The battle was on with the four rangers and Scorch. They stood before him in a brief stalemate.
"Say goodbye, rangers for this is your final battle!" Scorch growled.
"Get ready for the fight of your lives guys!" RJ yelled loudly.
"Ready and waiting!" Lily added stepping forward.
"We'll do this together!" Dominic said joining her.
"As a team!" Theo joined in. Then Theo and Lily placed their Morphers on their faces and activated them and RJ and Dominic activated their Morphers as well.
"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" the called morphing into their ranger forms.
"I'll show you what a Phantom Beast can do!" Scorch shouted. Then he summoned little golden flames to dance in circle around him. He caused them to stop then hurled them at the rangers. The flames struck the rangers over and over their suits smoking with each blast. They fell hard onto the grass.
"This is brutal!" Lily cried rolling onto her stomach.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" Scorch retaliated by shooting three black tongues out of his three heads. The tongues grabbed Theo, Lily and RJ while Dominic managed to roll away. The tongues were wrapped very tightly around the ranger's bodies and lifted them off of the ground. The rangers kicked and struggled to break free of the grip that Scorch had on them.
"Guys no!!" Dominic cried as he watched his friends squirm around above him.
"It's so tight!" Theo groaned as he shifted from side to side.
"I can't get free!" Lily added doing the same.
"Brace yourselves." RJ said with a warning tone. He knew that something had to be coming and it wasn't going to be good. Then Scorch sent an attack through his tongues that resulted in a painful blast for the rangers. The three cried out loudly and were dropped to the ground. Dominic quickly ran to them.
"Are you guys alright?" He asked worriedly.
"Yeah. Just don't let your guard down with him." RJ said weakly. Then Dominic turned to face Scorch and held up his Rhino Morpher.
"You'll pay for that!!" Dominic shouted as he ran with his Morpher in hand at Scorch. He leapt at him, "Rhino Blade Super Slash!" he yelled slashing Scorch hard across the chest with the blade. But Scorch's new form had a hard plate of golden armor to protect him so Dominic's attack didn't make a scratch. "No way!" Dominic yelled in disbelief.
"Way!" Scorch snapped back. Dominic was standing right in front of him and he was going to use this to his advantage. He shot a fiery blast close range at Dominic causing him to fly through the air and crash next to the others.
"He's too strong! What do we do?!" Theo shouted.
"Give up! You're no match for me and my Rin Sin powers! You waste your time!" Scorch taunted them. All of the rangers staggered to their feet.
"We have to keep trying. We can do this." RJ said confidence greatly lacking in his voice.
"Try all you want but I'm going to raise the stakes!" Scorch yelled growing to massive proportions.
"Great! Our problems just got a lot bigger." Theo said with a defeated tone and a sigh.
"We can't just give up! We have a world to save!" RJ said desperately trying to jolt their confidence.
"But how? We'd need to form Stampede Mode with the zords, and there's no way to do that without Casey." Dominic said.
"Then we'll just have to use what we have. We'll combine the Wolf Pride with Rhino Steele, then add on the Cheetah and Jaguar zords." RJ instructed.
"We can use the Penguin and Antelope zords too!" Lily said adding a glimmer of hope to the situation.
"Will that work?" Theo asked not entirely convinced with this plan.
"We have to try." RJ said looking at his team. Then the rangers summoned all of their zords. RJ and Dominic boarded the Wolf Pride and Rhino Steele Megazords and combined them with the Antelope, Jaguar, Cheetah and Penguin zords. It wasn't going to be as powerful without the Tiger and the Gorilla but at least it was something. The Megazord stood to face Scorch and got into a fighting stance.
"Feeling lucky rangers? Even though you're minus two of your zords?" Scorch taunted them.
"Luck has nothing to do with it Scorch! Ready rangers?" RJ asked looking to them. They all answered with a firm and confident nod.
Back on the ground Camille and Jarrod were doing their best to try and wear Dai Shi down. Camille swung her daggers rapidly at him. Dai Shi ducked and swayed to avoid them and answered her actions by kicking her feet from underneath her. She landed hard on her back. Jarrod saw what Dai Shi had done and was furious he lunged at him throwing his fist at Dai Shi's head. Dai Shi stepped to the side to avoid the punch, and while Jarrod's arm was still extended from the punch, Dai Shi grabbed it and pulled him forward causing him to stumble. As he stumbled, Dai Shi kicked him hard in the center of his back making him fall forward and crash on the ground. As Camille and Jarrod lay on the ground, they felt it begin to rumble, they then looked up to see that Scorch had grown to the size of a mountain and that the rangers were trying to ward him off while being minus two zords and one teammate.
"Oh no…" Camille sighed. Jarrod lay next to her looking upwards. Camille felt herself being grabbed by the arm and forced to her feet to continue the battle. Jarrod quickly noticed this and tried to get to his feet as fast as he could. Meanwhile, the two punched at one anther very rapidly each blocking the other's blow. He then used his hand like a claw and slashed Camille hard on her right arm. She cried out loudly and fell to the ground.
"Weak little Chameleon." Dai Shi chuckled.
"Camille!!" Jarrod screamed. Dai Shi chuckled at her weakness and went to finish her off. He prepared a large purple orb of energy to fire at her. Camille whimpered when she saw him drawing nearer. The orb was forced to disappear when Dai Shi felt someone tightly grab his arm and pulled it behind him.
"Enough of this, Dai Shi! Leave Camille alone!" Jarrod yelled pulling Dai Shi's arm further back causing him to cry out.
"Not a smart move Lion Master." Dai Shi said lowly in an evil tone a small grin appearing on his face. Then Dai Shi summoned his Zocato power all around him. Jarrod was caught in the blast making him fly forwards and land next to Camille.
Jarrod's eyes widened as he forced himself to sit up. "You can still use Zocato power?!"
"I never let myself forget it. Never know when you're going to need it." Dai Shi sneered cocking his head to the side in a snide manner. He then twisted his arm to loosen it up from the grip Jarrod previously had on him. Dai Shi then walked over to Jarrod and grabbed his uniform by the chest and pulled him up to his face level. "You've interfered to much. That all ends today." Dai Shi said evilly. Then he prepared to fire a devastating blast at Jarrod but he felt some sort of weapon slash him hard across the back. He dropped Jarrod to the ground and turned to see what it was that attacked him. He didn't see anything, but he felt a presence near him. He then figured out who it was. "Show yourself, Camille!" he shouted as he looked around for her. He then felt a powerful blow to his right knee, which then buckled from underneath him. Camille was using her powers of camouflage to her advantage.
"You won't show yourself? Fine! I'll draw you out!!" Dai Shi yelled once again summoning a large amount of Zocato power that completely filled all the space around him. Camille couldn't dodge this attack and it hit her hard, forcing her to reveal herself. "Pretty gutsy move for someone that used to work for me." Dai Shi growled. Camille lay on the ground trying to back herself further and further away from Dai Shi. He took small steps to keep up with her. "Jarrod doesn't care about you." Dai Shi lied. "He wants to see you destroyed. Come back and join me, Camille. Become one of my generals once again." Dai Shi said trying to warp her mind. Camille shook her head from side to side not wanting to believe Dai Shi. She could only hope that what he said about Jarrod wasn't true.
"You're wrong! I do care about her, I love her!!" Jarrod yelled from behind Dai Shi, hurling his Lion spirit at him. He was caught off guard and crumpled to the ground. Camille smiled when she saw Jarrod before her. He ran to her helping her to her feet.
"You really mean that?" she asked. He grabbed the both of her hands.
" I really do." He said smiling.
"I feel the same way." She answered, and then the two embraced. But the lovely moment was over when they saw Dai Shi on his feet again.
"I hope you enjoy each other's company in the spirit world!" Dai Shi sneered as he got into yet another fighting stance that Jarrod echoed. It was time for round two.
Meanwhile, the rangers engaged in a Megazord battle with Scorch. He turned to swipe his large dragon tail at the rangers it clipped them and send them staggering backwards a little.
"We're getting nowhere with this guy!" Theo shouted in a discouraged tone. Him and the others were all on the ground of the Megazord by one another.
"We have to do something!" Lily cried.
"I have an idea. Come on guys!" RJ said guiding them. He and his comrades all stood back up and began to summon a zord to help them.
"Spirit of the Bat! Combine!" They shouted. Then they Bat zord flew in from the sky above and combined with the Megazord giving it wings.
"Let's take it to the skies!" RJ yelled motioning his hands so that the Megazord would fly upwards.
"You can't run away that easily!" Scorch yelled as he flapped his wings, going airborne. He gave chase to the rangers who were flying high in the sky. Once high enough so that no civilian would be injured, the rangers piloted the Megazord so that it would hit Scorch's left and right heads with its wings. The impact made the two heads disappear leaving Scorch with only one to use.
"That got him!" Lily cheered. Scorch looked to see that two of his heads were gone and growled angrily.
"You'll pay dearly for that!!" Scorch screamed furiously. "Flame Breath!!!" he added shooting an incredible amount of fire from his remaining head. The flames landed hard against the Megazord and just kept coming.
"It's so hot!" Theo groaned holding his hands up in defense.
"We can't give up you guys!!" Dominic said, and then he began to spin very quickly. The Megazord copied Dominic's movements. The flames were blown out and Scorch stopped spitting the fire breath at them when he saw that the flames were now bouncing off due to the spinning.
"Nice thinking, Dom!" RJ said patting his Rhino friend on the shoulder. Then he turned back to Scorch. "Now it's time to end this." RJ said with determination. The colorful warriors piloted the Megazord to pummel Scorch with slashes of its wings. Each hit caused more damage than the previous. Afterwards, Scorch tried to steady his flying to regain his balance after the ambush.
"How could he have survived that?!" Lily stated looking to her friends in utter shock.
"I can't be destroyed…and I won't be!!" Scorch screamed at the, like he wanted more.
"What do we do, RJ?" Theo asked with a hint of panic in his voice.
"Uh…" RJ stuttered. "I don't…" he began then trailed off. Something had caught his attention. "Look over there." He said pointing before him. A cliff a ways up ahead had a large boulder hanging loosely from it. Any sudden jar would cause it to fall. The rangers looked to what RJ saw, they knew exactly what his plan was.
"Gotcha." Dominic said nodding wearing a mischievous grin. Then Scorch flew before them.
"Just give up and spare yourself pointless fighting!! You have already failed!" Scorch yelled strongly trying to shake the rangers with his words.
"Hope this works." RJ said softly to himself. Then he and the other rangers piloted the Bat Megazord to fly around Scorch, landing in front of the cliff with the loose hanging rock. The Megazord obscured it from Scorch's view. Scorch quickly followed them and flew right in front of them again. He hissed loudly to try and strike fear in the rangers thus strengthening his powers, but the rangers weren't afraid—not this time. Scorch got into a fighting pose and prepared to charge at the heroes. He flew at him as quickly as he could, his wings flapped with awesome speed.
"Any last words rangers?" He asked them coldly. The Megazord just stood there as if waiting for him to strike.
"Yeah," RJ said, "See ya." Then all the rangers leapt making the Megazord do the same, they hovered in the air and watched as Scorch was plummeted with large boulders. If the team head leapt one second later, they would be the ones in the rubble.
"NOOOOO!!!!" Scorch screamed as rock after rock hit him. He was trapped underneath.
"Now for the finishing touches!" RJ said proudly. "Spin kick!" he yelled while he and his friends did so. The Megazord kicked the rock so hard that it exploded before them. That's when it hit them—they did it, Scorch was gone forever. After a brief moment of celebration, Lily turned to the others.
"Let's go save our leader." She said sternly. Her colorful comrades nodded in agreement as they left the Megazord.
The moon was high and rising in the sky. It shone brightly as it hung there. Flickers of lightening filled the dark sky and a soft rumble from thunder could be heard all around. It hadn't begun to rain yet, but it was coming. Lily and the rangers leapt from their vessel and landed next to Camille and Jarrod.
"Scorch is done for. How's Casey?" Theo asked quickly getting to the point. Jarrod didn't even look at them, he just shook his head and looked onward at his brother. The wind began to blow hard and forceful, causing all of their hair to blow all around them. It was loud from the wind and the thunder, so Dai Shi yelled when he spoke.
"Well, six against one? Some may call that a challenge, I call it the beginning of the end for the Power Rangers!!" Dai Shi shouted loudly. Lily stepped forward, the wind caused her to squint a little.
"We're not leaving here without Casey! Surrender him!!" Lily pleaded. RJ walked up beside her as if he didn't want her to feel alone.
"Give up, Dai Shi! It's over!" he shouted forward as a loud crash of thunder and jolt of lighting shook their surroundings.
"Over?" Dai Shi laughed with a wide smile. "It's just beginning!! Look up in the sky, rangers! In about one minute, you're leader will be forever lost in my darkness!!" He said pointing upwards at the bright moon. There was another flash of lightening and roll of thunder.
"He's right! We have to act fast!" Dominic stated firmly.
Ahead of them, Dai Shi lost control one final time. Casey struggled to remain in control in this final minute. He wasn't in his armor anymore, so he was happy that the rangers could see his face and that he could see theirs.
"Guys!" Casey shouted over the thunder and wind.
"Casey!" Lily cried out to him. The two hated the predicament they were in, but at least they got to see one another again.
"You have to destroy Dai Shi before it's too late! You've worked to hard for this to quit now! Do this for you and me!" He shouted at them, his voice breaking little by little. Jarrod stepped forward, his vision blurred with tears that soon began to stream down his cheeks.
"We can't! You'll be destroyed! I don't want to lose my only brother!" Jarrod shouted sadly. Then the rain began to fall, hard, in sheets. It drenched everyone that stood out there.
"It's alright." Casey said, his voice growing softer, "Maybe this is my purpose—my destiny." He said, starring at his teammates through the wind and rain. Thunder crashed loudly above them.
"I can't do it, Casey! I…love you." She said looking through her wet hair. Casey managed to let out a smile. He wanted to go to her, more than anything, but it was too dangerous, Dai Shi would be returning in a matter of seconds.
"I love you too Lily. Even when you said I was only like your brother—I never believed you." He smiled, Lily laughed through her tears. "But you promised me, I have to do this." He said his smile fading away.
"But you're our leader, Casey! You're apart of us!!" Theo yelled. As much as he hated to admit it, he really did like Casey, he was one of his best buddies, he just let his rough exterior get the best of him.
"Think about what you're doing, man!" Dominic yelled.
"I have. Over and over again. This is my purpose." Casey said softly.
"He's right. We can't interfere with another's destiny, no matter how much it pains us." RJ said. He hated all of this as well, but being a master, he knew all the rules of destiny and sacrifice. Casey looked up at the moon it was now or never.
"Thanks for all that you have done, but I it's time." He said, surprisingly smiling. He moved his arms and hands around him. "I call forth the strength and spirit of the Tiger!" Then his red Tiger spirit hovered strongly above him. He could feel Dai Shi trying to break through, but he wouldn't let him—not yet. "Call on your animal spirits!!". The rangers paused.
"If it's what he wants…then we have to respect it." Jarrod said sadly. He felt anger flow strongly through his veins and shouted as loud as he could. "I call for the spirit of the mighty Lion!!" With his words, a black and gold Lion hovered above him. He threw his arms down sadly. RJ stepped forward.
"Spirit of the Wolf!" RJ yelled, his violet Wolf above him, then he began again, "Spirit of the Shark!" he yelled summoning his father's Shark spirit ranger, who the Shark floated above. Dominic stood up next.
"Spirit of the Rhino!" he called. Theo was next.
"Spirit of the Jaguar!" he yelled, then summoned his Bat spirit ranger. "Spirit of the Bat!" All of the animal spirits hovered above their master. Camille was next up.
"Spirit of the Chameleon!" She yelled as a green Chameleon floated above her. All that was left was Lily and her spirits. She looked at Casey who just winked at her with a smile. She nodded and closed her eyes tightly.
"Spirit of the Cheetah!" She said, then summoned her spirit ranger. "Spirit of the Elephant!". All ten animals were ready. They were all there above their masters. All of them stood next to one another. They closed their eyes and put their hands to their sides.
They all spoke simultaneously, "We call forth all of the animal spirits in the jungle! Combine for jungle fury!" They all yelled, their spirits all combining into one figure. "Jungle Beasts, Spirits Unleash!!" they yelled. The figure was the Claw symbol from the Order of the Claw. "Fire!!" They yelled as they hurled the large symbol at Casey, who accepted his fate. As the attack grew closer, Lily tried to run to him, but RJ held her back. Then a large explosion filled the air. The blast knocked the team off of their feet, but after the smoke passed, they were quickly back on them. Casey just laid there a little ways ahead of them still. What looked to be a gold puff of smoke left his body and disappeared. It was Dai Shi that had left him—he was gone forever. Jarrod stared worriedly ahead.
"Casey…" he said with a frightened expression and ran to his brothers as fast as his legs would take him. They were relieved for a brief moment when they saw Casey's chest going up and down, at least he was alive—in this moment, he was alive. Lily sat down beside him and took him in her arms, Jarrod just grabbed his right hand tightly, letting him know he was there. RJ and the others stood and watched exchanging worried glances at one another.
"Casey?" Lily asked softly. The wind, thunder and lightening all seemed to stop—except for the rain. It pitter-pattered softly at their clothes.
"Lily." He said softly with a serene look on his face. "Did we do it?" he asked, his breathing was labored as he struggled to remain focused on her eyes.
"Yes." She nodded, "Because of you." She rubbed her hand against his cheek softly.
"I just did what any leader would do." He said. He looked over to see Jarrod gripping his hand tightly.
"Let's get you back to the loft." Jarrod said as he began to rise.
"No." Casey said, stopping him.
"What?" Jarrod asked in disbelief. "Why?"
"Because it wouldn't matter. You know that." Casey answered sadly. Then he turned his attention to Lily. "I did what I had to do." He returned Lily's gesture by gently petting her cheek. Lily closed her eyes to really feel his touch. Casey felt her tears hit his fingers as he pet her. Jarrod felt his brother's grip on his hand get tighter and his breathing getting harder. Casey looked sadly up to all his teammates and friends. "I'm sorry." He breathed softly. Then his eyes slowly closed. His hand fell slowly from Lily's cheek, and the grip Jarrod had on his hand became limp.
"Casey?" Jarrod said shaking his brother's hand as if trying to bring the life back into it. Camille watched sadly, for she knew Casey was gone she leaned beside him and hugged him tightly trying to console him.
"Jarrod…" She said in a mournful tone, and then gently kissed his hair. Jarrod buried his face in his hands and he let Casey's hand go. Lily just appeared dead behind the eyes. She just stared at him blankly. She didn't blink; tears just fell in streams from her eyes. She was in shock. RJ walked up behind her. She turned to see him and stood, falling quickly into his arms. He stroked her hair as she cried. This was one of the toughest parts of being master, you can't show your pain to your students, you need to be strong for them. Theo just stood and stared at the ground. Dominic paced running his fingers through his hair. RJ shut his eyes tightly to shut out his own tears. Then Lily jerked from his arms and looked down to Casey.
"Why'd you do that, huh?!" She yelled punching his lifeless arm. "Why'd you sacrifice yourself like that?!" RJ just grabbed her back away from him and hugged her once more.
"It's what he wanted. We did what we had to do." RJ said softly. His eyes were red and burning from trying to keep his tears at bay.
"You learn at Pai Zhuq that sometimes in order to succeed their has to be sacrifice." Dominic said, knowing that his words wouldn't ease anyone's pain.
"It's not fair." Theo said angrily as he shook his head.
"No it's not!!" Jarrod lashed out as he stood hard on his feet. "We should be celebrating right now! Not mourning a fallen leader!" Jarrod shouted. Camille stroked his arm gently, letting him know that she was there for him. Then the team consoled one another. Their leader was gone. He had sacrificed himself for their sakes—and the sake of the world. As they stood there, a familiar figured emerged from a dark blue aura before them. A man in a shiny orange uniform emerged from it. It was Master Mao.
"He truly is a brave one isn't he?" Mao stated looking down at Casey.
"Master Mao?" RJ asked, gently letting Lily go as he stepped towards him.
"Indeed." Mao said with a proud smile. "I was sent here from the spirit world to honor a fallen hero. And to congratulate all of you for defeating Dai Shi."
"We're thrilled that Dai Shi is gone but…" Lily said wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Why did it have to be at Casey's expense?"
Mao nodded. "Yes, it is always hard to lose a beloved teammate. I've experienced it many times." Jarrod looked over to Mao with a somewhat disgusted glance.
"He was more than just a 'teammate'! He was my brother! You know that!" Jarrod yelled in a voice that screamed with anger and sadness.
"I am aware of that fact, Jarrod. Which is why I am here." Mao said.
"What do you mean?" Dominic asked in an intrigued manner.
"I have the ability to restore Casey's life." Mao said with a smile.
"What? How are you able to do that?" Lily asked, her tears starting to fall less often.
"Any hero who is brave enough to sacrifice themselves to Dai Shi to save the world deserves to be rewarded in the highest honor." Mao explained.
"With life." RJ finished for him. He had heard during his time at the academy that feats like this were possible; he had just never seen anyone do it. Mao just nodded happily at RJ. Then he walked over to Casey on the ground.
"Time to wake up Tiger Master." Mao said as he waved his arms over Casey's body. An orange aura came out of his hands and surged into Casey's body. When all that was needed went into him, Casey let out a loud gasp as his eyes blinked open. He looked all around him. The team all scurried around him.
"Casey?" Lily said softly stroking his cheek once more.
"Yeah." Casey said with a small laugh. "What happened?"
"Master Mao brought you back." Lily explained gesturing to Mao who was grinning ear to ear. "He said that you're sacrificing yourself made you a hero."
"Wow." Casey said in awe as he sat up with help from Lily. "Thanks, Master Mao."
Master Mao just smiled. "No, thank you. All of you. You rid the world of a fearsome evil, and now we're safe." The team all smiled at themselves. It was always great to get congratulated by the highest Master. Then, Casey felt something on his arm. He lifted his sleeve to see that his arm was glowing, and when the glowing faded, he had his master tattoo.
"Yes! I did it! I'm finally a master!" Casey cheered loudly beaming with a smile.
"A master and so much more." Mao said with a light pat on Casey's back, then he sighed. "Well, I must return to the spirit world. There are those who need my guidance waiting for me."
"Thanks, Master." Casey said with an honorable tone. Mao smiled and nodded his head, then faded away into the dark blue aura whence he came. Casey stood slowly to his feet to gather all of his bearings.
He dusted himself off. "Wow, so it's all really over huh?"
"Sure is." Jarrod said approaching him. He extended his hand to Casey for a handshake. "Great to have you back, bro." He said with a smile. Casey just looked at Jarrod's hand, then to his face. He grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug. The two finally had what they had needed their entire lives—their brother. When the hug was over. Lily grabbed onto Casey's arm tightly and hugged it.
"Let's go home." She said as she nuzzled against his arm. Casey smiled, then the team headed out to go back to the loft—their home.
