Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I also don't own much besides my computer, my guitar, and my saxophone.

The Beast Within

Prologue:

Robert James hated secrets. He hated that he had to wear long sleeves to hide the Tattoo that marked him as a Pai Zhuq Master. He hated not letting his Father know where he was. He hated how he was forced to push away every single person that dared to get close to him. Secrets existed for a reason, and while he understood all too well that sometimes, he had to lie, he hated it all. He hated the loneliness that came along when all of his customers had left for the day and he was forced to shut down and return to his quiet, solitary existence.

But it was all for a reason, a reason, that RJ was certain, was of the utmost importance. Even if the world fell apart and the Order of the Claw was forced into the public view, that would not be nearly as bad as the consequences of letting his innermost secret be known to anyone. Beyond his mastery of the wolf technique, there was something inside, something not at all human. His Wolf Spirit was tainted, and so was he.

It had started on a late summer camping trip with his father shortly after his thirteenth birthday. He'd only just begun learning to control his Wolf Spirit and despite all his protests, his Father had kept going on about teaching him the Shark Technique while they sat at the campfire. He'd been so angry that he couldn't sleep, and wound up walking off in the night; too upset to fully pay attention to his surroundings until he tripped over a fallen branch and into a drop nearly six feet below. His leg was broken or so he had guessed with heavy consideration of the level of pain that shot through it with every movement. His wrist was only sprained, and although it caused pain to move, neither injury would be anything compared to what would happen later on that fateful night as the full moon rose high in the sky above.

He remembered the way every hair on his body stood on end before he ever heard it approach. He still awoke to nightmares of that night with every muscle in his body tensed and his Animal Spirit close to the surface in preparation for battle. The blood chilling howls and snarls that had preceded the attack still haunted him every moment he was alone but worst of all was what had been left behind. His Animal Spirit had prevented the grotesque creature from killing him and had, in a way, put an end to it's reign of terror, but not before it could infect RJ. No, he hadn't been that lucky.

He'd passed out at some point, only to awaken many miles away from where he'd begun, naked, confused, covered in blood, and surprisingly able to move around in only mild discomfort. He'd washed it all away in an icy cold creek. It was the creek that had brought the night's events back to him, and he had sobbed in despair as he realized what must have happened. He was a werewolf, an abomination of a creature so horrible and tainted that he had been sure that he would never live a normal life again.

He'd followed the creek upstream for days, stopping only to eat and sleep until he'd happened upon a summer camp, recently devoid of any campers with a few odds and ends left behind. He'd found clothing, a map, and a compass in the office as well as a small selection of shelf-stable foods in the mess hall. He had been forced to continue onwards, though this time he followed the road and before long was stopped by a ranger who recognized him as the boy who'd been missing for nearly a week

He had felt stunned, when he realized just how much his Father had worried, and guilt seemed to stab at his heart as he was forced to make a cover story full of ugly lies. He had never lied to his Father like that prior to that day. Thankfully though, no one involved caught onto his dishonesty and he returned to Pai Zhuq Academy a week later, only to have the truth forced from him by his Master.

While RJ had been the only person with a Wolf Spirit at the school, he did have a Master. Oh yes, Master Marcus Swoop was the man RJ answered to each day. He responded well to the Bat Master. After all, if one could overcome blindness, to become a Pai Zhuq Master, then certainly the man deserved his utmost respect. However, Swoop was not blind to the sudden changes that occurred not only in RJ's demeanor, but his scent and his Animal Spirit. For all Master Swoop could not see, such things stood out to him like a beacon in the darkness and he had immediately brought these things up to Master Mao, who had called RJ to his office where the two Masters gently pulled the truth from him.

He had felt so horrible while he explained what happened as if speaking of it made it even more real. He hadn't even yet figured out what he'd do on the night of the next Full Moon but Master Mao and Master Swoop had a solution for which RJ was grateful. He continued his studies, though he was given his own room near Master Swoop's as to avoid any questions from the other students when those nights came that RJ would be locked inside a secret room beneath the school, while Master Swoop and Master Mao took turns sitting by the door, only to open it up and tend to him when the morning came and he recovered. They had suggested that he allow them to throw in something for the beast to prey upon to distract it from trying to escape, but he refused every time despite the fact he seemed to come out of the locked room worse than when he'd been locked in, sometimes requiring assistance to his quarters.

And when he finally got his Stripes, and Master Mao and Master Swoop asked him to stay at the school as a Master, he was forced to refuse. He needed to find someplace he wouldn't be a danger to anyone and while it had taken months before he found the perfect place, it was so very satisfying when he had. First he had fixed up the underbelly of the building to serve as his own personal cage, and for lack of any way to lock himself in, he called upon Marcus Swoop to lock him in and let him out on those nights and the older Master had obliged. Slowly but surely he turned the building into much more than it was. First he fixed up the loft to be livable for when he wasn't a Monster and then, Jungle Karma Pizza came into existence after Marcus suggested he run some sort of a business.

It wasn't until Master Mao called upon him again, that he had worried. The ancient and wise Master worried that a new time of darkness would come upon them, that somehow, the ancient evil entity called Dai Shi would be released from the heavily guarded room the dark spirit was kept in, and would start a new Beast War, and this time, it would all be impossible to hide from the rest of the population who knew nothing of the original Beast War that had nearly caused the Order of the Claw to die off, and take Pai Zhuq Academy down with it.

He had, with much luck, found someone who could hook him up with something to be used to protect the general populace. He'd been so unsure about it, and Master Mao directed him to only use the devices if he was forced to send the Guardians to him. RJ had prayed every night to the powers that be in the world, that it would not come to that. He did not want to put anyone else at risk. He was sure he would not be able to live with himself if he did.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading. Now if you will just click on that button in the middle of the screen (Or wherever it is now...) and leave a review, I would be very pleased to hear what you think. If you are not a registered member of and you would like for me to respond to your review, please register as it is against 's policy to allow authors to leave replies to reviewers in Author notes. Thanks again.