Yeah, there's not enough "happy" in my life right now.
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Power Rangers Jungle Fury belongs to Saban, the OC is mine.
Night time in the Emerald Forest usually signaled peace for the various animals that inhabited the area, a time that was meant for rest, relaxation, and the sweetest of dreams. However, for the members of Team RWBY this meant a perfect opportunity to train for the upcoming Vytal Festival, specifically when it came to combination moves that could be used against their opponents.
"Alright everyone, I'm sure you're all aware of how well we work in terms of pair combination attacks: we all remember how well moves like Ice Flower, Ladybug, and Checkmate worked against goons like Torchwick and the White Fang, but this time we're up against fellow Huntsman and Huntresses in training like us and we've gotta start thinking outside the box in terms of fighting." Weiss Schnee would state this matter of factly as her teammates tried to fight off sleep, even her own partner seemed a bit out of sorts but was trying to hold it together while giving the pale-haired girl a supportive smile while leaning against a tree. "Dammit Ruby, this was partially your idea!" But the heiress would remain undaunted as she pressed on and presented a diagram of what was to be a combination attack that took all four of them to execute. "Now the first step to all of this will begin with myself creating an ascending ramp of ice to-" She would find her explanation interrupted by a loud yawn from the blonde brawler known as Yang Xiao Long, a fellow team member whose beautiful flowing hair was sticking up in certain places due to being cajoled out of bed by her younger sister Ruby.
"No offense Weiss but why couldn't this great scheme of yours wait until the sun was up and I had a good meal and a gallon of caffeine in my system?" The lilac-eyed Huntress was doing her best not to let her temper get the better of her, even though she had been having a pretty good dream about single-handedly besting everyone in the Vytal Festival while her father, her sister, their adorable corgi Zwei, and both her birth mother as well as Summer Rose would be in the audience applauding proudly. "Seriously guys, I'm heading to bed." She would rise from the tree stump that she had been resting on and let out another yawn before tapping on her partner Blake's shoulder to bid her a proper goodnight, only for the raven-haired Faunus to disappear suddenly as the other girls in the group gasped in shock at the feline Faunus's sudden disappearance.
"I can't believe she would pull the switcheroo on us, that little!" Weiss would continue to fume even as Yang quickly made her way on the path leading back to Beacon, right now wasn't the right time to focus on combat training as her bed was no doubt trying to muster up a metaphorical siren song to lure her back home.
"Crap!" The snarling beast would lash out and shatter the tree branch that the black trench coat-wearing stranger had been resting on prior to being accosted by these strange creatures, most of them resembling wolves with jet black fur and strange skull-white plates covering various areas of their bodies. "And here I was thinking that the Rinshi holograms back home at the Academy were tenacious, I think even Master Casey would have trouble with these freaks!" The young man in question would land on the ground and back-step an oncoming swipe from a new type of creature, this one resembling a hulking bear with similarly black fur and the same bone-like plates. "Geez, I'm suddenly missing Morgan and her incessant bragging and swooning over Master RJ." The raven-haired teen would swat aside the bear creature's massive paw and grit his teeth in annoyance, the instincts taught to him at the Pai Zhua academy were beginning to kick in as he delivered a quick flurry of punches to its furry gut before leaping back from another swipe from one of the wolves. "Okay, clearly hand-to-hand isn't going to help me too much here!" He would sigh and quickly unsheathe the jet-black dagger that he had kept holstered against his thigh, his hand trembling as he felt the weight of the so-called "Fang of Daishi" residing within. "Focus Roujiro: you're surrounded by snarling creatures, in a world you're not familiar with, holding an otherworldly dagger you stole from the closest thing you've had to a proper home since birth! No pressure." He would roll his eyes at the failed attempt of self-encouragement, the shadowy creatures circling him and growling hungrily as if they were metaphorically feeding on his irritation.
"Heads up!" A voice would break through the storm of emotions that had been plaguing the mind of the young man known as Roujiro, one of the wolves howling in agony before crumpling down onto the ground and beginning to fade as it left behind wisps of black smoke. The creatures would snarl and look around for the source of the attack, leaving him the perfect opportunity to slash one of the wolves down its back while trying to create an opening for his escape as he bolted out of the circle of fangs and claws with a roll even as more of those strange shadow creatures collapsed under the assault of his unseen savior. "Do me a favor and keep moving buddy!" The raven-haired young man would look up to see a rather lovely blonde-haired girl sail overhead while firing off shotgun shells from a pair of gold-colored gauntlets as more of the beasts hit the ground in varying levels of agony, the girl hitting the ground and laying into them with her own brand of hand-to-hand combat, although hers was getting shit done as the wolves were beginning to scatter in panic.
"Wow, she would definitely give any of the students back at the academy a run for their money." He would continue to watch in stunned silence as the blonde continued to decimate the creatures that had been previously surrounding him like a freshly cooked, marinated steak not more than a moment ago. "Blows that powerful would even give Master Casey a little grief, but just a little." Roujiro would feel his unarmed fist tighten in anger as his thoughts drifted to the Pai Zhua master that he'd left behind, despite feeling no personal animosity towards the man himself there was a longing for freedom that couldn't be quenched by the disciplined lifestyle that came with a martial artist's life. Unbeknownst to him, one of the wolves had diverted its attention from the blonde bombshell and was now running full steam in his direction with its fangs bared.
"Hey! Get out of the way quick!" Yang would grit her teeth in frustration as the lone Beowulf was charging toward the raven-haired stranger as his attention seemed to be elsewhere, he wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for her stepping in. "GODDAMMIT MOVE!" The blonde brawler would punch a hole through the Ursa that had been blocking her path to rescuing the teen, the Beowulf was already mid-leap as she caught sight of him and felt her stomach lurch at the thought of having to carry the weight of his death upon her conscience. "No..I..failed?" Whatever guilt that the blonde had been expecting to carry with her would dissipate upon seeing the boy's eyes glimmer red as he swung the dagger in his hand in a sweeping arc, damaging the Grimm who let out a surprised yowl of pain before stumbling to the ground as he holstered his weapon and glowered at the downed creature.
"I really don't know what the hell you are, but you picked a bad night to piss me off!" Roujiro would pick up the downed creature by its throat before tossing it against the nearest tree and delivering a barrage of fast and painful strikes, taking a page from the Master of the Cheetah Style and grinning as he delivered one last blow to the body. "Poor fucker, never saw it coming." He would snicker suddenly, remembering a meme that he had encountered while passing through a different world before fighting down the urge to laugh.
Yang on the other hand would stand there with a raised eyebrow of skepticism, when she had first laid eyes on this raven-haired goof he had been surrounded by the Grimm with his head in the clouds and no chance of escaping the encounter unscathed. "And yet he manages to flatten a Beowulf with nothing more than a single swipe of a dagger and then his bare hands, either this guy is stupidly lucky or he was holding back his true strength the entire time!" The blonde-haired Huntress would watch him curiously as he clenched and unclenched his fists a couple of times before turning his head and locking eyes with her, a small smirk appearing on his face before assuming a fighting stance.
"I imagine you have a few questions about my behavior, that's understandable. But where I come from, you can learn a lot about a person through their fists and not their words." Roujiro would watch the blonde flash a tired smile before assuming a stance of her own, it didn't strike him as familiar in any way- a sentiment that served to excite him as both sides began racing at one another as their fight kicked off in earnest.
Casey Rhodes would watch on quietly as his students continued to spar with one another, it was one of the various drills he would put them through during their time as students of the Pai Zhua style of martial arts and they had brought him many a successful student.
Apart from one.
"You're thinking about him again aren't you, the one that ran away." Casey would glance over to find his friend and student Jarrod looking at him with a concerned expression on his face, the former host of the evil Dai Shi had noticed that since that incident occurred that Casey would tense up whenever something troubled him. "It wasn't your fault Casey, he was too much of a free spirit to remain here at the Academy with the rest of us. You tried your best to teach and support Roujiro, even his best friend couldn't convince him to stay when it really mattered." Both men would look out to see one lone student sparring with her shadow, her fists moving swiftly and with a ferocity equal to the scowl on what had once been a face adorned with the laughing smile of a habitual prankster.
"I'm surprised Morgan decided to stay with us after what happened, even RJ offering to train her in exchange for working at JKP didn't help to lift her spirits." The Master of the Tiger Style would smile slightly as he reminisced upon the fun but chaotic environment that was Jungle Karma Pizza, a local establishment where his friends (and fellow Power Rangers) Theo Martin and Lily Chillman worked during the day alongside the chef/owner RJ who was also an accomplished Pai Zhua Master in his own right, along with being one of the many individuals who had helped Casey during his days as a student. "I guess losing your best friend can really change a lot when it comes to priorities." Prior to his problem student abandoning his training, Morgan Chase had been one of the many females to admit to having a crush on the master of the Wolf Style and never missed an opportunity to bring up RJ's name in a conversation before running down a list of his accomplishments to anyone who would listen.
"Yeah well, let's just say that RJ wasn't really the kind of person Morgan really wanted to be with in the long run." Jarrod would give Casey a pat on the shoulder, even as the latter was giving him an inquisitive look. "What, I'm just telling you what Camille told me."
Yeah soo, behind-the-curtain time again: last summer I took on the ridiculous task of watching every season of Power Rangers available on Netflix, lemme tell ya folks: watching those Mighty Morphin seasons as an adult were PAINFUL! (sans the Green With Evil/Green No More episodes) and it didn't get any better until In Space but when I finally got around to Jungle Fury a month ago, i had no idea what to expect.
I just prayed it was better then the god awful abomination that was Operation Overdrive.
It was, so much so that i stop my journey on occasion to boot up a random episode here and there.
As for the collab with RWBY, I just really wanted to get back into it without mentioning V4.