A/N A special thanks goes out to xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Red Ranger 2.0 for their great reviews, INSECTgrl, MarishkaTheUnderdog for following my story and NightmareOnElmStreetFan for adding my story to your list of favourite stories and finally, Redder45 and summer490 for the follow and adding my story to your lists of favourite stories. I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.
Jungle Fury: Touched by Darkness
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or any plots that I may use from the show; I do however own Phoenix and her history as she is my own creation. It's not my sandbox; I just like playing in it.
Chapter 2: The Fourth Guardian Pt. 2
Casey continued to struggle against the hands of the being that were holding back, while Fran continued to cry out in fear. He was getting frustrated and growled softly as first but it grew into a roar like when Jarrod had pushed Phoenix down. He started to feel a power from deep within himself grow and once again his animal spirit surfaced. He felt a new found strength and he threw back the three beings that he been holding him with ease before knocking one more back as he once again tried to morph.
"Jungle Beast...Spirit...Unleash." There was a flash of red light and when it faded Casey was morphed.
"With the strength of a tiger Jungle Fury, Red Ranger." He finished.
The monster that had been holding Fran suddenly threw her and Casey jumped catching her in mid-air and dropping gently to the ground.
"Get out the way, I'll take it from here," he told her as he set her down. She nodded before running away.
Casey turned to face the monster as it ran towards him. He charged up his spirit and pushed the power down his arm and punched the monster sending it flying back crashing through a crumbled wall. The monster jumped back over the wall and started walking back towards Casey as it aimed its claws and shot a ball of energy at him.
"You'll pay for that," it called at him
Casey jumped up avoiding the ball.
"I'll pay in full," Casey called back as he launched himself at the monster.
Casey and the monster fought for some time and Phoenix heard him use his animal spirit to shock the monster before he finally called on his spirit which took form and defeated the monster. Phoenix, Lily and Theo watched as the beings they had been fighting disappeared and they ran to Casey's side.
"I did it! I can control the power," Casey exclaimed looking at his hands.
"I knew you could do it," said Lily
"Gotta admit, you are one tough tiger," said Theo.
The three other rangers just finished congratulating Casey when there was a rumbling noise and the monster rose from the rubble.
"You think you have destroyed me? I'll show you what real power is!" it mocked as it stood up. "I've gathered peoples fear and it makes me stronger...It makes me grow." It said as it grew to a giant size before the ranger's eyes.
"Run!" shouted Lily as she turned and ran.
Casey flicked a looked behind him as he ran and saw the monster strike the ground where they had stood a moment ago. The monster tried to hit them again but missed as the rangers continued to run. The monster hit the ground again this time right behind them and the four fell to the ground right in front of the monster.
"NO!" they screamed as the monster was about to strike them.
Suddenly out of nowhere a spirit appeared and hit the monster knocking it back. The rangers stood up and saw the ghostly figure of Master Mao fighting against the monster.
"Go Master Mao," called Theo.
Master Mao knocked the monster far away then floated down to where the rangers were standing.
"It is not safe for you here," the heard him said as he surrounded the rangers before taking them away from the scene to a nearby rooftop.
Once he set the rangers down the rangers powered down and removed the glasses. Master Mao's spirit changed and took on its human form.
"Master Mao, I thought you were gone forever," said Casey
"The spirit of a Phi Zhuq master can never be destroyed. My body no longer exists on this Earth, but I will be watching over you," he explained.
OK, that answers my first question," said Casey. "Now can you explain how that Mantis grew to the size of Dodgers Stadium?"
"It is an advanced level of battle technique; your enemies have mastered it. Now you must fight them on that level," Master Mao told them
"We'd be happy to except for one little thing, you never taught us how," said Lily
"You have a new master, he must teach you now," he told them before his spirit faded away.
The rangers found their way from off the roof and headed back to Jungle Karma Pizza. Phoenix wandered slightly behind the others lost in thought. Seeing Master Mao again had brought up old memories that Phoenix had been pushing aside since she was a kid, she was thinking about the day her mother left. To this day she never understood why her mother had left. She felt a warm tear start to run down her face and she brushed it away in anger she would not allow herself to feel sadness over it. 'Feelings only get in the way.' She thought to herself as she buried those thoughts deep within herself.
The four teens enter the pizza parlor but RJ was nowhere to be found and they rushed out back and up the stairs where they saw RJ sitting.
"RJ you won't believe what happened..."Lily and Theo said together.
"It was crazy..." Casey interrupted.
"He just came out of nowhere..."
The four teens were all talking at once and RJ lost his balance and fell backwards he could not make sense of what was being said and he held up a hand to silence them.
"Okay, now everybody take a deep cleansing breath and then tell me what happened, calmly," Said RJ
The rangers took a deep breath and then all started talking at once again.
"Wait," RJ said as he pointed to Casey.
"Master Mao came back...Started Casey
"...and saved us from a giant mantis..." continued Lily.
"...now he wants you to teach us..." said Theo.
"...how to fight these ginormous monsters," finished Casey.
"Heavy...But you're not ready for the growing ginormous technique. Sorry Rangers, no way," said RJ and he started to walk away.
"Come on, RJ, we don't have a chance if we don't learn the growing technique," said Casey.
"Once you all master your assigned weapons, then we'll talk." said RJ as he turned and reached for one of the weapons.
"Theo," he said as he handed Theo his weapon.
"Tonfas, no sweat, I learned these bad boys my second year," said Theo
RJ turned and grabbed a bow staff and handed it to Lily.
"Sweet, I'm a pro with a bow." She said as she twirled the bow in her hands.
RJ grabbed a wooden katana and turned to Phoenix, she bowed slightly as she took it off RJ. The handle of the blade was wrapped with silver and black leather and Phoenix felt the exact balance in the sword. She ran a hand over the smooth black wood. There were symbols carved into the smooth wooden. She backed away from the others before wield the katana. The others watched as she swung the blade faster and faster. She looked towards Casey and he saw staring at her in awe. She smiled and felt herself start to blush. RJ cleared his throat and Casey turned to face him.
"And for Casey the ancient and, if I may say, highly dangerous nunchaku," said RJ handing them to Casey.
Casey held them away from him as he turned around before he attempted to use them. Things went ok for a minute then he tried to go faster but ended up hitting himself on the arm. He winced and rubbed his arm. Phoenix raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a questioning look.
"Ow, alright I admit it, I've never used these before," said Casey still holding his arm.
"Those are only supposed to be used by trained Kung Fu students," said Phoenix.
"Sorry, but until you are all up to speed, you can't get to the next level," explained RJ.
"Man, just because Casey's a cub, doesn't mean we should be held back in our training," moaned Theo.
"Hey, it's not Casey's fault he was chosen. I am sure he did not ask for this and he did an honorable thing protecting me from Jarred, which is why he was chosen," said Phoenix glaring at Theo.
"I don't mean to sound harsh, but that's just the way it is," said Theo sitting down on a chair.
RJ studied him for a moment before he spoke
"Theo, a team is a lot like...a stool. You are the legs, all equal. What happens if all the parts aren't equal?" he asked.
Phoenix suddenly knew where this was going and when no one answered he turned and aimed a kick at one of the legs breaking it, making the stool uneven and it collapsed. Casey and Phoenix laughed seeing Theo on the floor.
"That's right. The team falls on it butt. If the teams not ready then none of you are ready. Namaste," said RJ bowing slightly before he walked away.
Phoenix followed RJ back down to the restaurant and went to the front to help serve customers while RJ worked the register and talked to Fran.
"Fran, you're here every day I've got to ask, don't you have a crew, you know, friends you like to hang out with?"
"Well books are my friends so I guess you could say I have a big crew," Fran said with a laugh.
"Okay, what about family?"
"Well, no brothers or sister and my parents are always kinda busy,"
"Huh," said RJ before a customer came up to the counter.
Phoenix smiled as she walked past carrying a tray full of dishes back into the kitchen and saw Casey tossing pizza dough like he had been doing it for a long time.
"Hey, check out Casey, when it comes to tossing pizza the guys a genius, but he is all thumbs when it comes to handling his own weapon," said Theo.
"Give him a break Theo, he is just starting out. Need I remind you that not too long ago, you were a cub too. "
"Yeah I know that Lily, but that's my poi..."
"Yeah but, nothing, remember when you first started out? You didn't always have mad skills," explained Lily.
"Yeah but I practiced hard and got good, you've gotta give me props for that."
"True but before you could practice someone had to teach you."
"I learned from the best," Theo responded with a smile.
"Too bad Casey doesn't have someone amazing like that to teach him."
"Lil, do you ever get tired of being right?" Theo sighed
"Not so far," she replied.
Just then RJ rang a small bell.
"Everyone to their stations the 12:32 lunch rush is about to..." A large group of people entered the restaurant as he spoke.
"Sorry boss, Casey and I have some serious training to do," said Theo taking off his apron and grabbing hold of Casey.
"Ah wait, who is going to help me serve all these people?" RJ asked looking out at the busy restaurant.
"Me!" said Fran jumping off her seat.
"OK...?" said RJ reaching a hand out for Casey apron and handing it to Fran.
Theo and Casey rushed through the back while Fran tied on the apron and starting seating customers. She was nervous at first but soon settled into her job and the restaurant started to run smoothly again. Lily made the pizzas while Phoenix took the orders and gave them to RJ shouting out what pizzas she needed to Lily and RJ ran the cash register. The line seemed to go on for a long time but finally the last of the customers left the store and the three of them started to clean up the store before the next group of customers arrived and Lily and Phoenix headed upstairs for a short break. They had just sat down when the alarm started sounded and RJ rushed into the room.
"Lily, Phoenix head to the plaza and I will contact Theo and Casey and have them meet you there," ordered RJ.
The two girls nodded and used the vines to exit out of the back room. They ran towards the Plaza and were met by Casey and Theo just as they arrived.
"The streets of the whole city are flooding," said Lily.
"Watch out!" cried Phoenix as the water got closer to them.
They jumped on the roof of an abandoned car and scaled the building to the roof.
"That was too close," said Theo, clearly relieved.
Casey heard a thud behind them and he tapped Phoenix before they both turned around to see the Mantis that had been fighting earlier was back and still huge.
"Giant Mantis alert," Casey cried.
The rest of them turned around to see the Mantis swipe at a building reducing it to rubble before moving on.
"How are we supposed to stop that?" asked Phoenix.
They ran around the side of the roof when they were stopped by another large group of Rinshi and a woman.
"Not this time, rangers," the woman said using her abnormally long tongue to make them back up.
"I'm Camille and I'm here to make sure you don't get in the way. Special orders from Dai Shi. "She told them with a smirk.
"A chameleon? So, you can change your appearance at will...and that's the look you're going with?" asked Phoenix mockingly.
"Huh, funny," sneered Camille. "We'll see who gets the last laugh."
He four teens looked to each other before morphing into their ranger forms
"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleased." They called together.
"With the strength of a tiger, Jungle Fury, Red Ranger."
"With the stealth of a jaguar, Jungle Fury, Blue Ranger.
"With the speed of a cheetah, Jungle Fury, Yellow Ranger."
"With the flames of a phoenix, Jungle Fury, Silver Ranger."
"Pretty colors," commented Camille. "Now keep them busy while Mantor cleans out the city," She finished with a snap of her fingers.
The Rinshi moved in to the rangers as they split up to fight them. Phoenix back flipped over a group kicking one as she landed knocking it to the ground. She turned and hit another in the chest knocking it into a third before the y both fell. Casey ran forward and met a group blocking a blow from the nearest and flipping it over him, turning to face another. A Rinshi tried to stab his with its spear but he grabbed it and kicked another spear aside. He rolled one the back of one kicking another away. Lily did a series of back flips landing in the middle of a group before she turned and sweep kicked a Rinshi. She grabbed the spear of one pulling it down while she stood back up. Theo grabbed the spear of one and used it to block another two before pushing the first away. He then summoned his primary weapons.
"Jungle Tonfa!"
He used them to block and trapped the Rinshi's spears. He then supercharged them blasted a couple of Rinshi away. He continued to fight but the Rinshi attacked him together and he ended up blocking all of the spears at once. He super charged his Tonfas again turned hitting several Rinshi at once.
"All yours Lil," He said.
"Jungle Bo" she called.
She used the Bo to keep the Rinshi at a distance and to block another of them that tried to get close. She than attacked them one at a time and they tried to block her in but she pushed them back using her Bo before she super charged it and swing in a circle hitting them all.
Phoenix called for her primary weapon
"Jungle Katana!" she used the sheath to blow several blows and the blade to swipe at any Rinshi that got too close to her. Realizing they were trying to surround her she hit one in the chest and it doubled over. She flipped over it and supercharged her blade and swung it left and right hitting any Rinshi in its path.
"My turn! Jungle chucks," Casey called.
He swung the chuck over his back and Shoulders just like Theo had taught him to and used them to black blows and trapped the spear of a Rinshi and used it to block another blow. He swung the chuck keeping the Rinshi at bay.
"Time to channel my animal spirit" he cried.
He paused for a moment and reached deep inside of himself and feel the power begin to flow into his hands. He then swung the nun chucks moving faster and faster creating a wall of flames before he released the energy and the Rinshi exploded as it touched them.
"Hey, Bug breath, your next," called Casey but the monster just roared and swung its claw at the building and Casey had to roll away to avoid being hit.
"Casey, you ok?" asked Phoenix.
"Yeah but we'll never be able to beat that thing down here."
"If only we knew that growing technique," said Theo.
Just then their communicators sounded and RJ's spoke to them.
"Rangers listen up; it's time to go big..."
"But we don't know how," interrupted Theo.
"Sure you do, you just don't know that you know how." RJ continued.
"What?" Phoenix and Lily asked together.
"The stool...I mean the team is in balance now," finished RJ.
"I think I get it," said Theo. "Lily, you are the heart of the team,"
Theo you bring the brains..." said Casey
"Casey, you bring the strength," said Lily.
"And, Phoenix is a bit of everything, she brings balance to the team." Casey finished.
"Excellent, you're ready for the next level. Combine your animal spirits and see what happens." RJ told them.
"We can combine them?" questioned Lily.
"We can do it, guy. I know we can," said Casey.
"Animal spirits unite as one!" they called together.
"Jungle Fury, Beast Spirit Mode!"
The spirit beast attacked the monster knocking it to the ground giving them time to form the Megazord.
"Animal Spirits unite," Casey called.
Lily's and Theo's spirits folded up and formed the legs of the Zord while Phoenix's split in two and folded to become the arms of the Zord. Casey's folded and became the body and head joining onto Lily's and Theo's before Phoenix's Zord joined them forming a completed Megazord.
"Jungle Pride Megazord."
Hmm...big deal, with my added power Mantor will shred them to bits." Camille said.
Then she started choking and out came a little fly.
"Are you kidding? They have achieved the level of Jungle Pride Megazord. That won't be easy to beat," it said.
"Flit, you little pest, how did you get out?" asked Camille.
"And the fight is on," said Flit. "The Jungle Pride is tough but we've got one mad Mantor."
As they watched the rangers had gotten the feel of controlling the Zord and they blocked a kick from the monster and punched it hard in the chest.
"Oh, that's gonna leave a mark," Flit commentated. "Got him on the ropes..."
The Megazord and Mantor continued to fight and Mantor tried to grab it from behind but they elbowed Mantor in the ribs knocking him back before they kicked him and spun kicking him again.
"Oh, a backhand, he didn't see that coming. Nice! These rangers have got some moves."
It seems your Mantor is taking a beating," he said to Camille.
"And so will you, if you don't shut your fly trap," she snapped back.
"Ooh touchy, touchy."
"Now back to the action. Mantor is going crazy, swinging wildly. The rangers are on the back foot." Flit continued to commentate as Mantor began to overpower the rangers.
Mantor was about to claw the Zord but the rangers flipped out of his reach landing on the roof of a building.
"Oh, strong move but the rangers flip out of danger. What a spectacular move."
The rangers jumped off the roof and over the head of Mantor. Once they landed they sweep kicked the feet from under Mantor.
"What a comeback for the rangers. I can't believe my eyes, and I've got hundreds of them."
"Jungle Sanjiegun," the rangers called together.
"What's this? The rangers are busting out the Kung Fu gear." announced Flit.
"Casey, use it just like your Jungle Chucks," Theo said.
"All over it," replied Casey.
"Oh, the powerful Sanjiegun, that's got to give them an edge. Let's watch," said Flit.
The Zord swung the Sanjiegun and used it to block a blow from Mantor, and they hit Mantor right in the chest.
"Ooh, the Mantor takes one right in the Thorax," moaned Flit.
"Savage Spin!" the rangers called and the top of the Zord began to spin wildly.
"I can't believe it, these kids know the Savage Spin," cried Flit.
As they watched the Megazord continued to spin faster and faster until it passed right through Mantor who cracked before exploding.
"Boom, the Rangers win!" cheered Flit. "What an incredible performance from these young newcomers."
The rangers returned to Jungle Karma Pizza to find the place a mess and RJ with Fran's help trying to get it clean before the next wave of customers was due to arrive. Phoenix and Lily started helping clear tables while Casey and Theo went into the kitchen to start preparing the bases for pizzas. Lily looked over and saw Casey trying to teach Theo how to toss dough like he could. Lily tapped RJ then Phoenix and pointed them out.
"I am glad those two got it together," said Phoenix.
"You know, Camille and her army aren't going to let up," said Lily.
"Well, it is not her I am worried about. It's Dai Shi," said RJ.