Power Rangers Star Brigade

Power Rangers: Star Brigade

Ep 1 – Nightfall
[We open on  Kilnton High, Allary Hills, where the class is sitting a chemistry lesson. Ian and Eddie are lab partners, wearing an open green waistcoat and a black polo shirt, respectively, broing it up and goofing off. Renee and Harry are working diligently and quietly, wearing a pink pullover and a yellow v-neck. Mal, in a red jacket with gold markings up the back of the arms (though the shirt underneath is dark blue), is working silently and alone at the front of class on something different to everyone else.
When the bell rings, Ian is straight out with Eddie keeping a respectable pace at his heels. Renee and Harry walk as far as the door together and then awkwardly part. Mal apparently has not heard the bell or noticed anyone leaving. We cut to the principal's office, where Mal is being lectured]

PRINCIPAL: Malcolm, I get a lot o' kids in here who need to learn that there's more to the high school experience than socialisin'. You, on the other hand, are the first I've 'ad to inform that socialisin' is meant to be a part of the high school experience.

[Mal visibly doesn't care, pokes one of the little mechanical frog toys on the principal's desk]

PRINCIPAL: You're acin' every class, Malcolm. Flying colours. Even gym! Your teachers are starting to worry about you, lad, and so am I.

[Mal folds his arms and leans back]

PRINCIPAL: [Sighs] Malcolm, you're forcin' m' hand, but if you don't start relaxing I've been advised to refer you to the school counsellor.

MAL: May I be excused, Principal O'Patrick?

PRINCIPAL: There's a dance, tonight, at The Manz Juice Bar. Think about it?

[Mal nods and gets up. Cut to The Manz that night. Eddie is dancing with a girl while Ian talks to a few others nearby. Harry and Renee are sat at the bar, Harry looking out over the dance floor and Renee leaning on the bar despondently. Though the two seem to be vaguely aware of each others presence, they are not talking or interacting in any way. Improbably, all four of them are wearing the same colours they were wearing earlier. Enter Mal, wearing his red jacket]

[Harry glances to Renee, then turns towards her and looks as if he's about to speak when Mal enters frame]

MAL: [To Renee, with very little emotion] Hey, do you want to dance or something?

RENEE: [Flustered but pleased] Um, uh, sure!

[They depart to the dance floor while Harry tries to act like everything has proceeded exactly as he imagined and hoped it would. Mal is a surprisingly good dancer, Renee is just sort of like swaying which girls can get away with]

[Cut to Ian. An antagonistic sting plays, Ian looks dramatically past the girl he is talking to, and we are introduced to Merry and Gareth – One almost a douchier mirror image of Ian in blue, the other the stereotypical big dumb bully character]

MERRY: Montelo.

IAN: Mary.

MERRY: THAT IS NOT MY NAME AND NOBODY CAN PROVE OTHERWISE.

IAN: Did you want something?

MERRY: Just wondered if these ladies wanted to talk to someone worth their time.

[As he pompously fucks with the cut of his jacket, said ladies disperse out of sheer desire to not be close to him]

IAN: You are literally the worst, Mary.

MERRY: If you want this to come to blows, Montelo, my friend-

[The one-man shot expands to show Eddie tapping on Merry's shoulder, points to the dancefloor]

EDDIE: You mean that friend?

[Gareth is dancing with the girl Eddie was dancing with. He is worse even than Eddie and the girl is visible less forgiving and comfortable]

MERRY: Uhmmm...

[Eddie cracks his knuckles meaningfully]

MERRY: This isn't over, you snake. [Exit]

IAN: Thanks man.

EDDIE: Any time.

[They bro-hug; it's super manly and not gay at all]

[Over with Mal and Renee, Mal indicates the cut hexagon of pink gem hanging from Renee's neck]

MAL: That's a nice necklace.

RENEE: Thanks. It was left to me by my mother.

MAL: It suits you.

[Renee blushes. In the background Harry pounds a shot of guava juice]

[A-sudden, there is a huge red flash from the night outside. Windows start shattering as Bloodletters, the footsoldiers of the season with a black and red motif and big arm-blades, smash their way into the juice bar. Panic ensues.]

[On one end Mal nearly falls over Harry as he dives between the dancefloor and the advancing Bloodletters and delivers a hard elbow to the face of the nearest soldier. Mal backs him, kung-fuing the shit out of them]

[Eddie and Ian look at each other and wordlessly agree to start fighting. Eddie grabs a pool cue from the billiards table that is apparently there and starts pulling some kendo shit while Ian starts nailing motherfuckers with billiard balls]

[Renee, meanwhile, has apparently taken charge, getting in between a group of innocents and some Bloodletters with a stool to fend them off]

RENEE: This way, you can get out the fire exit!

[People start streaming past her. Eddie dashes into frame to blunt-stab a BL making a grab for her.

[With Mal and Harry, it is quickly becoming clear that Mal is the more experienced fighter, Harry's blows and stance only getting sloppier]

HARRY: Man I wish I had my bow right now.

MAL: Some nitroglycerin wouldn't go amiss.

[Harry headbutts a BL and immediately regrets it, falling back towards the bar where Renee and Eddie are stationed. Ian runs into frame and dives behind the bar, popping his head up]

IAN: I ran out of balls.

HARRY: What are these things?

IAN: Bad. My guess is bad.

RENEE: Is everyone else out?

EDDIE: I think so. We should think about-

[A BL grabs his cue and pulls it away from him. Renee thrusts her stool at it, losing it in the process. The increasing swarm is forcing Mal towards the bar, but he isn't slowing down or letting up in the kung fu dept.]

IAN: Think about running?

RENEE: After you.

[The advancing horde of Bloodletters suddenly freezes. Mal only seems to notice after landing his next few blows. Everyone looks as confused as you would be. A booming disembodied voice sounds]

VOICE: I have little time, young ones!

IAN: Who are you?

VOICE: You may call me The Enchanter, and I am here to bestow upon you a gift, that you may fight to defend the Earth from creatures such as these.

HARRY: Why us? We're kids.

ENCHANTER: You are capable of heroics far beyond your estimation, youngling! Have you not proven yourselves tonight by taking it upon yourselves to fight these creatures?

[There are general murmurs of assent. Mal is watching with silent interest]

ENCHANTER: I will explain more in time. For now, take these, and fight the good fight. You will know what to do. [Voice fades]

[The Star Morphers appear on their wrists. Almost immediately Mal reaches inside his jacket and pulls from a pocket a perfectly spherical red gem. He sockets it into the centre of his morpher, where the gem expands into a five-pointed star shape to fit the socket, and looks expectantly at the others.]

[Realization dawns in a wave, and Ian takes out a green triangle from his waistcoat, Eddie a black square hanging with some dog tags around his neck, Harry a yellow pentagon from his pocket, and Renee the pink hexagon from her necklace. They insert the gems into their morphers just as time restarts around them.]

MAL: Follow my lead. [Raises the morpher to eye level and rotates the star upon it ninety degrees] Reach for the stars! [Raises his right hand to the heavens] Defend the Earth!

[The others do likewise in unison]

[Cue morphing sequence and roll call]

MAL: Explosive Red!
EDDIE: Cutter Black!
IAN: Balladeer Green!
HARRY: Hunter Yellow!
RENEE: Healer Pink!

[There is a fruity- a juicy- The bottles of juice behind them explode in their respective colours and it's not sexual at all]

[They proceed to start kicking ass. Mal is just straight up cutting a kung-fu swathe through the crowd, Ian and Eddie are pulling off two-man combo moves and doing back-to-back badass stuff, Harry is pulling acrobatic moves and getting funky on the Blootletters' asses and even Renee is disabling Bloodletters one by one]

HARRY: This is so cool!

[As Ian and Eddie knock two Bloodletters' heads together, the rest of the army start retreating]

EDDIE: Yeah you better run!

IAN: Nobody messes with- who are we again?

[Cut to The Red Star, the orbital fortress of this season's Big Bad, Kaleri the Blood Queen. Close up on Kaleri's disbelieving, angered face]

KALERI: POWER RANGERS?!

[Widen shot to show Bloodletter kneeling before Kaleri. It mutely spreads out its arms and bobbles its head to communicate a general sense of “Yeah, kind of a surprise, we weren't really sure how to react.”]

KALERI: THIS RUINS EVERYTHING! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!

[Wide shot off the throne room as the Bloodletter scurries away. Atum is stood beside his queen's throne looking professional, with Sarama at the other side. Jack Catcher is leaning against a wall being cool and aloof]

[Kaleri looks expectantly from Atum to Sarama, then flings her head back in preparation to shout]

[Cut to exterior shot of The Red Star floating in space]

KALERI: DOO SOOOMETHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

[Back on earth, the Rangers are just outside the juice bar, revelling in victory and their cool new suits. Ian and Eddie do a chest bump]

IAN: Did you see us back there? We were all like kapow, bazam...

HARRY: Biff?

IAN: Exactly!

RENEE: [To Mal] You were amazing.

[Mal notices the group again, and is about to shrug off the compliment]

EDDIE: Yeah, man! It's Max, right?

MAL: Mal. [Notices Eddie's extended hand, briefly shakes it]

EDDIE: Eddie. Nice to meet you.

IAN: [Popping up over Eddie's shoulder] I'm Ian.

RENEE: [Raising her hand] Renee Vale.

HARRY: I'm Harry.

EDDIE: Mal how did you know how to do that thing back there? [Gestures with wrist]

MAL: [Shrugs] It just came to me.

HARRY: Does anyone else hear that?

[There is a faint whistling as the camera pulls out to a long shot with the fountain square in the foreground. A dark red meteor suddenly falls into frame, crushing the fountain. Mal drops into a fighting stance and the other rangers follow suit. The meteor cracks in half and shatters, revealing Atum inside, stood beside a creature about the size of a horse. It has the body of an eel, but a lobster-like face and two arms at its front with huge claws]

ATUM: Good evening rangers!

RENEE: Who are you?

IAN: What is that?

ATUM: [Pacing leisurely] I am Atum, general to her majesty Queen Kaleri. This [Pats the creature] is Nog.

EDDIE: [Whispered to the rest of the group] What's a Nog?

ATUM: Nog is a Reefclaw, from the planet Undine. Quite dangerous as is, of course, but he can be even more dangerous - [He idly places his hand in the path of the geyser of water from where the fountain used to be] Just add water. [He flicks the water at Nog]

[Nog grows to about twice his size]

HARRY: Woah!

IAN: It does not look better now that I can see more of it.

ATUM: Have fun, Rangers. [Pulls his cloak around him and disappears in a puff of red smoke]

MAL: Form up guys, avoid the claws and stay focused.

ENCHANTER: [All echoey and that] Rangers! Raise your hands to the stars!

[With a couple of dubious glances to one another, the Rangers lift their hands upwards. In a flash of light, their weapons appear in their hands; Eddie's katana, Ian's rapier, Harry's bow, and Renee's staff. Mal does not receive a weapon, but his hands glow a bright red]

HARRY: Now this is more like it!

MAL: Eddie, Ian, take the right, Renee, Harry, take the left.

IAN: What are you gonna do?

MAL: [Matter-of-fact] I'm going to break its face.

[Renee and Harry head off to the left, Harry at a distance firing arrows of yellow energy at its left arm. As it lashes out, Renee catches the claw on her staff and pushes the arm to the side. Meanwhile on the right side Eddie charges the claw and strikes a hard upwards slash. Ian follows right behind and unofficially tags in, batting the claw this way and that with parries. Meanwhile meanwhile, Mal has been doing some tai chi stuff and the glow has intensified. Then, he charges the creature head-on and delivers an overarm right straight to the face. The glow discharges from his hand and the punch explodes]

[As the smoke clears Mal has done a backflip and executes a cool landing while Nog rears and reels away]

[Cut to Kaleri and co watching the battle on her scrying mirror]

KALERI: ATUM, YOU BUCKET OF BOLTS! THE BLASTED THING IS RETREATING!

ATUM: Patience, my queen.

[There is a thunderclap]

ATUM: Right on schedule.

[Cut back to the Rangers as they regroup on Mal]

RENEE: Uh, that weird guy said water makes it grow, right?

EDDIE: Yeah, why?

[Raindrops start falling in spatters. In a matter of moments it becomes torrential]

EDDIE: Oh. Ohh. Oooohhhhhhhhh dear.

[Cut to a shot from behind the Rangers, showing Nog climbing halfway up a building and growing at a fantastic speed]

[Mal starts doing tai chi again and spins in a circle. A red summoning circle appears around him and he continues to throw out shapes]

MAL: Red Bomber, rise! [The red glowing human shape behind him solidifies into the Red Bomber zord a sharp-looking giant android with underslung grenade launchers on its arms and rocket wings that look like they're only there for speed boosting]

[Mal performs an unnecessarily showy backflip into the cockpit of the Red Bomber, leaving the other Rangers stunned as he begins to set off after the Reefclaw]

IAN: You wanna maybe teach us how to do that?

MAL: No time. [Boosts off at Nog, colliding with it and pinning it momentarily against the building]

[Mal proceeds to start laying the bigtime smackdown on the thing, beating it this way and that. Then, suddenly, its claw clamps around the zord's arm and forces it to the ground. Almost instantly, a yellow arrow strikes Nog's arm, followed by Ian stepping up to assault the claw with his rapier. Finally Eddie and Renee step up to pry the claw apart, and Mal's zord is able to get back on its feet. With the momentary upper hand, Mal grabs Nog by its tail and starts swinging it around before throwing it up into the sky. It hangs there for a moment before Mal fires one shot each from his launchers at it, and it blows up in the sky]

[Mal jumps out of the zord and dismisses it in a vworp of red light]

HARRY: Okay seriously, how did you do that?

MAL: [Shrugs] I just knew how to do it, so I did it.

EDDIE: That was some great work there, from all of us.

RENEE: We make quite a team.

ENCHANTER: That you do. Now, Rangers, the explanations you are due. [A white portal opens next to the group]

[Mal steps through almost immediately and Harry follows him. Renee and Eddie are about to follow also without hesitation and Ian brings up the rear]

IAN: All aboard the trusting disembodied stranger voices train...

[Cut to Starhold, the Command Centre of the series, resembling a relatively cosy aircraft hangar. On the other side of the portal the Rangers are unmorphed, and the portal vwips shut behind them. They step further into a huge room that resembles in layout the courtyard of the actual Starhold, and from a door opposite the portal a robed, bearded figure steps out]

ENCHANTER: Doubtless you have many questions.

HARRY: [Raising his hand] Yeah I was-

ENCHANTER: [Dismissing him with a wave of the hand] They will all be answered in time. For the time being, you must know that your planet needs you. We are under threat of invasion from an evil extraterrestrial known as The Blood Queen, and her dark forces. As the most worthy among the young people in this general area, you have been given great power to fight back and protect the Earth.

[Cut to shot panning over the rangers]

ENCHANTER: On your wrists, you now carry the power of the stars, which you can harness not only to summon your suits and grant you enhanced abilities. As you have seen tonight, you can use that power to summon your weapons, and giant armour-suits known as zords. And there is much more available to you, Rangers.

[High shot of the hole group, with the Enchanter in the foreground and the Rangers in the background]

ENCHANTER: You do not have to take up this responsibility, but the power belongs to you now. The choice is in your capable hands.

HARRY: I'll do it.

EDDIE: Count me in.

IAN: Right behind you.

RENEE: Likewise.

[The rangers look to Mal]

EDDIE: Are you with us, Mal?

HARRY: It looks like we're still short one leader.

MAL: [Beginning to smile a little] Well, if you want me... I'm in!

[The group breaks out into a short cheer, and the Enchanter smiles over them, and the Rangers form into a group hug around Mal]

ENCHANTER: Congratulations. You are Power Rangers. I hereby give you the name of the Star Brigade. Do it proud, young ones.

[Harry initiates a “everybody put your hands in” thing]

ALL: Power Rangers! [Break] Star Brigade!

[Meanwhile, on The Red Star]

KALERI: IDIOT!

ATUM: I'm sorry your-

KALERI: NINCOMPOOP!

ATUM: Your majesty I honestly thought-

KALERI: NO YOU DIDN'T, YOU BLITHERING FOOL! YOU DIDN'T THINK AT ALL!

ATUM: But it was meant to grow so much-

KALERI: OF COURSE THEY WERE GOING TO USE ZORDS! RANGERS ALWAYS DO!

ATUM: Your majesty please!

KALERI: BUT ONE ZORD, GEARS FOR BRAINS? ONE ZORD? [Kaleri grabs a huge morningstar from the wall and smashes Atum's head against the floor. We cut briefly to a machine assembling a new Atum, which steps out rubbing its head. Cut back to Kaleri, who rounds on Sarama] YOU BETTER HAVE A BETTER PLAN THAN THAT RUSTING OAF, SARAMA! I KNOW FOR A FACT YOU TAKE A LOT LONGER TO COME BACK!

SARAMA: [Cool as a cucumber] Yes, your highness. Of course.

[Fade with the sound of a school bell to the halls of Kilnton High, where Mal is opening his locker. The Principal moves into shot]

PRINCIPAL: Well, Malcolm, how are things goin' on the friendship front, eh?

MAL: Well, Principal O'Patrick I'm not really-

[At that moment, the rest of the rangers come round the corner (They are of course still colour-coded for your convenience)]

IAN: Hey, there he is, it's the main Mal!

EDDIE: What's up?

MAL: [To the principal] Yeah. Things are good. [Shuts locker and walks off towards the group] Hey guys.

[Principal nods, a job well done, and walks off out of frame. Cut to a shot of the back of the rangers as they walk away from camera (oblivious to the fact that for the sake of looking cool they're taking up the whole corridor like jackasses)]

HARRY: So do you guys have any plans tonight?

RENEE: I hear the juice bar is having a grand reopening.

IAN: We should totally go.

EDDIE: It feels like forever since we went there.

RENEE: I hear they're debuting a new smoothie.

HARRY: Sounds good.

MAL: Yeah, I think I can clear some time in my schedule.

[“Written by Jordan Hughes Esq.” appears in white letters at the bottom of the screen. Fade to black. Roll credits]