Part Four Power Rangers Q & A THE ENEMY & THE ZORDON QUESTIONS Question : Now I get to ask you the question most of Angel Grove media has always wanted to know- who ARE the enemy? Answer : Well you already know about Rita, Goldar and Scorpina. There are three other of her geeks. There's Finster, who seems to have the responsibility for creating most of the monsters. Then there's Baboo, who'se a sort of chemist and gadget fan. Finally there's Squatt- and he just seems to do Rita's bidding. We often find him sneaking around our houses and at Angel Grove high, and we've caught him dozens of times in the park. - He hasn't been game enough to tackle the youth center yet. (Billy) Question: What ARE the Putty Patrollers? Answer: The Putties are "animated animal beings", "brainless bodies" created through the "animation of matter" process which Rita uses for most of her monsters. Although they operate independently their purpose is a collective, and what one believes is correct, all will follow. Their decisions are made from dubious instinctual programming from Finster. (Billy) Question: Why do you fight the Putties without morphing? Answer: The Putties are driven by instinct and more importantly, their confidence. The trick in defeating Putties is to gain their confidence - make them think they are winning the fight. The best way to do that is to appear as powerless as possible, and as fragmented as possible. That's why we always spread out and divide the group of putties we are fighting. (Trini) You must play their game, otherwise you can't make them think they're winning. This involves stacks of acrobatic stuff - you must really put on a show for the Putties! This initially gains their confidence, but suddenly they reach the end of their abilities- their confidence crashes and the collective group vanish back to their domain. (Jason) We also need to consider our identity problem. Many times the Putty Patrollers' attack is the first indication to us that Rita is planning something bigger. This can happen after weeks of peace, and we do have lives to live outside being Power Rangers. The Putties often attack us when there are still other people around us, it makes morphing very difficult without blowing our identity. (Kimberly) Question: How does Rita do the things she does? Answer: She is quite skilled at illusions, but stupid at everything else. By using her illusions and also using some of the technical abilities of the "thought dimension" which is basically the same universal dimension which allows us to operate as Power Rangers. Unlike Rita's creations, technology contains no illusions, it is all scientific and repeatable! (Billy) Her illusions are ALWAYS reversible. Much of the damage her monsters do to Angel Grove is illusion,- it miraculously comes good once we've destroyed the monster. But don't take it as a joke- the damage is done in our time and space - to remain forever unless the monster and illusion controls are destroyed. (Jason) To be honest, she still has tricks up her sleeve. Usually it's the first time we've seen that particular trick. Of course it usually jogs Zordon's ancient memories, who then updates us on the best method to fight it. (Kimberly) Question: What is "Rita's Dark Dimension"? Answer: It's like a "parallel universe" which occupies no space in our own but still occupies the same time, matter and thought dimensions. How it exists Ill never understand. Lots of things won't work there. Billy says that there are dimensional anomalies with it. Occasionally some of us have been catapulted into or out of it as our human selves without being morphed- and this can create all sorts of internal damage like internal bleeding etc. It's awful, terrible to even think about. (Jason) There was one time when Jason returned from the Dark Dimension, felt O.K. and we thought nothing more of it. Later on at home, he woke up in the middle of the night feeling really sick. His parents rushed him to the medical center, and they discovered it was a burst artery in his stomach. They gave him drugs, kept him under observation for a few days and it eventually healed. But the doctor was asking his parents all these really awkward questions about how it came to be- apparently the artery had somehow been moved right over to the other side of his body from where it should have been. It was only then we realized in horror what had happened- it had occurred when he returned through the dimensional rift from Rita's dark dimension. (Kimberly) Alpha has developed a device especially for scanning our anatomy now, and it can be used instantly we suspect any problems, and especially if we're ever teleported through the rift without being morphed. (Billy) Question: Is there anything really distinctive about Rita's attacks? Answer: Funnily enough, she never attacks at night, or at least not yet. I think the Putties are scared of the dark! (Kimberly) She has been known to conduct operations at night- the Nightmare Crystal attack occurred at night. She frequents caves in the area with her putties for various reasons. She also frequents a cave in Hungary- goodness knows why, we have reason to believe it's a source of putty for her monsters. We've been there several times and there's no evidence of anything. Really weird. (Tommy) Other than that probably not- she has even attacked us underwater- and ruined my date at the same time. (Zack). Question: Have you ever considered going after evil forces other than Rita? Answer: There is a major problem with that- Rita herself. If we do anything like that, she will immediately use the situation against us. The Power Rangers Day last year was the best example. She takes hostages. And as soon as we have a hostage situation, it's too dangerous. (Jason) It's too risky all the while Rita is prancing up and down ready to destroy this planet. People are going to have to solve their petty problems without help from the Power Rangers. And anyway- all that will happen is death and destruction. No-I don't think I could ever get fighting anyone from here on earth- it would be far too hard to control my actions in morphed mode. (Kimberly) Yo right there. We haven't actually ever fought anyone "normal" when we're morphed. It would be too easy to rip their arm off, or something. (Zack) Rita's monsters & putties have most of the energy deflection abilities that we do in morphed mode. I said most- it's that little extra which gives us the edge. (Jason) The Zordon Questions Note : This series of questions were conducted at the Power Rangers' Command center with Zordon. Jason was the only Power Ranger present during the questions. Question : Why did you choose Teenagers for your team? Answer : I needed a team with enthusiasm, drive and stamina- and an acceptance to learn. Alpha and Myself had conducted very extensive research on all the aspects of human existence here on this planet. I came to the conclusion that humans of this age bracket were the best choice. Question : Have you ever regretted your decision? Answer : No I have not- although the Power Rangers get a little worked up sometimes, just like Alpha here. They have fun, but as long as that doesn't compromise our task, then it only adds to the enthusiasm they have for themselves and their part in the fight against Rita. Billy does talk alot I suppose, but I have time for them all. Question : Why must they keep their secret identities? Answer : Primarily that is to keep Rita busy. All the while she is being distracted by the Ranger's everyday lives, she is not being destructive anywhere else on Earth. The Power Rangers have their own lives to live. I cannot take that away from them. It is that life outside this Command center which drives them when they are here. Question : Why do the Zords look like Dinosaurs? Answer: That may not be the case for too much longer. Initially our studies showed that the power and agility of Earth's early Jurassic creatures would be a good model for the Zords- and as such their design calculations match. Power from the Morphing Grid can be used more efficiently if the consuming device is modeled on a thought dimension process. Dinosaurs were a good choice. The Ranger's power crystals are also designed using this approach. For a while now we have been studying other earth creatures, and even mythical models from human history, which might be equivalent in nature to the Dinosaurs. The result may be a redesign of the Zords, as Billy told you last week. Question : The Power Rangers have told us about their Morphed State. But what does it actually do to them? How does it work? Answer : This is difficult to explain to you. When they hold up their morphers and activate them, the morphers set off a very complex procedure of replication, teleportation and alterations to the Ranger's human bodies. Because this is done outside the time domain, it appears to you as if it happens instantly. However when I watch it from this dimension, it takes twelve seconds, and looks quite amusing. It replaces most of their body with different materials technology, and deactivates a large amount of human functions by simulating them. There is alot of matter and energy conversion going on. It also references them in every way to the Morphing Grid- all of their movements are referenced in this way. They're not robots but.. it would be close. The Ranger's signature- you might call it a life force I suppose, but this is an incorrect term- is removed from them and takes residence in the power coins. From there they control everything in Morphed Mode. When they activate the Megazord they convert the coins to special crystals, this allows them to combine their signature with that of the Zord, which in turn is calculated from the Dinosaur equations etc. For Tommy, it's the Dragon Dagger which does this job of controlling the Dragonzord. This approach joins them mentally with the Zords- they become one- and know in an instant all their abilities. It's the ultimate interface between human and machine, and it works very well with your species, unlike some others I can think of. This seems to be because humans find it so easy to focus on one task at a time. Many other species in the universe cannot do this well- they are too instinctual. So the Power Rangers are somewhat unique to Earth- and your species. As the morph process is completed, the morpher forms a fabric around the altered body to contain it. This fabric has a primary field generated at every fiber intersection, making it inpenetrable. It's not unlike living skin- which is why the Rangers refer to it as such- and why they don't feel what is really going on. The fields derive their power directly from the grid, and react passively to any matter or energy moving closer to them- thus producing a proximity activated situation where any energy directed towards the outer suit will be deflected back out. The Rangers can also control the wholesale direction of this energy either instantaneously or over a short time, and this gives them their jumping ability. Billy has already explained to you about the weapons. Question : Is the morphing process dangerous for them? Answer : No, it is absolutely safe as long as the morphing grid does not fail to supply their energy. Where I come from, this technology has been in use for longer than anyone can remember! COPYRIGHT 1994 PAUL MATTHEWS SYDNEY AUSTRALIA UNLICENSED DRAFT NOT FOR PUBLICATION, CIRCULATION OR SALE TERMS AND LIKENESSES COPYRIGHT TO SABAN ENTERTAINMENT INC. USA.