Chapter 1: An Orange Return

Before the events of Ghost of a Chance

We were all training, when, like always, the alarm went off and the Rangers headed out. I sighed and watched as the Rangers morphed and fought a weird Piraña looking creature. They looked like they were having trouble, but I never took my eyes off the screens.

"What?" RJ asked, "Are you not gonna ask?"

"No," I answered, walking back over to the training area, "They'll destroy it, like always. You won't let me go anyways."

I was masking my anger with acceptance. It irked me that I was never gonna be able to fight. Finally, I let all that anger out in one yell, holding out my hands.

But then, a miracle. An orange looking cat animal sprung out and knocked over a shelf, sending the drawers and its contents scattered. I couldn't believe it. I looked at my hands in awe.

"Was that..." I said.

RJ smiled, "Congratulations. You have the Cougar animal spirit."

I was ready to burst from excitement, but then I looked at the mess I had unintentionally made.

"Sorry about that..." I apologized.

"Don't sweat it. Let's just clean it up."

When we started cleaning, I noticed something out of place. Orange sunglasses. That looked exactly like the solar morphers the Rangers have. My eyes widened as I picked it up.

"Umm, RJ?" I asked, "Is this..."

RJ smiled again and said, "I always had that one, just in case you discovered your animal spirit. Go and help the Rangers! They really need it."

I looked at the TV screen and saw the Rangers getting tossed around. I nodded and headed out.

'Hello world,' I thought, 'Stryder's back.'

XXX

I arrived just in time to see the Rangers demorph. The monster laughed and fired a laser at them.

"Free the Cougar!" I yelled, releasing my animal spirit.

The Cougar blocked the laser from hitting them and disappeared.

"Stryder?" Theo groaned.

"What are you doing?" Lily said, "Get out of here!"

"It's too dangerous!" Casey agreed.

"Oh please," I said, walking in front of them, "I can handle him."

"What can you do?" Theo asked, "I can see you found your animal spirit, but that won't be enough!"

I smirked, "Watch and learn."

I pulled out my orange sunglasses, put them on, and yelled, "Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!"

My new suit, once again, looked like a recolor. The helmet resembled Theo's only orange and the suit resembled Casey's only orange, of course.

"With the Pride of a Cougar!" I yelled, "Jungle Fury! Orange Ranger!"

"Woah!" Casey exclaimed, "He's a Ranger!"

'Just like old times,' I thought, before charging.

The monster was no doubt surprised by my arrival. I started beating it into submission and pulled out my weapon, my Jungle Rope Dart. And you better believe I made Scorpion references when I used it. The monster exploded, but then grew bigger.

The others called out their Zords and I called out mine. My Orange Cougar Zord, like the auxiliary Zords, acted as an extra plate of armor, only this armor didn't have a helmet, and the armor covered most of the chest and back of the Megazord. And with that, we defeated the monster.

XXX

"Nice work!" Casey complimented when we all got back to the Loft.

"No kidding!" Lily said, "It's almost like you were a natural at it!"

'You're more right than you think, Lil,' I thought before saying, "Thanks guys! I discovered my animal spirit and became a Power Ranger. What could make the day better?"

"Well, you all could get to work," RJ suggested with a smile, "It's almost lunch rush."

"Oh come on!" I exclaimed and everyone started laughing.

'It's good to be back.'

XXX

This was a rather short chapter, but there wasn't all that much left to say. Oh, and the Pride of a Cougar thing? If you know me personally, you know what I'm referencing. Till next time guys!