Mason slid into his desk in third-period science, tugging on his green tie, it was way too hot to be inside, and worst still the AC was broken, making the stifling heat even worst to bear. He glanced over to the windows, thrown open to invite in a cooling breeze. J.T. and several others were trying to stick their heads out. Even from where he sat he could see the lunch ladies moving some picnic tables out on the lawn.
"You'd think we haven't just gotten back from break," Sara muttered, sliding into her seat as the tardy bell rang.
"Okay everyone," Tommy Oliver called out, "Please take your seats."
"It's too hot to do any work," J.T. whined, looking pleadingly at the teacher, "And it's a nice day out, can't we have a free period?"
"No, we can't have a free period," Tommy insisted, "However..." he wiped his forehead, "Why don't we all grab a textbook and we can go over the first chapter outside on the lawn. I'm sure the headmaster would understand what with the AC being broken."
The students all surged to the back wall, where a bookcase was full of textbooks, "Grab the one with the dinosaur on the cover," Tommy instructed.
…
Sara plopped down on the grass next to Mark, "How can it be so hot inside but so nice out here?" she asked leaning back against her hands as the rest of the class gathered around in a half-circle facing Tommy.
Mark shrugged, opening his book.
"I can't sit on the ground," Stacy Sanders insisted, "You can't be serious, how are we going to learn out here?" she sneered.
"Simple," Tommy said, "By reading the chapter and answering the questions at the end. We'll even do it together if you'll please open your books to chapter one."
Time passed as they took turns reading from the chapter and looking at the questions. Everyone had to admit that this was so much better than trying to learn in the stifling heat of the classroom when suddenly a cloud blew over the sun.
Tommy frowned, looking up at the sky, a single cloud was covering the sun, but it was pitch black, "I don't like the look of that," he announced, or the feeling I'm getting, this is a monster attack, "I think we should go inside."
"But," J.T. cried out.
"We need to put the books back anyways, it's almost time for lunch," Tommy said loudly.
Sighing and grumbling the students all stood up and dust themselves off.
The Black cloud that covered the sun suddenly dive-bombed, dropping right in front of Mark and Sara before letting out a loud earsplitting scream that caused the other students to cover their ears.
Mason leaped forward, extending his leg to kick the monster, only to pass right through him and kick Sara insisted.
"Sorry," Mason muttered, as the rest of the students started to run into the building.
"What did you say!" Sara shouted.
""I said Sorry!" Mason insisted, "I didn't mean to kick you!"
"I can't hear you," Sara insisted, "All I can hear is a loud ringing sound."
Mason frowned, the monster had disappeared by now, and most of the class had run inside, "Let's get you to the Encampment," he insisted.
…
"The good news is that these kinds of injuries from monsters are not permanent," Tommy announced, "By the end of the day you should have full hearing back."
"What?" Sara shouted, tipping her head to one side. Tommy sighed, pulling out a small notebook and wrote something down before handing it to Sara, who nodded and shouted, "Good."
"But what are we going to do about the monster," Mason asked, "Both Sara and Mark can't hear a thing."
"I know sign language," Sara signed.
"That won't work," Tommy insisted, turning to the English Teacher, "There's no way to ensure that Sara and Mark are looking in the right direction when we have to give directions, and Morgana no doubt will know what the signs mean and tell her minions."
"We need to find some way to communicate," Tammy insisted turning to Tommy, as the most experienced power ranger, he should know what to do.
"Well," Tommy said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Your helmets will protect you from the monster's screaming attack, Sara and Mark won't be able to hear any commands given, therefore, for safety reasons they'll have to sit this one out unless they absolutely have to get involved."
"Great," Frank announced, "Now all we have to do is wait for that Cloud Monster to show up."
"We best head back to school before anyone notices we're gone," Mason added.
"Yeah, this is cutting into my lunchtime and I am starving," J.T. added.
"He reminds me of Zack," Tommy said, before suddenly gasping, "That's why his father looked familiar, Curtis is Zack's cousin. Is there one that isn't related to another power ranger?"
Tammy shook her head, "I was just as confused as you were when I figured things out. I need to go, I have lunch duty," she announced.
…The Enchanted Forest…
Mordred smiled as he watched as Sara and Mark were escorted to the Encampment, things were going as planned, two rangers were down for the count, and the other six would soon follow. There was no way they would be able to regroup or work together when they can't hear each other.
"What are you up to Mordred," Morgana demanded, leering at him, although the expression looked odd and twisted, as Kimberly's face wasn't used to twisting in that way.
"I sent a monster, the Cloud Shrieker, to the school," he announced.
"I didn't ask you to send anything to the school," Morgana snapped, "I'm in charge here, or have you forgotten?"
"I j… just thought that it was a perfect day for an attack, the teacher had taken them outside to study. They were out in the open, the Shrieker had already deafened two of them."
"Two out of seven, eight if you count that pesky Tommy Oliver, not bad," Morgana said, her voice sweet and soft suddenly, "Ugh," she growled, "Why did I choose a host with such a sickening sweet personality? Two rangers? Two isn't that many, especially with Tommy Oliver at the school. I am getting tired of your failures Mordred, tired of it, so unless you provide results it's over, you hear me, over."
Mordred bowed low, "Of course, my liege." he simpered.
...The School Yard…
Frank glanced around the yard, despite the recent monster attack most of the school had opted to eat outside, which made sense since the cafeteria was almost twenty degrees above comfortable.
"Where's this monster, anyway?" Melody asked, "We really need to take care of it, and lunch only lasts so long."
"I have a free period after lunch," Mason announced, "But I doubt that I'll be able to handle the monster by myself."
A loud scream split the air, causing them to jump.
"That sounds like Stacy," J.T. groaned, "and it sounds like she's in trouble."
The ground suddenly rippled as something slammed into them, almost knocking them off their feet.
"And that felt like a monster attack," Melody announced, "Come on, I need Calvary!"
On the far side of the yard Stacy was gripping her head as tightly as she good, "Go away," she whimpered, "Don't make me call Daddy."
"Why don't you pick on someone who can actually stand up for themselves?" Frank cried out.
"Wait!" Mason cried out, causing Frank to shift slightly into a more balanced position, "Remember what happened when the Cloud Shrieker attacked Sara and Mark, I went straight through him."
"Oh yeah," J.T. grumbled, "How do we fight a cloud?"
"Well, fog is just a low hanging cloud and the sun usually dissipates that, unless it's super thick."
"But the sun is up Mason."
"What about rain clouds?" Melody asked, "if we add enough water, it might slow him down and make him dense enough to attack."
"How would that work?"
"I don't know J.T. I'm grasping at straw here but I think it's the right thing to do."
"I say we try Melody's idea, it's all we have right now," Frank insisted, "But where do we get water?"
"Simple, we activate the sprinkler system." With that J.T. raced over to the Gardener's shed, pulling the door open and disappearing inside.
There were several screams as the sprinklers jumped into life, spraying several unsuspecting students.
The Monster screamed in pain as the water hit, but it only seemed to last for a minute before the monster started to grow, larger and larger as well as darker and darker. The monster laughed as the power rangers called for their zords, "You honestly think you can stop me now?"
Melody landed on her side as she tried to avoid a blow, "Okay so adding water didn't work, anyone else has an idea."
The others shook their heads, trying to think of something they could use to stop the monster. A paper plate blew past on a sudden gust of wind, that momentously lifted the monster up off his feet.
"Wind," Frank called out, eagerly, "We can use the wind to break him up!"
Using the sword of the Megazord as a fan they watched as the monster broke up into hundreds of tiny clouds only to come back together.
"We need something stronger," Mason called out, "This isn't working."
"How about the greenhouse?" J.T. asked, "Isn't there some sort of Greenhouse effect going on?"
"The Greenhouse effect has nothing to do with Greenhouses," Mason protested.
"But we don't have any other ideas," Frank argued, "It can't be any worse than the water idea, Let's try it."
This time they focused the wind they made to push the cloud monster further away from the students towards the greenhouses that they had for horticulture classes.
J.T. jumped down and slammed the door shut behind the monster, blocking it as best as he could, "This doesn't have a lock," he shouted, "Any help?"
The others quickly jumped out of the zord and threw their weight against the door as the monster tried to open it.
"It's working," Mason gasped, peering through the glass window as the monster got smaller and smaller by the second. Then with one last scream, he vanished with a poof of fluff.
…The Enchanted Forest…
"You failed," Morgana announced, "Not only are we no closer to finding the Holy Grail, but the power rangers are as strong as ever." Morgana snatched a sword from a Dark Knight that happened to walk past, "You are no longer needed," she informed him, "I can do better on my own." The sword slid effortlessly into Mordred's chest, "You are hereby fired." Morgana announced as she pulled the sword back out with a sickening noise.
...The Encampment…
Mason frowned as he peered into Sara's tent, "Where did Mark and Sara go?" he asked.
"I found this at the Round Table," Frank announced, holding up a piece of paper, "Gone out to lunch, back for next period, Mark."
"Aw, Mark and Sara went on a lunch date," Melody sighed, "How sweet, Sara much be over the moon, she really liked Mark."
"But what about Mason?" J.T. asked, glancing at the green ranger.
"Sara and I are not a couple," Mason insisted, "Did no one notice that Sara went to the dance with Mark?"
A/N: next time on LMPR: With Relationships blooming a strain is being felt on the team, which is made worst when Ms. Johnson doesn't show up at school one morning. Can they handle developing feelings and find Ms. Johnson before Morgana gets to the Holy Grail?