Previously on LMPR:
J.T. frowned as he realized something, he was suddenly standing in the shade, "Mason," he called out nervously, "I think I found the monster," he announced, looking upward to see a large black spider with amber eyes glaring at him.
The Monster rose up and spat a large golden glob at J.T. who dodged it. The Glob landed on a patch of grass which instantly turned to Amber, "Just so you know, this is nothing like Medusa," he shouted.
"Where's Frank and Melody?" Sara shouted, "Didn't you try to call them?"
"I think they went to the movies," Mason shouted back doing a somersault out of the way of a flying glob of amber, "Their phones just went straight to voice mail."
"I thought that was why we had communicators," Sara snapped, "Those watches aren't a fashion choice you know."
"Do we really want to interrupt their date?" Mark asked shoving Sara out of the way of the spider monster.
"We might have to," Mason's voice sounded strained as he pointed to the lawn, several of the statues were starting to move in jerky, zombie-like movements, "We just got outnumbered, and we can't hurt the other students."
Sara did a barrel row as she pulled her bow out of the air, letting loose a bolt of energy that hit one of the approaching statues, she wasn't sure who it was, but he looked like he might have been one of the football team. The Energy bolt bounced off him without even a scorch mark to tell where it hit.
"Guys my weapon isn't doing any damage," she announced.
"The monster's gone too," Mark called out, looking around, "I think that it might have gone after Melody and Frank."
"Has anyone tried contacting them," Sara snapped, doing a black flip over the Amberized Stacy, knocking the statue on her face, straight in a muddy puddle, "Yuck," she groaned, "She's so going to complain about that when we fix this."
Mason knocked one of the teachers, it was hard to tell who it was with the amber encasing them, before raising a hand to his helmet, activating the communicator, "Mason to Frank," he shouted, before using that same hand to punch a senior in the chest, only to wish he hadn't when his hand started to throb under his glove, "Punching doesn't work." he announced.
…The Movie Theater…
Melody and Frank had decided to catch the early showing of the latest Disney film together, "You think the others are okay?" Melody hissed, unable to concentrate on the movie due to an uneasy feeling that she was quickly developing. What if their friends were in trouble and they couldn't get to the school fast enough, maybe going into town wasn't the best idea.
"Relax, if something happens they'll contact us," Frank insisted, showing where his communicator was on his wrist, right as it chimed. Several families turned around in their seats to glare at him, some whispering about disrespectful teens who couldn't follow simple instructions.
Frank rose his wrist to his mouth, and hissed, "This is Frank."
"Punching doesn't work," Mason's voice filtered through the line, distorted with pain.
"Mason?" Frank asked, looking around at the others in the theater, they had all returned to watching the movie, "What's up?"
"There may or may not be a monster headed your way, it looks like a giant spider, but it spits amber that encases people and turns them into mindless zombies. Be careful, Uncle Tommy's working on a way to turn Ms. Johnson back into a human, and the rest of us are tied up at the school."
"Great," Melody muttered, "Let's go."
...Reefside Forest…
"So let me get this straight?" Connor asked, walking backward on the trail so that he could face his former science teacher, "You went to your nephew's Family Day at his private boarding school, learned that your ex-girlfriend has been dead for a decade, so you quit your job here at Reefside to get a teaching position over at the school, which has their own team of power rangers, and you haven't joined the team yet?"
"I've only been there two weeks." Tommy protested, "I don't get involve with every single power ranger team, you know."
"I know," Connor said with a snicker, "just the ones in the town you're living in, which at this point in time is Knight Academy, home of the Legendary Mystical Power Rangers."
"Why did you come along?" Tommy asked, shooting Kira a dirty look.
"He's the P.E. teacher at the local Elementary school," Kira insisted, "He had the day off, and I kind of figured we could use his help."
He grunted, shaking his head, "Well then we best be getting going," he insisted, heading deeper into the forest.
"No offense Dr. O, but shouldn't Connor and I take the lead, you were kind of encased in amber when we blew up the meteor so we'll have a better chance finding a chunk."
Tommy pulled out his phone checking a message that he had just received, "Now that's something I've never seen," he commented, "The amber statues came to life and are attacking the rest of the team," he explained shaking his head, "I'm getting too old for this."
"Come on," Kira insisted, nodding down what appeared to be a game path, "It's this way."
…The Movie Theater…
Frank had to admit he had never seen a movie theater empty so fast as when a giant spider burst through the emergency exit. Everyone was screaming, running away from the monster as fast as they possibly could. Parents picking up children as they rushed to the doors in the back. Some made it some were frozen in place with amber before they could reach safety. There was one thing though, with all the commotion no one was paying any attention to him and Melody.
"Come on," he said, nudging Melody, who was oddly standing really still next to him, "Let's morph now, while everyone is confused."
"Frank," Melody's voice sounded strained, "Now's probably not a good time for me to announce that I'm scared of spiders, is it?"
"And I'm not?" Frank asked, "Being a power ranger means facing your fears, I've been doing it the whole school year, now it's your turn. Come on let's show this monster that we're not scared of it."
...Knight Academy…
Mason groaned as he kicked a statue zombie in the chest only to hop on his other foot as it throbbed in pain, nothing they did worked, even their power weapons didn't make a dent on them, not that they wanted to hurt their classmates, "Uncle Tommy better hurry up with his gadget," he shouted over the fray, "I don't think we can last much longer."
"I think that's the point," Sara snapped, dodging a blow and causing the statue zombie to topple over, out of balance, "We have to use their strength against them, it's the only way."
"They don't seem to be tiring at all," J.T. shouted between pants of air, "and I'm about as worn out as I can get."
"I hope Melody and Frank are okay," Mark shouted.
...The Movie Theater…
Melody wasn't sure what she wanted more, to never fight a giant spider, or to never have to fight in a movie theater again. There was no room to maneuver and the spider could walk on the walls and ceiling attacking her while she fought her way through the narrow rows of seats.
"Frank," she called out, "Any suggestions on how to squash this bug?"
"I think that the first thing we need to do is lure it out in the open where we will have an easier time fighting."
"That's going to be hard," Melody admitted, "That spider knows that it has the advantage, it's not going to move easily."
"We just have to hold on until Uncle Tommy gets back," Frank insisted, "I hope he's okay."
...The Forest outside of Reefside…
Kira bent down, "This is the place, just look for a piece of the meteor, but be careful, remember what it did to our personalities."
"I know, I actually went to the library," Connor stated, faking a shudder.
"Just find it," Tommy snapped, "And I'll be happy to discuss any scientific theory that you wish when you do," something was tugging at him a familiar feeling that he recognized, it was the same kind of tug that lead to him discovering the dino gems all those years ago. Not this, not now, he was getting too old for this, "I need to go check something out," he called out to his two old teammates, "Holler if you find anything."
With that he slowly wandered farther into the woods, allowing the tug to pull him off the path and into a heavily wooded area that looked like it didn't see much traffic animal or otherwise. Tommy looked around the area, he couldn't see anything, but the power in the air was electrifying, his hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up, yet there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
He slowly walked around the small clearing, looking for whatever it was that had got his attention. All while wondering why it hadn't called out to him until now. Suddenly something hard came in contact with his foot, causing him to lose his balance. With a quick twist, he righted himself and dropped down, moving a large pile of leaves and other debris, to reveal a silver spiked ball attached to a chain. The ancient weapon seemed to glow when Tommy uncovered it. This was what had been calling to him. He carefully lifted it up by the chain, surprised by how light it was, but if he now had a power weapon of a Legendary Mystical Power Ranger, where was his morpher, his shield and gem?
A cloud much have been blown away from the sun for at that moment the sun suddenly broke through the thick canopy reflecting off something. Tommy rushed over to it, pulling out a silver shield with a gem set into the middle of it. Well, it was official now, he had joined the team.
"Hey Dr. O," Connor's voice called out through the woods, "We found something."
…The Movie Theater…
Melody and Frank burst out of the front doors of the movie theater with as much of a relief as if they had just escaped a fire.
"That was close," Melody panted, hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, watching as the rest of the patrons fled from the scene.
"We're not done yet," Frank gasped out, "That monster is still after us and the others are still under attack by those statue zombies."
"Where's Uncle Tommy with his weapon?" Melody groaned, "We need it."
"Let's try to regroup with the others," Frank suggested, "The next bus to the school should be arriving soon."
"Or we can just summon our cavalry which will be faster," Melody suggested.
… 1992 Valencia Road, Reefside California…
"Well Hayley," Tommy asked, peering over the redhead's shoulder as she tinkered with something, "Is it done yet?"
"Almost," Hayley insisted, giving him a dark look, "Patience," she insisted, "I just need to figure out how to make this not only portable but make it so that it doesn't fry the Meteor completely after just one use..." she trailed off, before suddenly sitting up straight, "And done," she announced.
...Knight Academy…
Sara let out a scream when she felt her hands being grabbed behind her as another statue zombie prepared to punch her. She closed her eyes waiting for the punch to land when there was a sound of squealing tires.
"Now that's what I call speed," Melody announced, jumping off her robotic horse zord, "You okay Sara?"
"I am now," Sara nodded, taking a deep breath, "But where's the monster?"
"Probably somewhere between here in the town," Melody explained, "He's not that fast, any news from Uncle Tommy?"
Sara shook her head, "Nothing and if he and Ms. Johnson don't show up soon I don't think we can last much longer, we've been fighting for over an hour now."
They fell quiet as they fought off a few more statues, then they glanced around, to see Mason almost buried under a pile of statues, which suddenly glowed before breaking apart freeing several members of the school swim team who looked confused that they were doggy-piled on top of the green power ranger.
"It's Uncle Tommy," Sara gasped, before noticing where the commotion was coming from, it very well could have been Mason's uncle, but if it was him, he had found another shield because he was wearing a black and silver uniform very similar to what she was wearing. Next to him was Ms. Johnson in her uniform.
"That's Uncle Tommy?" Melody asked, giving her roommate a skeptical look.
"It has to be," Sara explained, "Who else could it be, besides, this is Tommy Oliver we're talking about, this was bound to happen eventually."
"Regroup with Ms. Johnson and Dr. Oliver," Frank announced, trying to sound professional as he did a full-on sprint towards the two older rangers.
Tommy glanced around at the teens, "Is everyone okay?" he asked.
"We're fine Uncle Tommy," they all insisted in unison.
"When did you..." Tommy began but Tammy interrupted him.
"Focus Tommy," she snapped, "That weapon might just be the best way to stop the monster, one zap and he's gone."
The teens looked at each other was that really all it was going to take to defeat this monster? A single zap from a sci-fy looking blaster.
"Look!" Melody squealed, pointing towards town, where something large and black was scuttling down the middle of the road.
Tommy rose the blaster that Hayley had built for him, flicking the level up to high, taking aim, and firing. The spider creature was hit straight in the middle of his head, causing him to explode into a puddle of amber goo.
"Now that was anti-climatic," J.T. announced as the rest of the statue zombies turned back into the students and staff of the school.
Next time on LMPR: When a thick fog rolls into the school the team must learn how to fight without relying on their sight.