A/N: Power Rangers belongs to Saban and Disney, and T5RYCB and Brian Kenny belong to ESPN
T5RYCB 2:2 (Eclipse and a Warrior Shortage)
(Show returns from commercial break)
"Welcome back," said Brian Kenny. "You've seen the evidence against Master Vile's daughter, and some reasons that didn't make our list. That said, let's begin our countdown. Here is Reason #5."
(Image of Goldar standing alone appears)
"Warrior Shortage," Kenny said.
"In those times," Goldar said, "I was pretty much on my own, and it was quickly evident that while, at times, I could handle the Rangers whole team, it was not that way in the long run."
"Indeed, the need for another battle general was quickly becoming obvious for Rita. While Goldar was Rita's lead general and one of the most feared villains in the entire galaxy, Rita's other henchmen, Squatt and Baboo, were barely average at planning for battles, and Rita had decided not to call Scorpina forth yet," said Brian Kenny.
"With only Goldar and with me having two incompetents for battle generals, the need become obvious that I'd need to use the Green Coin very soon."
"Indeed, the tide began to turn for Rita after she hired Tommy. Tommy easily took on all five Rangers at once…even before he received the powerful Sword of Darkness to help him in battle."
"He was a boon to all of us while he was evil," said Scorpina. "Traitor or not, there is no doubt he was a great warrior, and he gave us a better chance depth wise."
"Not only did they have to worry about me," said Goldar, "but they had to worry about the Green Ranger as well, and he'd strike so hard and so fast…it was like shock and awe."
"He gave us depth…and a chance," said Rita.
(Green Ranger, Goldar and Scorpina are all shown surrounding Megazord as the tape ends)
"Did that reason grab you?" said Brian Kenny. "If not, we have four more to go. Here is Reason #4."
(An eclipsed sun then appears on screen as tape rolls)
"The Eclipse," said Brian Kenny.
"That was one of the only times," said Scorpina, laughing as she said this, "when one of our combined attacks actually worked. And it was with a damn eclipse…who would have thought?"
"Shortly after Jason barely escaped with his life from the Dark Dkmension, the Rangers faced Scorpina for the first time in battle. But as she did many other times during this long fight, Rita called her troops back, preparing for a bigger attack."
"Zack always said during those trying times when we were being constantly harassed by attacks that it was almost like Rita was pulling her troops back, planning for a bigger attack," said Jason. "Little did we know how right he was."
"That attack, which gave Rita the upper hand in the fight for Earth and nearly shattered the Rangers' psyche, started with Goldar ravaging downtown Angel Grove, and capturing Bulk and Skull in a bus while they were trying to escape town."
"When Bulk and Skull were captured in that bus," said Zack, "it was a blow to all of us. This time, she was going to do anything to destroy us…even hurt our best friends."
"The Rangers were drawn to Angel Grove Beach with the bus, where they were then left with no choice but to call forth the Dinozords, and form the Megazord to save Bulk and Skull."
"We knew that Rita was trying to set some kind of trap," said Jason, "but we could NEVER have guessed it was going to be the Megazord she was setting things up for."
"Immediately after the Megazord was able to save the two resident bullies, it was ambushed by Goldar and later Scorpina, and had to deal with a solar power shortage."
"It turned out Rita had set up a surprise for us…an eclipse," said Billy. "You see, the Megazord ran on solar power, and an eclipse would essentially cut off the power supply."
"The Megazord fought bravely, even calling on the Power Sword to even up the score with Rita's two lead henchmen. But when the Green Ranger arrived, the tide turned."
("We're in big trouble. We don't have enough power left to finish this fight!" Jason says on the screen)
"When Tommy arrived," said Jason, "I knew we were in trouble. We had to deal with Green Ranger, Goldar and Scorpina, and an eclipse which was shorting out our power supply."
"Sure enough, the Megazord eventually fell to Rita's eclipse attack, as the Zords were taken from the Rangers."
"When we lost that fight," said Zack, "I was ready to throw my hands in the air and say 'I surrender.' I didn't think we had a chance to come all the way back and win this battle. We had no Zordon, we had no Zords...that fight was excruciating."
"It was one of the few fights," said Tommy, "that the forces of evil worked together in perfect harmony. Goldar started it…and I, unfortunately, finished it."
(Tape finishes playing as eclipsed sun once again appears)
"Coming up, we'll continue our countdown, and we'll look at the role the Rangers' mentor played in Rita's plans."
"Rita knew her only chance…was to destroy Zordon's link to this world for good," said Scorpina, "and that's partly why she hired Tommy."
(Music plays as segment ends)
TBC…