Episode 36-"The Good, the Bad, and General Ug"

The town of Leewood Park..College home for Central New Jersey University. Takeshi was about to complete his class teaching Asian studies. the focus: pre-industrial Japan. He knew for certain if he taught the class in a traditional fashion, the students would see the course as a terrible bore. One thing he did not want was an imitation of Ben Stein, a la Ferris Bueller. To that end, as he taught the class, Takeshi added a blend of Japanese background music to spice up his pupils interest in his course.

"The emperor Meiji was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo which became the new capital; his imperial power was restored. The actual political power was transferred from the Tokugawa Bakufu into the hands of a small group of nobles and former samurai."

"In order to transform the agrarian economy of Tokugawa Japan into a developed industrial one, many Japanese scholars were sent abroad to study Western science and languages, while foreign experts taught in Japan. The transportation and communication networks were improved by means of large governmental investments. The government also directly supported the prospering of businesses and industries, especially the large and powerful family businesses called zaibatsu."

Nick and B.C. waited for Takeshi outside as the class was about to end. The students began to file out. "Don't forget, the five page paper on the last three Chinese dynasties is due next week..If you need assistance, I'll be in my office for another hour this afternoon."

"Another hard day on the job, Takeshi-san?" asked B.C.

"You could say that..I've been putting off grading mid terms for the longest..The day's not over yet..Ten of my students want to see me to go over these lessons.."

"Yeah, but did you forget we're supposed to make that reservation for the paintball tournament? They won't take any reserves over the phone,and we have to put down the deposit by today..5p.m."

"Ah! Takeshi no baka.." I thought it was next week! Vin's going to be ticked if this game's cancelled.."

"So what're gonna do about your star pupils? Can't keep them hanging.." said Nick. B.C. and Takeshi look at Nick with a sneaky smile, being he was the only one who actually had a credit card.

"What? Me again? Why don't you ask Vin sometime? He's raking in the dough! or even Carmen? She could afford those designer jeans and all.AH! COME ON, GUYS! GIMME A BREAK, WILL YOU?"

"Tell you what..I'll meet up with you two in about an hour..Let me tend to business,and take care of my star pupils.. and put the deposit in my name, too.."

Nick sighs, looking at his credit card front and back. "Thank heavens for no preset spending limit..."

B.C. checks his watch. "Guys, we've only about thirty minutes till the office closes up shop..Can't drive up in time.."

"Geniuses..We have teleporation devices.."

"Of course, not here in the hallway. Like I said, I'll catch up with you in about an hour or so." As Takeshi moved on, Nick and B.C. went inside the men's room, checked to make sure the area was empty, which was, and both activated the FF buttons,taking them to the river area.

Exactly an hour later,Takeshi, Nick, and B.C. took a look-see at the playing area. It had a grassy field for about 300 yards surrounded by woods. Takeshi took a few steps, observing the paintball battlefield.

"This will have to do then, people.. Since this was the only area reserved between Saturday afternoon and early evening. Let's make the most of it.."

Nick felt hesitant. "Are you sure this area's okay for the war games? This forest's making me a tad nervous.."

Suddenly, the two switch to a western sequence, about to draw guns. "Nervous, eh?" said Takeshi dressed in all black cowboy wear. "Word came to me that you're a yellow-livered coward!"

"You're mistaken, Two-Gun Takeshi!" said Marshal Nick, dressed in your typical white, including his ten gallon hat. "It's time that you vamoosed your way out of town!"

"The Nihongo Kid's the one who wants you blasted full of holes!"

"Heh! That's right!" said B.C. as the Nihongo Kid. "I paid Two-Gun Takeshi three hundred dollars for your death!"

"Dirty pool, Two-Gun! I've only got three words for you, villain!" said Marshal Nick.

"What's that?"

"Four hundred dollars?!?" Nick said meekly.

"So! Nihongo! You're the lily yellow-livered coward!" Poor NH gets himself shot by Two Gun!

Cut back to the woods as Nick paused and thought.."Weird fantasy sequence..You usually don't get those in sentai episodes..Oh, well.."

And as usual, up above the villain's hideout, the floating satelitte stronghold which is called Nebultopia, Colonel Trilobyte exposes his lack of patience with his MAYHEM captains.

"What is wrong with this group that we cannot defeat a band of young children? What is it that is keeping us from claiming this rich natural resources of this planet that is ours by right?"

Anark Key, Vixen, Andy Roy, Cyrus Borg, and General Ug contemplated the same question due to their long string of failures. Ug responded in his usual dim-witted fashion. "The Scanrangers?"

At first response, Trilobyte wanted to assault Ug for that incompetent answer. Yet, he hestiated, pulled himself back and approached the war hungry general. "Indeed, Ug, the Scanrangers have long been a thorn on our side..and I believe that in order to get them out of our hair, it will require special tactics..like yours..commando and guerilla tactics, for instance.."

Trilobyte hands Ug a special pill. "I am aware of your rarely used Dark Energy..the same one that counters the rangers vaunted Film Energy power. This will enhance your power tenfold, as well as your intellect..Take it at the moment you need to recover your physical strength..especially if they attack you.."

Ug, it seemed for the first time, experienced an element of doubt of his superior. "Are you certain this will ensure their defeat, sir?"

"I am certain, general..

The MAYHEM henchmen glanced at the viewscreen days later, as the team take a minivan through the tri-state area where the border of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York State intertwine via the Delaware River.

"These children are on their way to some sort of human activity..Take some Kinks with you..Distract them at every turn and then use that to destroy them!"

"As you command, Colonel.." Ug then leaves.

Vin rode aside the other rangers in one minivan with another following them right behind with some other CJU students. He took a good read at the paintball brochure. "This is definitely cool..Now I'll get a chance to taste firsthand how my dad practiced during his basic training.."

"Don't tell Carmen, though..she thinks we're going on a hotel getaway in the mountains.." Takeshi whispered.

Carmen couldn't help overhearing a bit of the conversation. She peeked over their shoulders. "How far are we from the hotel, guys?"

"Not far..not far at all..Once we drop off everything at the check-out point, we'll engage in some training.."

An hour later, the crew split themselves up into teams. Team Wolverine, led by Takeshi, had B.C., Toni, and two of their friends, Matt, and Rachel on one side. The other team, Team Shinobi, with Vin leading that squad, including Carmen, Nick, and two other students, Mike and Kelly.

"Everyone..the two teams here know how the game is played. The paint is safe, just make sure you don't hit each other at point-blank range..Your mission, to grab the red flag up at the top of the hill, about a good half mile away..Once you retrieve the flag, you return to base, and a trophy for the victors!"

"Get ready, get set, and let the games commence!" The two teams gather within their hiding places, stalking their prey. At the same time however, another group of stalkers arrive on the playing field. it was General Ug, KuroRhino, and a quartet of Kinks in army gear.

"I see some of those Scumrangers in my sights..We can deal with the lesser humans that are accompanying them. Once they're out of the way, then we'll attack.."

Wearing the same attack gear, two grunts sneak up upon Mike and Kelly. Mike signaled to Kelly to cover him as he was about to make aim at Takeshi. However, the Kink had other plans and gagged him, using a type of alien chloroform. The other as about to do the same. "Mike? Mike? What happened? Where are you?" She turned and was immediately taken unconscious.

The rest of Team Shinobi was unaware of their impending flight. Both teams were about a good 150 yards from each other.Carmen whispered to Vin. "Bogies up ahead at 12 o'clock.."

On the other side, Takeshi heard something himself. "Wait..I hear rustling..Cover me, B.C.-san.."

"Keep your head down, Carmen! We can't afford to give away our location!" said Vin.

"Vin, relax! We're well out of range!" In response, a blotch of paint nearly hits her about a good eleven inches from her face.

"..Or not.." Carmen said sheepishly.

As Team Wolverine was about to move into the area where the three were hiding, a Kink in camouflage gagged one of the participants, while another did the same. The only ones left were Takeshi, B.C., and Toni. Unaware of the ambush, B.C. spoke to whom he thought was one of his teammates.

"Keep your eyes peeled, Soon.. We're about to get the jump on these last two guys..They-"

B.C. then looked directly in the face of a Kink in army gear. If the foot soldier had a real face, it was about to look at him in contempt. His reaction was swift. "Here's paint in your eye!" B.C. shot the Kink in the face with the paint gun,anxiously.jumped ahead of Takeshi and Toni, towards the open field.

"B.C.! BAKAME! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THANKS TO YOU, OUR COVER'S BLOWN!" said Takeshi, with Toni running aside him.

Vin, Carmen, and Nick also run out, but instinctively, filled B.C. full of latex, leaving him like a living pop art painting.

"Not me, you guys! The cannon fodder aside from our team!" He points to the Kink, who also has General Ug, KuroRhino and a few other Kinks in mini armored tanks now surrounding our heroes!

"HA HA HA! Now I've got you right where I want you! I've got you all outnumbered six to six! And now, the destruction of the accursed Scanrangers!"

Act two

"Uhhh, guys..are we in trouble here?" said Carmen.

"Carmen, I just so love your knack for understatement.." replied Toni.

"WEAPONRIES, ALL UNITS, OPEN FIRE!" commanded the general.

Lost within the fire and smoke, our heroes had already transformed before impact! "CAMERA! ACTION! SCANRANGER!" they all shouted going into absolute battle!

The first thing the team had done was to run for cover, for even their special abilities weren't enough to combat Ug's special forces. Thus, RedScanner found a solution..

"BIJOU BIKES!" Red shouted. At their command, their five multi-colored sleek metallic steeds approached them, with each one boarding their rarely used cycles. Red with his RedTivoli, Green with his GreenRialto, Blue and his BlueNickelodeon, Yellow and her YellowRitz, and Pink riding on her PinkAngelika. (Editor's Note: Bikes based on popular named movie houses of the past and present)

"Okay, team! Let's show these MAYHEM goons some real commando tactics!" Red led the way, revving up his engines into battle, taking off to confront an army tank. He takes a couple of shots at the tank, hoping to lure it away from the others, which he does. Before the Kink driven tank had Vin within his crosshairs, the tank landed into a camoflauged tiger trap, falling a good 50 feet into the hole.

"Burmese Tiger Trap-surprisibus surprisibus.."(not a real Latin name-thank you, Chuck Jones)he said.

Pink and Yellow with their motorcycles, dodged and weaved from the bazooka blasts of the Kinks, then riding with their FilmBlades on the ground, they both side slashed the Kink pair,as the robot grunts fell to the grass.

Blue also dodged the cannon blasts with his bike, and with a double barreled blast, also sent the grunts flying. Green, using his Holo-clones, confused one of the tanks. Thinking it destroyed Green, another came into his place, a blast later, multiplied into four. With one sharp combined barrage, Green and his Holo-clones toast the Kinks. Nick sings, "BORN TO BE WIIILD!"

"Fools! Must I do everything myself?" said Ug, gulping down the spinach-like food and the pill TriloByte gave him, which gave him extra strength, and also enhanced his Dark Energy. Thinking of a robotic monster crawler, he created a mechanical spider which he was able to board and control. The spider was a minature version of the one used by the Western villain Loveless from 'Wild Wild West'. In swift fashion, a couple of energy blasts took down each of the Bijou Bikes one by one.

"Now that you all have tasted my wrath, who would dare to challenge me right now?" shouted Ug.

The answer came in the form of a laser blast, knocking down the muscle-bound general. Zooming down the path was a sleek, shiny GT-type racer. It leapt into the air. "GINSCIROCCO!" shouted a familiar voice, which belonged to SilverScanner, the last player on the field. The car transformed, similiar to WideScreener in SuperScreener mode. This time, the car separated, also becoming part of his armor.

"Here he comes, here comes SilverScanner.." said Blue.

"He's a demon on wheels.." said Yellow.

"Looks like Dr. Markby's finally got the bugs out of this automobile. Now, let's see what this Mospeada can really do.."

"You dare to challenge me, Scanranger?" said a defiant Ug.

"Right, Shogun Ug-ly! Besides that, your wrath tastes very disgusting!"

"How dare you! KuroRhino! Smash him!" KuroRhino attempted to blast Silver and his set of new wheels with its laser horn, but it doesn't even faze him. They grapple, not even bulging an inch. The pressure of the fight was so that the ground underheath began to sink, then Takeshi grabs the cybercreature's horn with a judo throw. KuroRhino retaliated with a laser blast, but Takeshi reflects it back full at the monster with his shield arm. Silver transforms GinScirocco back to car mode. Activating the car's side blade, it easily slashes KuroRhino in two! Zooming towards Ug, Silver confronts Ug's spider-machine, while the villain attempted to slow it down with its energy blasts. With GinScircco's side blade popping out from each tire, it dodges the eight legs and chops them down each one by one.

"Whatever goes up, must come down.." said Silver. He leaps out of his vehicle towards Ug's spider. Calling on his Tokusatsu Film Energy, calls up on his finishing 'SILVER PUNCH!',and knocking the roboarachnid to the ground. He proceeds to use his MagnumSabre and slices a hole down the middle to reveal Ug's cockpit. As soon as Takeshi saw the general in full view, he attacked him with his battle axe, directly into his chest! Silver grabbed his chest but recovered quickly.

"This is far from over, Scanrangers! I'll be back! Count on it!" General Ug makes a hasty teleportation retreat. At the same time, the KillerByte activated the defeated KuroRhino, resurrecting him, towering over our heroes!

Silver was the first to shout, "Activate, WideScreener!" The rangers shouted for "ROLL OUT, THUNDER DOLBY!"

Both robos activate the CineVortex to their battle soundstage, to keep other bystanders out of harms way.KuroRhino held its own with a few punches at Dolby, with WideScreener then throwing the monster over its head. The cybercreature retailiates with its laser horn once again, zapping both.

"I believe a, what you'll call a 'gattai' is in order, guys?" said Red.

"You know it, Red.." replied Silver.

"Let's put'em together, guys!" Dolby then unites with WideScreener once more, with WS becoming the armor.

"PRESENTATION-DOLBY SCREENER!" they all shout.

One last blast from the cybercreature's laser horn, but this time it did not even faze the combined gestalt. With one hand DS grabbed the tusk, and the other, one fast punch to the face. The impact was so great that the horn was broken off KuroRhino falling to the ground, crying and holding his face. Dolby Screener then picked up the monster, and gave it a helicopter spin, slamming it to the ground once more.

"Ready to do what we do best, guys?" said Red.

"All right! The final attack! Let's give it to him!" said Blue.

With a swift kick in the air, KuroRhino helplessly dangled his body in the sky, as Dolby Screener was about to jump, spinning towards the monster.

Charging up with their full energy, the six shout, "DOLBY SCREENER CYCLONE!" and easily ran through KuroRhino, destroying it.

Later, after the battle, with the other participants who were victims of the cybercrearture's attack. head back to campus.

"I can't believe you suckered me like that, Takeshi!" said Carmen angrily. "You told me we were going to a hotel!"

But we did..a little log cabin..That's as primitive a hotel you could get, even if we didn't stay overnight.."

"But you have to admit, Carmen. The paintball competition did get your adrenaline flowing, you know?" added Vin.

"I'm not talking to you either, Vin! You was in this entire scheme, too!"

"Lighten up, girlfriend.." said Toni. "You have to admit it was fun..As a ranger, we're required to have fun, too..These things are gonna happen from time to time during the semester.."

"WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! ICHIBAN, BABY! ICHIBAN!" shouted Takeshi and B.C. holding up the paintball first prize trophy.

"On the other hand, there are certain people who want to constantly rub it in.." Carmen continued, looking at the mini pocket size second place trophy.

Back at Nebultopia, Ug explains to TriloByte about his failure. "Forgive me for my failure, Colonel.."

"No need to make excuses, General..After all, I witnessed the battle myself and you held your own against those children..The pill did help, did it?"

"I admit it did, sir.."

"Good..You may be excused for now.." Ug left, perplexed that he didn't receive a rebuke from Blackorg's right hand man. "Perhaps the medicine and the food helped me to get an edge after all.." He smiled as he went to his quarters.

Obviously, Trilobyte thought, the general didn't have a clue on what he got into. "You're getting an edge all right, you muscle bound simpleton..edging out on what's left of what little intellect you've got..Heh heh heh..."

To be continued...

In our next Scanranger adventure, with Kunio helping out the MCC crew, he makes a decison that will affect the rest of the team. At the same time, Lady Vixen, who absorbed some of his Film Energy, ambushes our former YellowScanner! Can Mikey defend himself against the one responsible for his disability?

Next time on Movie Task Force Scanranger-Episode 37

"The Last Temptation of Kunio Mikimoto"

Roll That Film!

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