It had been 4 months since the battle against Dai Shi had finally ended, with the side of good being victorious. For a time, the world had returned to peace once again. Now that Dai Shi was dead, the Pai Zhua Academy had been able to succeed in its main goal and had now decided to keep training students to protect the peace that the Jungle Fury Rangers had fought so hard to achieve.
But as with all things in life, this peace would not last...
Somewhere in southern France, a young man and woman had been hiking up a hill. Upon reaching the top, a beautiful sight awaited them. Before them was a large valley with rolling green hills on either side and a large forest that seemed to go on forever. A small lake could also be seen in the distance.
The young man smiled, putting his arm around his companion's back, leading her to do the same. "It looks beautiful, don't ya think, Fran?" he said in a cheerful tone.
Fran grinned widely, taking in the sight. "Yea, it sure does..." she replied, her voice trailing off.
The young man turned his head to face her. "What's up?" he asked.
She also turned her face to face his. "Nothing! It's just... I still can't believe I'm here, doing all this... With you. Thanks, Dom." She hugged him tighter, and he was more than happy to do the same.
"Well you'd better believe it!" he replied in a happy voice. "When I first got to Ocean Bluff, I would have been more than happy to go back off on my journey on my own as I always have done." He paused, looking deep into her eyes for a moment. "But I'm glad I didn't. After growing close to people for the first time in a while back when we were fighting Dai Shi, I'm not even sure I'd have ever wanted to travel alone again now. Thanks for coming with me, Fran."
Not another word was uttered between the two. To them, nothing more needed to be said. They turned back to look at the valley, the sun shining down from the cloudless sky above them...
Hundreds of miles away in Ocean Bluff, another young man was walking into his favourite place in the entire city; Jungle Karma Pizza's. As he walked in, a female staff member behind the counter noticed him coming in. She smiled warmly. "Hey Theo! Are you here to see RJ?"
Theo smiled. "Yes, I am. How are you doing, Camille?" He asked as he looked around. It was just after lunch, the usual mad rush had ended and there was a mess everywhere, as usual. "Looks like you've got a lot of work to do here." He said, sighing. He missed working here like he used to, although he was grateful to be out of the way of the dreaded lunch hour rush.
Camille sighed. "I'm fine, thanks. Yeah, it's been another busy day, but it's nice to feel like I'm doing something beneficial." She replied. She was glad that RJ was willing to give her and Jarrod the chance to work for him like Casey and the others had done before them. Whenever they weren't training at the academy, they were working here, something which they were both extremely grateful for – it was the opportunity that they needed to start over completely and become used to being part of a good society again. RJ even gave them some extra training during their breaks.
Theo nodded. "It's good to hear things are working out for you. I'm guessing Jarrod and RJ are in the back?" he asked.
Camille nodded. "Yeah, Jarrod should be in the kitchen and I think RJ's upstairs. Head on through." She replied, tilting her head in the direction of the door to the kitchen.
"Thanks Camille, see you later." He replied, heading for the kitchen. Camille watched him disappear, smiling to herself, happy that even though they were once sworn enemies, they were now friends.
Elsewhere, at the Pai Zhua Academy, a young woman was sat on the grass in a small garden-like area. Feeling the presence of someone nearby, her eyes opened. "Casey?" she called out. Sure enough, Casey was behind her, leaning against the arched doorway. He smiled.
"Glad to see that you're still aware as ever, Lily." He commented, walking towards her and sitting down beside her. "You've been kinda quiet today. Is everything alright? Hope there's nothing wrong between you and Theo." He said, knowing how much her relationship with his best friend meant to her.
Lily shook her head, looking down at the floor. "No, it's not that. I-I'm not even sure what it is... I just have a bad feeling, that's all. Something feels like its stirring, far away. Whatever it is, it doesn't feel like something good."
Casey put his arm around her. "Don't worry, Lil. Everything will be fine. We're Masters, remember? I'm sure if anything does come along, we'll be able to handle it. We always do, right?"
She made an attempt to smile, but it was clear that the reassurance wasn't having much of an effect. Whatever it was that was bothering her, it clearly had far more of an impact on her than she was willing to admit. Casey could feel that she wanted to be left alone, so he stood up and walked away, stopping by the doorway. "It'll be fine, trust me." He said, walking away. Lily didn't react at all...
Back at Jungle Karma, Theo was heading upstairs to the attic. Jarrod wasn't in the kitchen, so he assumed they'd both be upstairs. Sure enough, as Theo walked in, he could see RJ and Jarrod, putting things away in backpacks. RJ looked up and saw Theo watching them. "Theo! Good of you to join us!" he said in his usual cheerful tone. Jarrod also looked up at him, smiling slightly, but remaining silent.
"It's good to be here, RJ. You guys almost ready to go? It's nearly time for the lesson." He replied. Theo was a teacher at the academy, but preferred to be out and around looking for potential new students. Fortunately, he was able to work an arrangement out with RJ so that he would fill in for Theo from time to time so that Theo could get on with scouting.
Jarrod nodded. "I'm finished, but RJ still wants to bring a few more things." He said, walking towards the stairs. "I'm going to help Camille clear up. Let me know when we're leaving."
Theo watched him leave before turning back to RJ. "What's up with him? He seems a bit more moody than usual today." Theo commented with a slightly puzzled expression on his face.
RJ shrugged. "I have no idea, my friend. Maybe he's had too much pizza..." he said with a laid back tone. "Now... Where did I put that box of food?" he thought aloud, seemingly floating between piles of various things around his chair. Theo shook his head, smiling. RJ hadn't changed a bit.
Back in France, Dominic and Fran had headed down into the valley, venturing into the forest, eager to explore. They had come to a pretty steep downwards slope. A stream could be seen in the small clearing at the bottom of the hill. Fran noticed it and smiled. "Think we should stock up?" she asked.
Dominic nodded. "Yeah, it'd be a good idea. I'm down to my last bottle. Wouldn't want to come all this way to die of thirst, eh?" He said, laughing. "Race you there!" he cried, running off down the hill, Fran's eyes widening almost comically.
"Are you nuts? Wait!" She yelled, shaking her head. He was always trying to encourage her to do crazy things, and this was definitely wasn't an exception, she could barely walking down without losing balance, never mind attempting to run down it. Still, she refused to let him win and started running after him.
Dominic won the race, easily getting to the bottom before her. He managed to slow to a stop and turned around just in time to see and hear Fran screaming at him, hurtling towards him at a very fast speed. "Get out of the way! I can't slow down!" She cried. Before he could respond, she crashed into him, sending them both to the floor.
Dominic burst out laughing. "I knew that'd happen!" he commented jokingly. Fran gave him a harsh look.
"Why you..." she started to reply, stopping mid sentence. She stood up, staring at something in the distance on the other side of the stream. Dominic also got up, confused by her sudden change in focus.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to work out what had caught Fran's attention. Then he saw it – a small, faint golden light coming from the distance. He stared at it for a few seconds. He could feel something, something that felt familiar, but at the same time something that seemed so distant from everything he knew. He noticed that Fran was in a strange trance-like state. "Fran?" he asked, not getting any answer. "Fran!" he shouted. She jumped this time, snapping back to life..
"W-w-what? Oh, sorry. I got kinda distracted. Do you feel it too?" she asked.
He nodded in response. "Yeah, I feel it." He paused for a second before continuing. "Wanna check it out?" He said, finishing with a smirk on his face.
Fran could feel the danger, but she was excited by the idea. That was one of the things that she had loved about travelling with Dominic so far; it was bringing out her adventurous side. She nodded in response. "Alright."
Dominic chuckled. "Then what are we waiting for?!" he cheered, walking off at a quick pace. Fran shook her head and laughed, running after him.
At the academy, meanwhile, Casey was in his small, stone-walled office having just finished getting ready to teach his students. He really liked the way that his life was going at the moment. Whilst the battles against Dai Shi had been a long struggle, it had taught him many things about life and who he was, and it had led to where he was now. With Master Mao gone, Casey was chosen to head the academy by the other masters. Casey originally chose not to at first, but Lily and Theo convinced him that it was the right thing to do. He eventually agreed to it, but insisted that Theo and Lily also shared that job with him, something that they were happy to agree to. The academy had also changed in purpose; now that Dai Shi was gone, the main goal of the academy had been accomplished. It was decided that the new goal would be to defend the Earth from anything that could do damage to it.
Whilst looking across his desk, his eyes caught sight of his red Solar Morpher. He reached over to it and picked it up, staring at it for a few seconds. "I don't need this anymore... I wonder if there will ever be a time where someone else will need to use it?" he wondered. He pocketed them as he always did before a lesson just in case something should happen and he would need them after all. There was a knock on the door.
"Come on in!" Casey yelled. The door swung open, revealing RJ. Casey smiled and walked over to him. RJ! Good to see you. Ready for the lesson?" he said cheerfully.
RJ grinned. No matter how many times he had heard Casey say that, he never really got used to it. He was extremely proud of his former student though, although he knew that as he always would do, Casey still had a lot to learn. "I'm always ready!" He paused for a second, his face showing a concerned look. "Just one thing; I passed Lily just now, she seems a bit down in the dumps. What's going on?"
Casey wasn't too surprised that RJ had worked out that something seemed to be wrong that quickly; he knew them better than most people, after all. All he could do was shrug. "I really don't know. She's been acting a bit distant from everyone for a few days now, but this morning she really seemed out of it. She said something about having a bad feeling, but she wasn't sure what it was about."
RJ leant back against the wall, moving his hand up to his chin in an almost detective-like thinking pose. There was silence between the pair for a few moments before RJ spoke again. "Nope. Can't sense a thing. Knew I shouldn't have skipped meditating on my head this morning." He stood up. "Still, thinking about it too much now would distract us from our purpose. Why don't we go show the kids a few entertaining moves?" he said with a confident grin. Casey nodded, the two of them walking out of the office, shutting the door behind them...
On the streets of Ocean Bluff, Theo was walking around, stopping every now and then to sense for anyone with a strong animal spirit within them. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't having much luck though. He hated days like this, knowing that if he failed to find anyone he would have wasted time he could have spent teaching his pupils.
It didn't help that he could feel something nearby, but at the same time very far away. It felt like darkness, pure hatred, but it was so distant to his senses that it was barely recognisable. It felt like a strong spirit was stirring, but he wasn't sure where it was from, or what kind of spirit it was. 'It almost feels... Tainted.' He thought to himself, looking up at the sky. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, but there was a chill in the air that almost made it feel like winter. He shrugged it off and continued walking down the road...
Meanwhile, in the French forest, Dominic and Fran had crossed the stream and had headed up the hill on the other side towards the light. As they got closer, they could both feel a chill in their bones, but for some ignorant reason, neither of them mentioned it. Within a few moments, the hill levelled out and they found themselves looking at the source of the light; a small altar-like stone creation, tucked into a small alcove. On top of it was a small orb, about the size of a golf ball, glowing in a golden light.
Both of them stared at the orb for a few seconds, amazed by it. Since they'd left Ocean Bluff, they'd rarely come across anything out of the ordinary, but this definitely wasn't anything ordinary at all.
Dominic started to walk towards it slowly, his eyes focused entirely on the orb. Fran looked at him, confused by his slow approach, it just wasn't like him. "Dom? You OK?" she asked him, but she got no reply. He seemed to have ignored her entirely, continuing to approach the orb. She walked up behind him slowly, reaching out to grab his arm. "C'mon, stop joking arou..." As she touched his arm, a golden light shot from it, flowing into Fran. She instantly collapsed, unconscious.
Dominic continued, seemingly entirely unaware of what had just happened. He stopped, standing before the altar, reaching out for the orb, wrapping his hand around it tightly. The wind howled as he picked it up, gusting violently. The golden glow of the orb faded, changing to a blood red colour. Suddenly, a wave of white energy erupted from the orb, swallowing the altar and everything around it, spreading out quickly. Within seconds, the forest was completely engulfed by it...
At the Academy, the Masters and the students were in the middle of lessons, but at the same moment, everyone stopped, feeling something horrible approaching. RJ was the only one to see it coming in time – a wave of white energy rapidly approaching. "Well, that's certainly different..." he muttered before the wave passed through them all. Moments later, the mountains that the Academy were built on were still there, but the Academy itself, along with everyone inside it, had gone...
In Ocean Bluff, Theo could also sense it coming. The wave shot through the town in a matter of seconds. Theo couldn't believe what he was seeing, although what he was sensing was now much worse. The tainted spirit he could sense before had suddenly become far stronger, but that was only the beginning of his worries. As the wave passed through the town, it left behind hundreds of creatures that almost looked like Rinshi warriors, but these seemed far more dangerous than anything he had ever known.
Before he could react, most of them were already going after the civilians of the town, but he could clearly see several of them approaching him. He dropped into a guarding stance, ready for battle. He didn't know what was going on, but he had to protect the people. He only hoped that help would be on the way soon.
"What's going on?!" he muttered to himself as the creatures charged at him...
