The city edifices were almost gone from Misty's view as she made her way toward the small town of Riko. Towering business buildings gave way to pastoral scenery—rolling hills, plains, and farmhouses. However, this vision was obscured by two blubbery masses that whipped the Saber-Toothed Tiger Dinozord across its face. The Yellow Ranger shouted due to emotional and physical shock as electric currents ran through the Zord's fangs and face, sending the roaring machine to the ground.
"I've got to make it past this thing…" she told herself, trying to rally the Dinozord to its feet, but she had little idea what she could do. Like the Blue Ranger said, physical attacks were foolhardy and laser fire was either absorbed or rebounded at her by Vitreous, which would be encasing the entire city soon; Misty could see the jellyfish's end hovering a few hundred feet above the edge of the northern edge of Feron Grove, torturously descending to the Earth's surface.
"Alpha!" Misty said through her Communicator. "Vitreous is weighing my Dinozord down! I need you to transfer more power so I can speed out of here!"
"I'm trying, Misty," the robot assistant answered. "But the monster's poisonous electrical current has already damaged you all significantly! We have to focus more energy on shields so the venom doesn't penetrate the Zords and your suits!"
"We cannot risk overloading the Dinozords, Yellow Ranger," Zordon added. "Too much energy boosting can also damage the Morphing Grid."
"I understand," Misty said, bringing Saber-Toothed Tiger back to its feet, nimbly dodging another strike from the tentacles. "Maybe I can get this thing tangled up."
Shifting her controls forward, Yellow Ranger surged her Dinozord forward toward Riko. Three slimy appendages instantly dropped down to try and tangle her, but she deftly dodged to the left, whipping the trees below her nearly out of the ground. Another two tentacles came from in front of her, preparing to lynch the Zord, and the others were coming in from the side.
"Now!" she cried, moving the control knobs back. Saber-Toothed Tiger growled and leapt far back. Instead of ensnaring its prey, Vitreous' tentacles wrapped around each other, causing the beast to drone in frustration. Misty then charged fast, escaping the area and making it to Riko.
"I did it!" the heroine shouted triumphantly. "Guys, I got out! Try and maneuver so that the monster wraps its tentacles around each other!"
"Great plan, Misty," Ash congratulated. "We'll give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Yeah," Lia said. "Maybe then we can get out and attack Vitreous from the outside!"
As Misty kept going, the other Rangers changed up their strategy, trying to egg the monster on to attack them in order to trap it. Before long, she heard Vitreous moan in pain—a sign the Dinozords were effectively tricking it.
Finally, the humongous tiger robot came to a stop near Riko Community Hospital, a small white building with several medical trucks standing by. The Yellow Ranger exited the cockpit and leapt to the ground, where a team of physicians and EMTs were waiting, astonished at what they saw.
"Thank goodness you're here," one of the doctors said, awestruck at seeing a real live superhero. "We want to move in to Feron Grove to get these antidotes to the people, but that monster's in the way!"
"Don't you worry," Misty assured her. "Me and the other Power Rangers will make sure this thing's out of the way. Since it probably knows you'll have the antidotes, We'll do our best to draw its attacks away from you."
"Awesome!" a bearded medic cried, waving the other workers to the trucks. "Let's get a move on!"
On the Moon, Rita Repulsa still stood a vigilant watch, eyeing Misty's progress through her telescope.
"Perfect. They're on their way!" Rita cackled. "Goldar! Go down to Riko and distract that insipid Yellow Ranger! Destroy the whole town if you want, but leave those transporting the medicines alone. Let them think they have hope."
"Of course, empress!" Goldar gleefully rasped, disappearing in a crackle of flame.
With a happy scream, Rita reared back and flung her Repulsa Staff straight to the planet Earth. With lightning speed, the wand broke through the atmosphere and pierced the ground a few miles outside Vitreous' reach. Purple energy infused the earth and brought up clouds of steam. As Goldar appeared on the planet, he instantly grew several stories tall, laughing maniacally.
Just then, Misty and the medical trucks were coming up to the same scene. They immediately stopped as Goldar stepped forward, readying his jagged sword.
"Aw man, it's that gold guy!" a terrified driver said.
"Everyone just keep going!" another one shouted over the radio.
"He's right," Misty said over a communications patch she made with them. "Keep driving while I deal with Gorilla-Boy here. I'll cover you!"
"Big words coming from a bratty little girl!" Goldar screamed, charging toward the Saber-Toothed Tiger, which dodged the strike. The trucks revved up and headed off toward Feron Grove.
Rita's warrior juked and kept his blade at the ready, trying to outdo the Dinozord's agility. Saber-Toothed Tiger was too quick and too nimble, kicking at Goldar with heavy blows and ripping at his arm with its fangs. As Goldar buckled, Misty went to lunge for a huge tackle. The ape-griffin beast was playing possum, however, as he leapt in the air and sent the mech flying with a huge dropkick. Nearby townspeople and farmers screamed and headed indoors as they saw the Zord tumble.
As Misty tried to recover, Goldar assailed her with fiery bolts from his eyes and a swipe from his sword, sending the tiger rolling around on the huge hills.
"Without your friends, you are nothing!" the villain taunted, going to kick his enemy in the head.
Misty struggled to bring her Zord to its feet once more. One more hit from Goldar and she might be done for.
"That's what you think!" Misty challenged, bringing her palms together. "Dino Crystal!" She again formed her yellow crystal, placing it in the Dinozord's control deck. She moved it forward and pushed another button on her console, and the Saber-Toothed Tiger emitted a powerful scream from its mouth, repelling Goldar back and to the surface. The sound waves went way past him and struck Vitreous in the distance, forcing the monster to quiver and groan again.
"Huh? That actually hurt it?" Yellow Ranger pondered, rearing her Zord back up.
"Lucky shot, Power Ranger," Goldar growled, drawing his sword once more. "But it's the last one you will ever make…Agh!"
Goldar exhaled a throaty roar, suddenly finding himself hoisted high in the air. Even though he couldn't see it, Tyrannosaurus Dinozord was suddenly behind him, pulling his tail and spinning him like a ribbon, tossing him to the side. Mastodon, Pterodactyl, and Triceratops were at its side, launching energy blasts at Goldar as well.
"Wow! Decide to join the fun?" Misty said.
"What's a meteor shower party without some more fireworks?" Brock joked.
"Yeah!" Ash cut in. "Now let's show him some Megazord power!"
As quickly as Goldar recovered, the five Dinozords brought themselves together as one. As soon as he cleared the dust from his eyes, Pterodactyl had attached itself to the super-robot's chest and the Megazord's horns fanned out, the eyes glowing with Morphin Power.
"Megazord Activated!" the robotic voice proclaimed as lightning struck near the Triceratops and Saber-Toothed Tiger legs.
"Power Sword!" the Rangers called out, summoning their huge silver melee weapon from the sky. Megazord assumed the sword and stepped in to meet Goldar, the setting sun causing both of the fighters to gleam. Swords clashed, and the two circled around, each one trying to force back the other. As Goldar turned to face south, he grinned and chuckled devilishly, suddenly backing off.
"Our duel can wait for now," he said, his sword suddenly vanishing. "I'll return when Vitreous turns your city to cinders!" And with that, he was gone.
The Megazord executed a sharp 180-degree turn and faced the inevitable horror: Vitreous now surrounded all of Feron Grove, its internal tentacles dangling further and further downward. The Power Rangers were in shock.
"It wasn't descending that fast a while ago!" Tracey shouted. "It was a setup the whole time!"
"No wonder the tentacles didn't attack the trucks when they came in…" Lia said glumly, putting her hand to her helmet."
"It's okay, Rangers," Ash commented. "Now we can destroy Vitreous from the outside where it can't strike us."
"Wait, what is it doing now?!" Brock cried, pointing forward. The humongous jellyfish had indeed encapsulated the whole city, but now the mass was starting to quiver, almost as if it were shrinking down to embrace everything.
"Oh no…" Misty uttered, realizing what was happening.
