Flying Rhino Jr. High

Curiosity gets the best of Billy, Marcus, and Ruby when they try to sneak a peek in Lydias class journal. Lydia, understandably upset, accuses them of snooping and informs them that her journal is private. Besides, whos to say shes been writing about them? She could be writing about anyone - her parents, her Uncles cat, Earl. Earl? Convinced that Lydia is writing about him, Earl transforms the school into a 60s spy-scape and dispatches a rogues gallery of spies to retrieve the document. With time ticking down, Billy, Marcus, Ruby, and Lydia must outmaneuver the colorful henchmen and deliver the journal into the proper hands (in this case, Mrs. Snodgrass, patiently waiting for them to turn in their journal assignments). In the end, Billy, Marcus and Ruby forego the opportunity to sneak a peek at Lydias journal, learning a valuable lesson about the need to respect the privacy of others.

Its student election time and Billy and Ruby are both vying for the coveted title of school president. Though initially friendly, their rivalry heats up and, before you know it, the mud starts flying. When Earls petition to include HIS name on the ballot is rejected, matters are complicated by the late-entry of a mysterious third candidate. Buoyed by a glitzy ad campaign (compliments of his spin doctor/campaign manager the Phantom), the third candidate (none other than Raticus in a clever disguise) shoots ahead in the polls. If Billy and Lydia are to defeat this upstart, they must clean up their acts and work together. In the end, they learn that no ones a winner when you dont play fair - a fact confirmed by the other students who, disgusted with the dirty campaign, end up electing Fred Smertz as a write-in candidate.

Its time for the annual Flying Rhino Junior High Games in which students compete against one another in the glorious field of athletic competition. Everyone has been practicing their skipping and pogoing and yo-yoing...well, almost everyone. Billy, a natural athlete, feels he doesnt need to practice. Earl, irritated by Billys arrogant posturing, strikes a blow for uncoordinated geeks everywhere by transforming the school into the site of the original Olympic Games: Olympus! Now, Billy, Marcus, Lydia, and Ruby must beat the ultimate competitors - those overbearing Greek gods - if they have any hope of saving their school. Fortunately for our heroes, guess who didnt come prepared?

Inspired by a class lesson on pirates, Johnny and Rod start shaking down the other students for their milk money, terrorizing the school. But when Earl hears Lydia pass judgement on the two thugs - Those guys are low down, dirty sneaks. Theyre no better than Earl. - he loses it. After all, his stellar villainy is leaps and bounds above their amateurish thuggery. To prove his point, he dons a pirates hat and becomes the infamous Peach Fuzz Beard, morphing a pirate ship into existence and commanding it from the boiler room. His scurrilous crew drafts our gang (Billy, Ruby, Lydia, Marcus, Johnny, and Rod) into service. The pirate ship embarks on a pillaging voyage through the school in search of ill-gotten booty with our unhappy heroes in tow. Well, actually, not ALL of them are unhappy. Turns out Ruby has decided that the pirate life is for her, delighting in her position as ships treasure-counter.Our gang must convince Ruby that stealing is wrong if they have any hopes of turning the tables on Captain Peach Fuzz and his scurrilous crew.

Lydia allows her stint as hallway monitor to go to her head. Super-bossy, she delights in setting down rules and regulations for the others to follow. Earl finds the whole situation endlessly amusing - until Lydia vows to crack down on individuals holding overdue library books. She wouldnt dare, thinks Earl, glancing over at the cobweb-covered pile of library books lying beside him. Would she?Incensed, Earl morphs the school into a lawless town right out of the Old West. Lydia, assuming the mantle of Sheriff, sets out to bring her own brand of justice to the place. She succeeds - perhaps a little too well. With everyone in the hoosegow, whos going to back her up when the nefarious Harwood Gang rides into town? Ultimately, her friends come through for her in the end as Lydia comes to realize a simple truth: its bad to be bossy.

Its been days since Billy struck out in the Junior High Baseball Championship Game and he hasnt stopped moping yet. If only he had the chance to do it all over again. Lydia rightly points out that Billy should just forget about it and move on - You cant change the past. Not yet, Billy agrees, but with the advancements in science it should only be matter of time before time travel IS possible - and hell be able to go back into the past and rectify things. Picking up on their conversation, Mrs. Snodgrass discusses time travel and its treatment in literature. Marcus points out that, though a fun idea, time travel is impossible. This sets off Earl. One of his very first creations was a time machine. Time travel IS possible! And to prove it, he uses his machine to send our foursome into the past. Ten whole years into the past! Stranded in the past, our heroes befriend Earl P. Sidebottom, a hapless nerd who will one day become the Phantom as a result of the D he receives in shop class. As the young Earl helps them re-wire the time machine so that they can return home, our heroes attempt to change the future by helping Earl pull off an A in shop.In the end, our heroes unwittingly contribute to Earls D and his invention of the time machine. Making it back in the nick of time, they learn the futility of dwelling on the past. Since you cant change the past, better to make the best of the present.

Its Career Day and a variety of career exhibits have set up shop throughout the school. Marcus feels sorry for Buford. No one seems interested in his janitorial exhibit. Marcus guilts the gang into visiting by reminding them how helpful Buford has been in their past adventures. Pleased by their visit, Buford enthusiastically tells the kids about his general duties. He gets into plumbing, explaining such things as clogs, traps, sewer gas, etc. But the kids show no interest. Buford picks up on this and slinks off, his feelings hurt.Marcus is angry with his friends. Made to feel guilty, Ruby argues with him. She really likes Buford, but doesnt think he should be pushing sanitation engineering as a career. Making a living in a sewer? Come on, what kind of a crazy person would WANT to work underground for a living?Earl is outraged! HE works underground for a living and hes certainly not crazy! He transforms the school into a sewer, complete with noxious sewer gas, bursts of fast flowing water, and, the token alligator.The kids must survive a dangerous trek to reach the only person who can save them - Buford. Making use of the information he provides, they clog the sewer, building up pressure and ultimately force the effluent back on Earl.

The hot topic of the day is the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Billy, Lydia, Marcus, and Ruby are doing their part to help protect the environment by cleaning up the school. Earl, watching from the boiler room, scoffs, "Foolish children! Who cares about garbage?" He hands Raticus a pizza box with the remains of his lunch. Raticus throws the box into an old coal storage room which is already stuffed with garbage. He quickly slams the door shut. The Phantom cackles, "Out of sight, out of mind!" The kids echo those sentiments with their first solution to the school's garbage problem - they stuff all of it down the unused coal chute. But the extra garbage is too much for the storage room and explodes into the Boiler Room, burying Earl and Raticus. Furious, the Phantom transforms the trash pile into a living garbage-monster!Our heroes must make use of everything they know about reducing, reusing, and recycling to strip the garbage monster of, first, its organic elements, then, its aluminum elements, and, finally, its pure plastic form.

A fire chief visits the school for a routine safety inspection and drops by the class to deliver a lesson on emergency preparedness and fire safety. An ensuing safety tour of the school is complicated by Earl who figures if Flying Rhino Junior High fails the safety inspection, the school will be shut down and HE will have the building all to himself! A few keystrokes later, the enviromaster has morphed the school into THE MOST dangerous place imaginable. Suddenly, everything is in a state of disrepair, exposed wiring abounds, the cafeteria floor is covered with grease, improperly labeled household cleaners lie about.Unfortunately, the visiting fire chief turns out to be a magnet for disaster and our heroes have their hands full trying to keep him out of trouble and in one piece.

When Rubys poor eating habits result in an in-class fainting spell, Nurse Cutlip takes it upon herself to lecture the kids on the importance of proper nutrition, exercise, and rest for the promotion of health. But down in the boiler room, Earl scoffs at the notion. Eat healthy? Exercise? Ha! He eats terribly, doesnt exercise, and hes in fine physical form. But when Nurse Cutlip holds up an old photo of Earl as a warning of what could happen if they DONT take care of their bodies, Earl becomes enraged. He morphs the school into HIS body, determined to give the kids an up close and personal look at just how healthy he is. Our heroes are ambushed by a gang of bacteria, unpleasant thugs who have laid claim to this turf (Earls body) and challenge our heroes to a rumble. Marcus realizes they are no match for the bacteria, but they know who is: the bodys defenders, the white blood cells. Unfortunately, the white blood cells are a weak, sickly lot, lacking in self-confidence. Using the information they learned from Nurse Cutlip about keeping the body healthy, our heroes proceed to get the white blood cells in shape for the big showdown. In the end, the white blood cells come through, defeating the upstart bacteria in a WWF free-for-all, sending them packing.

Spring has sprung and its time for the annual Flying Rhino Junior High Garden Bonanza! The classroom becomes a sea of plant pots as Mrs. Snodgrass teaches the kids about growing everything from crops to Venus Fly Traps. As part of the lesson, each student is given the opportunity to plant and take care of his or her own crop. After Ruby has planted hers, she stands there waiting. When the others ask what she is waiting for, Ruby replies, Im waiting for my plant to grow, silly. It is a very annoyed Ruby who learns that it could take days, even weeks before she sees the fruits of her labor. Earl sees this and decides to take advantage of the situation. This is the perfect opportunity to test his new plant growth formula. If the experiment is successful, he will use his Phantom X Brand Fertilizer in his ultimate goal of total world domination! But first things first. He dispatches Raticus upstairs to drop off a bag of the stuff where our heroes are sure to find it. When our heroes stumble upon the bag, they are thrilled. Why wait when you can have plants now, NOW, NOW! Its our heroes own impatience that causes them all to use the wonder fertilizer. Of course the plant formula works a little too well. Not only do the plants grow faster, but they grow bigger and MEAN! Soon the school is overrun by killer vegetation of every type. Ultimately, our heroes must rely on a lot of agricultural know-how and a little patience to save the day.

When Marcus inadvertently breaks the sink in the boys bathroom, he bolts, allowing Johnny to take the blame. But when he hears that Johnny may face suspension, Marcus instantly regrets his decision not to step forward. Of course, regretting his inaction is one thing. Actually having the courage to step forward and admit to his mistake is something else.While Marcus wrestles with a guilty conscience, Earl, a regular fall-guy during HIS high school days, decides to teach Marcus a lesson. Inspired by an in-class discussion of Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking Glass, Earl sends our heroes to a bizarre alternate mirror world. There, they encounter weird, mirror-versions of our Rhino regulars - a sharp and eagle-eyed Principal Mulligan, an erudite Rod Harwood, a squeaky clean Fred Smertz. As it turns out, our heroes have quite a reputation in this mirror-world - and not a good one. Turns out THEIR mirror-versions are some class A trouble-makers - and our heroes are paying the price for their bad reps. With the help of the mirror-world Earl, a shy, soft-spoken genius, our heroes make the leap back to their world in time to save IT from the ravages of their trouble-making counterparts - and in time for Marcus to finally accept responsibility for what he has done.