In Ocean Bluff, all of the rangers were at an area that looked a lot like an academy. It resembled Pai Zhuq a little, but this place was a lot simpler. The five rangers were the only ones there. Casey, Lily, Theo and Dominic all stood at attention facing RJ. This was the day that all the rangers had been dreaming about—this was the day that they would earn their stripes.
"Okay, dudes and dudette, today is the day to see if you are worthy of earning your master tattoos. You will be tested vigorously, so be prepared." RJ explained as he walked down the line of each of them looking at them. "There are three parts to the test, One: You will be tested on how powerful you are in your ranger form, Two: You will be tested on how well you handle yourself in a Zord battle, and Three: How in tune you are with your animal spirit." All the students took in RJ's words.
"Okay, sounds easy enough. I mean, we've done all of these things before, right?" Casey stated. RJ walked and stopped in front of him.
"Uh, not exactly, you see, you have to face each part of the test…alone." RJ said hesitantly.
"Alone? All by ourselves?" Lily asked nervously.
"Wow, no wonder this is considered a 'Master Test.'" Theo said, even he was a little nervous about the amount they had to endure alone.
"We can handle it, don't worry guys." Casey told them.
"Just let's try not to underestimate it, it will be rough, but we have been through so much more over the past months." Dominic said.
"Right. Just remember, confidence is good, but over-confidence isn't." RJ warned the team. The four students nodded in unison, they understood all of what they had to do. All that was left was taking the test. "Great, then let's get started." RJ said clapping his hands together. "Lily, you're up first." RJ instructed. Then all the men on the team scattered off to give Lily her space. They were not allowed to watch others taking their test, it all had to be new to them. They waited in a small room sound-proof room with no windows until it was their turn. She stepped forward, exhaling in nervousness. "Okay Lily, first you will be tested in your ranger form." RJ said.
Lily nodded and put her Morpher on her face and pressed the button. "Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleash!" she yelled, morphing into the Yellow Power Ranger. "With the Speed of a Cheetah, Jungle Fury Yellow Ranger!"
"Your opponent with be one from your past, it's only a mirage, but its strength is still top notch." RJ warned her.
"I'm ready." Lily said confidently. RJ nodded and stepped aside. Then from out of nowhere, Rin Shi Porcupine jumped in front of her.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed. This was the monster that made her turn bad, and it was her greatest challenge so far.
"Did you miss my spikes Yellow Ranger?" Porcupine yelled at her getting in a fighting stance.
"No one could miss those, Jungle Mace!" Lily shouted equipping her mace.
"It's about to get prickly!" Porcupine shouted as he fired spikes rapidly at her.. Lily spun her mace all around to deflect the spikes away from her.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" Lily shouted running at him.
"What? You dodged my spikes?!" Porcupine shouted in fear. Lily closed in on him and threw her mace forward, thus wrapping it around him.
"Time to go for a spin, quillbag!" Lily yelled and spun him around then slammed him into the ground. When he stood he stumbled all about. He tried to fire needles at her once more, but he was so dizzy that they flew everywhere, not going very far. "Say bye bye, spikey!" Lily yelled as she heaved her mace one final time at Rin Shi Porcupine, then he fell to the ground.
"Oh, yeah!!" She cheered, and then the monster grew to great proportions. "This must be part two." She said to herself. "I call on the Penguin Zord!" she yelled then her Yellow Penguin Zord zoomed by on it's snowboard and Lily hopped aboard it.
"You can get rid of me that easily!!" Porcupine yelled with a laugh.
Inside her Penguin Zord, Lily piloted it to fly closer and closer to the monster. "You wanna bet!" Lily retaliated as she made her Zord hit Porcupine over and over, damaging him greatly.
"Spike Attack!" Porcupine said weakly as he fired spikes once again at Lily. Lily Lifted the Zord so that all the spikes hit the snowboard part of the Zord, the spikes ricocheted off of the board and fired back at him.
"Nooo!!!" Rin Shi Porcupine yelped as he fell to the ground and exploded.
"Yes!" Lily said happily, and then she remembered that she still had another part of the test to go. She left her Zord, then returned to the ground, she was forced to demorph for the final part of the test. She looked around for her final trial. Then a large animal spirit bombarded her. She fell on her backside to the ground. She stood and dusted herself off. "That was sudden." She said to herself. Then RJ walked out with his behind his back. "RJ?" Lily said in disbelief.
"Yes, I am the final test. You have to defeat me and my Wolf Spirit." RJ said with a sleek smile.
"You're my friend RJ, but I have a test to pass." Lily said with the same smile.
"Well, then let the battle commence." RJ smiled. Then the two both summoned their animal spirits. Then Lily, using her Cheetah speed, was able to overthrow RJ's Wolf Spirit.
"Very nice job, Lily. You passed the test, you are now a Master." RJ said as he shook her hand. Then Lily looked at her arm, it glowed then there was her Master tattoo. She smiled widely. "Congratulations, Lily." RJ said, then to two bowed at one another.
"Thank you for all of your training, RJ. I never would have made it here without you." Lily smiled. RJ smiled back at her, then gestured her to go into a room up ahead where the victors go, and she did.
RJ walked over to where the others waited and opened the door. "Dom, you're up next." He said. Dominic stood and headed out.
"Wish me luck guys." Dominic said with a smile.
"Wait, wait!!" Theo yelled standing from his seat. "Did Lily pass?"
"You'll find out at the celebration ceremony afterwards." RJ said sternly. Dominic's eyes widened then he left the room. Casey and Theo sat nervously and waited.
"No worries, Theo. I'm sure she passed, I'm sure we all will." Casey said. Theo just nodded hesitantly.
RJ led Dominic out to where Lily had trained before.
"First you will be tested on how you perform in your ranger form." RJ said.
"Got it." Dominic said, then activated his bracelet into the large Morpher he has. "Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleash!" he yelled morphing into the White Rhino Power Ranger. "With the Power of a Rhino, Jungle Fury Rhino Ranger!"
"Your opponent with be one from your past, it's only a mirage, but its strength is still top notch." RJ warned him.
"Bring it." Dominic said with a sly smile. Then RJ walked off, and Grinder jumped in front of Dominic.
"I'm back, Rhino Ranger!" Grinder screeched in his monkey voice.
"Were you itching to see me again?" Dominic taunted resting his Morpher on his shoulder.
"Very funny, you may have bested me once before, but I'm more powerful than before!" Grinder yelled.
"I'm sure you are." Dominic said sarcastically as he darted at his opponent. Grinder echoed this. Grinder threw a punch at Dominic's gut, but he jumped backwards to avoid it, then Grinder scratched rapidly at Dominic, but he danced around each and every move.
"Stop moving and let me hit you!" Grinder screeched.
"Right!" Dominic said with a 'yeah-right' laugh. Then he jumped in the air and pointed his Morpher down at Grinder. "Rhino Blade Stampede!" be yelled firing his weapon at Grinder, who fell on the ground smoking profusely. "Had enough, Monkey Boy?" Dominic boasted.
"Hardly!" Grinder yelled as he grew to a giant size.
"Sweet! Guess I passed test number one!" Dominic said to himself happily, and then he pulled out his control dagger and held it up. "Rhino Steele Zord!" he called, and then he leapt in the air and stood atop the Rhino Zord.
"I'm large and in charge!!" Grinder yelled grabbing the horn of Rhino Steele. "And now I've got you!"
"Not for long!" Dominic retaliated by making his Zord charge forward, sending Grinder flying a very long distance. Grinder crashed into a wall, which caused him to turn to stone, then explode. "Yes! Two down, one to go." Dominic said as he jumped down from his Zord, when he reached the ground, he demorped as Lily did.
"Uh-oh." He said to himself.
"Hello old friend." RJ said walking slowly out from behind a statue of the Claw symbol. He sent his Wolf Spirit quickly at Dominic, but Dominic was fast and called upon his Rhino spirit to counter RJ's attack. "Very nice. Ready for a real battle?" RJ taunted.
"You're my best friend RJ, but I'm going to bring you down…no hard feelings?" Dominic joked.
"None at all." RJ smiled. Then with the Powers of the Rhino, Dominic took down RJ's Wolf Spirit.
"Yes, I did it! Whoo!" Dominic yelled and clapped. RJ walked over to him.
"Indeed you did. Congratulations, man." RJ said. Then Dominic looked at his glowing arm to then see a Claw tattoo there. "Now go join Lily in the Victory Room." RJ said patting his shoulder. Dominic nodded and ran over to join Lily, but he turned to RJ before he entered.
"Thanks for all you've done for me, man!" Dominic yelled, then entered the room with Lily. After that, RJ headed back to the room where Theo and Casey anxiously awaited their tests.
RJ opened the door and looked at Theo. "You're up next, Theo." He said. Theo got up and walked over to RJ.
"Good luck, dude." Casey said as he continued to sit.
"Thanks." Theo said nervousness lacing his face. Then he and RJ left the room. Casey looked at the floor.
"Guess that means I'm last. I hope I have what it takes." Casey sighed to himself.
Outside, RJ and Theo made their way to the testing grounds.
"Theo, you will first be tested on your performance in your ranger form." RJ said.
"Alright, sounds easy enough." Theo said trying to calm himself. "Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleash!" he yelled as he morphed into the Blue Power Ranger. "With the Stealth of a Jaguar, Jungle Fury Blue Ranger!"
"Okay, Theo, your opponent with be one from your past, it's only a mirage, but its strength is still top notch." RJ told him.
"Monster from my past, I bet I know who it is." Theo said, him slowly gaining his confidence back.
"Good luck!" RJ said then he walked away. Then all of a sudden Gakko appeared in front of him as if from nowhere.
"Hello, Kitty!" he taunted.
"Gakko, my guess was right!" Theo said getting in a fighting stance. "Shall I defeat you a third time?" Theo taunted.
"Fat chance!" Gakko yelled then leapt into the air and landed on the side of the one of the temple rooms beside him. "My world again, Kitty!"
"Still the same old trick, but I've got some new ones!" Theo yelled. "Jungle Fans!" then the fans appeared in his hands, he threw them high and right at Gakko. Both fans scraped hard against Gakko, causing him to slide off of the building and to the floor. Theo caught the fans as they made their descent. "Had enough already Gakko?" Theo asked.
"Please! You may have your tricks, but I have mine too!!" Gakko yelled throwing his ninja-star like weapons at Theo. Theo jumped and performed a back flip to dodge the attacks. When he hit the ground, he threw his fans once again at Gakko damaging him greatly.
"I'm stronger than you Gakko! I won't let you defeat me!" Theo yelled running at his opponent and slashing his fans fiercely at Gakko. He smoked greatly and staggered to his feet.
"I've had it with you, Blue Ranger!!" Gakko screamed then grew large like the other monsters had done.
"It's Zord time!" Theo yelled. "I call on the Jaguar Zord!" Then Theo hopped aboard his Blue Jaguar Zord and the battle began. Theo ran at Gakko within his Zord, but Gakko jumped and was now behind Theo. He grabbed the tail of the Jaguar Zord and held it tightly.
"No running now, Kitty!" Gakko shouted pulling hard on the Jaguar's tail.
"Let go of me!" Theo shouted. Then made his Zord jump backwards until he was behind Gakko. The Jaguar Zord bit Gakko very ferociously causing Gakko to release the grip from Theo's Zord.
"You'll pay for that!" Gakko yelled throwing more stars at Theo.
"Yeah, and so will you!" Theo answered, then caught the stars in the mouth of his Zord, and chucked the back at Gakko. He finished with a hard tail attack to Gakko.
"Not again!" Gakko cried. Then he turned to stone and exploded like the others.
"Yes, I'm two-thirds of the way there! Let's finish this!" Theo said confidently, then exited his Zord, and demorphed as the others had done. "That can't be good." Theo said slowly becoming nervous again.
"Theoooooo!" RJ said showing himself from up ahead. He tried to sound like his brother Luan to get a smile out of him.
"RJ? What are you doing here?" Theo asked with a smile, he thought RJ's impression was inappropriate, but funny nonetheless.
"I'm your final challenge." RJ said proudly.
"Really?" Theo said sounding intrigued at the idea.
"Exactamundo." RJ said, then without warning threw his Wolf Spirit at Theo. Theo managed to jump out of the way of the attack.
"Okay, I love a challenge. Let's do this." Theo said. Then with the Stealth of his Jaguar spirit, defeated RJ's Wolf spirit. RJ walked over to him and shook his hand.
"Very well done, Theo. You pasted the test. You are now a Master." RJ congratulated him.
"Really?! Yes!" Theo cheered, then looked to see his arm glowing and a Claw symbol tattoo appearing. "I'm a Master!" Theo yelled.
"Yes, now go join Dominic and Lily in the victory room." RJ said smiling.
"They passed too? Yes!" Theo said then looked at RJ smiling. "Thank you for all that you've taught me, RJ. I wouldn't be here without your guidance." Theo said.
"No problem, my man." RJ said, then Theo joined the White and Yellow Masters.
"Only one left." RJ said with a sigh of relief. He walked over to where Casey was and opened the door. Casey jumped when he did so. "Someone's a little jumpy. Ha!" RJ joked.
"Master tests are a big thing, I'm a little…on edge." Casey said standing to his feet.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine, just trust your Tiger instincts." RJ said as he and Casey left the room. They walked to the middle of the temple grounds.
"You first test is how well you perform in your ranger form." RJ said.
"Okay. I got this." Casey told himself and placed his Morpher on his face and activated it. "Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleash!" he said morphing into the Red Power Ranger. "With the Strength of a Tiger, Jungle Fury Red Ranger!"
"Your opponent with be one from your past, it's only a mirage, but its strength is still top notch." RJ warned him.
"Oh, no. So that means…" Casey began nervously, then RJ was gone and Whiger leapt from out of nowhere pinning Casey to the ground.
"Got some more Tiger spirit for me, Red Ranger?" Whiger taunted placing his hand on Casey's chest. Casey began to panic but remembered RJ's words: "Just trust your Tiger instincts."
"Okay, RJ, just trust my Tiger instincts." Casey thought to himself. "You're not going to defeat me twice, Whiger!!" Casey yelled and threw Whiger off of him. He hurried to his feet. Whiger quickly regained his balance.
"Who cares?! I have enough Tiger power! I have other ways of defeating you!!" Whiger taunted then formed a large golden orb in both of his hands. "Have a taste of my Rin Sin!!" he yelled throwing the orb at Casey. He'd have to think fast.
"Shark Sabers!" Casey yelled slashing the orb into smoke with his sabers. Then Casey darted at Whiger, dragging his sabers on the ground preparing to strike. When he made it to Whiger, he slashed him hard across the chest twice. Whiger stumbled backwards grabbing his chest.
"Had enough?" Casey asked.
"Not until you're destroyed!" Whiger answered. He punched at Casey as fast as he could, but Casey proved to be too quick for him. Then Casey slashed him once again with his sabers, only this time he combined them. Whiger was forced to the ground rolling. When he stopped, he stood and grew to a huge size. "How's this for Tiger power!" Whiger shouted.
"Whoa! Looks like it's time to take it to the zords." He said to himself. "Wait, I passed the first part of the test! I can do this!" Casey said happily. "I call on the Tiger Zord!" he said summoning his Zord. He jumped inside it and the second part of the test was on.
"You think that little Tiger Zord can defeat me, a Phantom Beast General?!" Whiger said with a laugh. He rushed over to Casey's Zord and slashed it hard with his claws. Casey fought to stay on his feet.
"I can do this." He said to himself. Then retaliated with having his Zord bite and scratch at Whiger, which made him take a lot of damage. Whiger knew he had to get out of this ambush, so he jumped and kicked at the Red Tiger Zord with a ton of power behind it.
"Take that, weakling!" Whiger yelled. As Casey flew threw the air, he got an idea. His Zord was about to hit the side of a large mountain, so he used this to his advantage. He made his Zord bounce feet first off of the wall, and go into a rolling attack. "What is he doing?" Whiger asked himself in confusion.
"Defeating you!!" Casey yelled as his rolling Zord crashed hard into Whiger.
"You really are the strongest of two Tigers." Whiger said accepting his defeat. He then fell to the ground and exploded into a fiery mess.
"You were a good opponent, Whiger." Casey said paying his respects. He and Whiger had gotten to be friends before, and they still were, he realized that this was just all part of the test. "Now's the final part." He said to himself leaving his Zord. He was forced to demorph like the others were. "Whoa." He said to himself looking around. He then felt something attack him and bring him to the floor. "What was that?" he said standing slowly, then sure enough, RJ walked before him.
"RJ?" Casey asked in confusion.
"Hello, Casey. I'm the last part of you Master test. You have to defeat me and my Wolf Spirit to pass, thus proving you have full control of your animal spirit." RJ explained.
Casey stood there, as confidant as he could be, then he smiled. "You know that you're like a brother to me RJ, but a battle is a battle." Casey said.
"Got it." RJ said, then the two summoned their animal spirits and they hovered above them. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be!" Casey answered, and the battle of spirits began. The Wolf and the Tiger collided and seemed to be of equal power to one another. Each ranger struggled to make their spirit be the stronger of the two. Casey's Tiger slowly began to be overthrowing RJ's Wolf. Then Casey used all the power he could to overtake the Wolf. He managed to take the Wolf down, he was about to finish it off when his Tiger spirit turned around and ran at Casey to attack him. He tried to regain control of his spirit but had no luck. All he could do was brace himself. Just as he was about to get mauled, RJ's Wolf spirit took it down, making it fade away and save Casey. Casey stood there in shock for a moment. Then RJ ran over to him.
"Dude, what happened? Are you okay?" RJ asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. I guess I haven't fully mastered my Tiger spirit yet." Casey said sadly. "I guess that means…" he began.
"You failed the test. I'm so sorry, man." RJ said patting his shoulder. Casey just stood there staring into space. He couldn't even fathom what had just happened. Just then, Theo, Lily and Dominic ran out of the Victory Room and ran to RJ and Casey.
"So, are we all Masters yet?" Lily asked smiling brightly. Then she and the others noticed the looks on RJ and Casey's faces.
"What happened is everything alright?" Dominic asked.
"No…I failed." Casey said sadly.
"What?" Theo said in shock.
"I haven't fully mastered my Tiger Spirit yet." Casey said shutting his eyes in shame. Lily approached him and stroked his arm.
"You'll get it in time, don't worry." She said sweetly.
"Yeah, don't sweat it. I mean, you did get a later start than me and Lily did." Theo said trying to make him feel less terrible.
"That's just it!" Casey snapped, causing the others to jump, " I thought I was finally at Theo and Lily's level. Now…I just feel… like a cub." The rangers all looked sadly at one another. They hated that this happened. They wanted to celebrate all of their victories, but if they all could succeed, it felt like none of them did.
Then RJ chimed in. "You just need some more training is all, you'll get there?" RJ said. Casey nodded, still staring down at the ground. He was angry and sad all mixed into one. He felt like he was a failure. Then all the ranger's Morphers went off.
"Looks like we've go trouble." Dominic stated.
"I guess we should check it out." Lily said, "Are you going to be alright?" She asked Casey. He just nodded weakly. They all began to run to the scene when RJ held Casey back.
"We'll handle Dai Shi's goons, you use this time to harness your Tiger powers. We'll call you if things get rough." RJ told him.
"Fine" Casey said coldly. RJ hated seeing Casey this defeated.
"Hey, even Masters struggle with different tasks from time to time. Just don't give up, okay." RJ said. Casey nodded and gave a small smile. Then RJ ran off to join the others, and Casey headed off to the plains to train.