, giggling over how they could be right there among them and they wouldn't even know it. The two females agree on one thing, they just want to know Ranger guys are, pretty much in love with guys in uniform in particular. The goofball duo realize this old adage that girls love men in uniform, Skull wonders where they can get uniforms so girls will love them too. Bulk spots a sign for the Junior Police Patrol (who "Want You!" to join today), telling Skull to follow his lead, they both stand up and shout that they have an announcement to make. Nobody listens upon Bulk's pleas for attention, so Skull takes a glass and taps on it with a spoon, causing the smoothie contents to splash out all over Bulk! That doesn't work, but Skull's whistling eventually gets everyone turning to the bumbling buddies, Bulk announces that he & Skull are enrolling in the Angel Grove Junior Police Patrol! Everyone, Ranger teens and Ernie included, in the cafe drops their jaws at this stunning news, even Skull! Bulk lifts his pal's jaw up and notes the uniforms involved, asking him to think of the girls it'll get them!

Up on the moon, Finster finishes recreating four of his most horrible monsters ever, via the Monstermatic. He presents them to Lord Zedd (who states that the assistant does have his moments), turning out to be Stag Beetle (who was never a Finster creation to begin with, as seen in "The Beetle Invasion"), Octophantom (another apparently non-Finster creation from "The Power Stealer"), Lizzinator (from "Enter: The Lizzinator"), and Fighting Flea (from "To Flea Or Not To Flee")! They bounce in, revived and ready to rumble, Finster states that their new powers are astounding. Zedd says they'd better be, ordering Finster to send them on their way to Earth, which he does by shooing them away. Rito boasts he's going to turn the Power Rangers into toejam tacos, Rita cheers him on to go get them, and he races off, charging onward to victory, following the monsters out the way they went. He pauses at the secondary balcony (the one facing Rita's Planetoid) and turns around, mentioning he's all twisted around here and asks which way he goes. Rita screams for him to get his miserable sniveling behind out of there now, so he just figures he'll follow that big lizard.

The four redux monsters teleport to Earth with Rito, landing in a forest where Rito proclaims them as the force that will destroy the Power Rangers, ordering them to split up and hide. The monsters hop off behind trees, Rito whines that they're taking all the good spots. Fighting Flea reminds him he's supposed to stay out in the open to act as the decoy, Rito smacks his skull and realizes the monster is right. Rito kicks back and relaxes on the ground, awaiting the ambush almost as impatiently as his partners. In the Command Center, Alpha 5 is able to detect the trouble outside of Angel Grove, but due to the Spectrometer still being offline, he can't tell what it is exactly. Zordon says they'll have to proceed without it, and to contact the Rangers right away. At the Outdoor Cafe, Rocky expresses his disbelief about Bulk & Skull joining the police academy, but Aisha says you gotta give them credit. Their Communicators go off, so checking around to make sure nobody is watching, Kim answers hers. Alpha tells them of the disturbance in the outskirts of the city, Kim mentions Tommy isn't with them, but the droid says he'll contact him and teleport him there with them.

Minutes later, the six Ranger teens are reunited in the wooded area where Alpha detected the anomaly. They look around and stay alert, but oddly don't see anything at first. Rito suddenly flips onto the scene and says it's nice to meet the Power Dweebs, this instant introduction prompts Tommy to shout a quick It's Morphin Time! They whip out their Morphers, ala the Movie (considering this entire four parter is the story equivalent of MMPR:TM, it's only fair), and Morph into Power Rangers, by the powers of the Dinosaurs (and White Tiger) that they've drawn upon for so long. Rito admits that was a pretty cool trick but offers to do one for them, as Rita & Zedd cross their Power Staffs together up on the moon, calling on the power and force of lightning to make their monster grow! The combined magic of the two Lords of evil spews down from the heavens in a blast of lightning, causing Rito to grow huge in a flash, this being Rito's favorite part. He calls himself not bad for a bag of bones, asking the Rangers if they want to dance while he stomps his giant foot down on them. The Power Rangers do the expected and call for their Thunderzords, which rumble into action, in full stock footage glory of the same shots we've seen a million times before. It's bittersweet in hindsight, this would be their last blast, especially for the "White Ranger Tiger Power" theme music played.

The Thunder Megazord and White Tigerzord Warrior Mode face Rito in the mountainous outskirts of Angel Grove, with a few buildings scattered about (likely 'abandoned'). Rito says they're finished as soon as his pals get here, White Ranger laughs as he always does and says it looks like Zedd left him hanging. This leaves the skeletal solider no choice but to take them down himself, attacking the Tigerzord with his boney sword. A few slashes cause sparks, but when fighting the Thunder Megazord, he ends up knocked to the ground. He gets up and calls two against one no fair, taking on both Megazords at once with pretty good fighting skills. He does a bit of damage to each of the Rangers' mecha, throwing both Thunderzords for a loop. Meanwhile, Rita watches the fight from the moon, and gets shoved aside from her Repulsascope by Goldar, who watches Rito get into position. He tells Lord Zedd that it is time for the sneak attack, Zedd thinks this quite right and joins with his Queen wife to lock Scepters again. The lightning summoned forth strikes to the Earth, making the four hidden recycled monsters grow! Rito's glad to see they finally joined him, and the ganging-up ambush plan finally commences. The Rangers realize this was a trap too late, as Fighting Flea assaults the White Tigerzord. only to get knocked away. The Thunder Megazord kicks Octophantom to the ground, causing a sparky explosion to erupt from him, turning just in time to get zapped by the stinging pinchers of the Stag Beetle! This causes the Megazord to topple over, allowing the Beetle to kick the power right out of the helpless Ranger mecha.

Rito Revolto stands tall in the streets, cackling that he loves it when a plan comes together. He targets the Tigerzord, raising his bone-sword to the sky and saying they're gonna love this, charging it up with red lightning before blasting the snot right out of Tommy's Warrior Mode Zord with the energy. Red Ranger calls Alpha from the battered Thunder Megazord cockpit, explaining they're outnumbered and need more power. In the Command Center, Alpha frantically informs them he's doing everything he can, pressing every button in reach, as Zordon cautions him. It seems the power accelerator is almost at its peak level, Alpha notes the Zords' power bank is draining like a spaghetti strainer and he has to try to siphon some juice back into it. Over at the battle site, the Megazords stand back up, ready for more action, the Thunder Saber whips up a laser whirlwind twister at Rito. It strikes him and causes him to drop his skelesword, White Rangers gets cocky and tells him he made a big mistake messing with them. Rito has his sword back, saying he's only just begun, and when the Tigerzord blasts some chest-bolts at him, Rito fires off his own red laserbeams from his hand! This causes the White Ranger's blast attacked to be ricocheted right back into the tiger-mouth it came from, trashing the Megazord internally. Red Ranger tells him teammates to brace themselves as they're going in, just as the Thunder Megazord gets flamed back by Rito's bonesword's blowtorch mode. Rito laughs maniacally (with Fighting Flea & Lizzinator seen behind him, jumping around and cheering), as both the White Tigerzord & Thunder Megazord struggle to maintain balance and power, as fires rage behind them in the wreckage of buildings.

Alpha Ay-yi-yi's that the controls are going crazy and he's afraid to push the power accelerator any harder. Zordon tells the Rangers the power accelerator is becoming increasingly unstable, and a sudden flux of power could ultimately strip them of the Ranger Powers! White Ranger, thinking himself invincible and not realizing they aren't fighting to save the city but doing exactly what Zedd & Rita want, exclaims that that's a chance they'll just have to take. Alpha presses a few buttons, causing the Command Center consoles to spark and explode in his robotic face. He cries that it's out of control, Zordon urges him to try and find a way to stabilize the accelerator. Alpha tells him he's trying but nothing's working, the Zords are going to blow up! The consoles explode continuously, erupting sparks and smoke all around the droid, the alarms beep and he wonders what they're going to do now.

In the Moon Palace, Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Squatt & Baboo conga dance happily with Rita screaming that they're winning and the Power Rangers are about to go down in the Agony of Defeat! Zedd shouts triumphantly that finally the destruction of the Rangers has come, as he dances around along with his wife and monster lackeys. Back down on Earth, Rito places his sword over his shoulder and sits back for a few, letting the other monsters finish off the Thunderzords. The Lizzinator (who oddly doesn't talk like Arnold as he did in his first appearance) breathes some fire, and the Fighting Flea blasts off some laser beams at both the Thunder Megazord & White Tigerzord. The Zords fall around, exploding left and right, but Rito is too antsy and whines about having to do everything around there as he charges up his sword again. He fires it off at both Megazords, followed by some eyebeam blasts, and lastly his hand-laser maneuver. The constant onslaught of destruction overwhelms the damaged and failing Zords, leaving our heroes no choice but to bail out on Rocky's plea! The Power Rangers leap for their lives, falling out of the Megazords as quickly as they can, and by the time they hit the ground, they've demorphed unwillingly.

Rito Revolto stands on the horizon with his army of four resurrected monsters, laughing evilly and shouting to Rita on what she thinks of her baby brother now! The Ranger teens stand up and dust themselves off, Kimberly asks what happened and Billy says they've demorphed. Adam asks what that means, just as the White Tigerzord and Thunder Megazord begin to explode not too far in the distance, causing a blinding flash! Our heroes watch powerless in horror as smoke rolls forth from the dying remains of the Thunderzords, first the Sabers are tossed, followed by Tigerzord's head falling off. The Thunder Megazord's right arm drops to the ground, just before the body of the Tigerzord tilts back and crashes down like (ahem) thunder. Kimberly is pulled back by her friends when she tries rushing off to stop the destruction, screaming out "No!" as she watches the Megazords crumble in flames, pieces by piece. The Rangers cover their faces as fire rains down on them, the heap of debris igniting one final time before their eyes, what remains of all six of their Thunderzords (and basically the Dinozords!) is lost forever in a matter of moments. The Megazord funeral pyre continues burning bright, with the last glimmer of hope flickering out to each of the former Power Rangers.