So my laptop charge port broke last Thursday, but thankfully an awesome friend fixed it for me so I'm back up and running, but I got absolutely nothing written since then. I will also be moving house hopefully on Saturday, so I'm going to have next to no time to do anything until I get sorted, but I will update as soon as I can.
I hope you like this chapter anyways!
Let me know what you think!
Chapter 29: To Earn Your Stripes
Flipping the sign from Closed to Open, Casey turned to the rest of the workers. Since he had regained his Tiger Spirit, he had been feeling better than ever.
"Where's Master Swift?" Ari noticed they were one down.
"Okay crew! Ready for business?" Casey called to them as Lily shrugged.
"Uh, not quite," RJ walked in from the kitchen with a smile, wearing his Violet training gear instead of his usual chef's uniform. "Casey, Lily, Theo and Ari, we're going on a little trip today," he smiled.
"Is this one of your 'it's not about the destination, it's about the journey' kind of trips?" Theo asked slowly.
"No, this time it's about the destination," he told them.
"Oh thank god. The last one sucked," Ari sighed in relief as she pulled off her hat and apron.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked as Theo and Casey started laughing.
"You'll find out when we get there," RJ replied mysteriously.
"Oh, sounds ominous. But I swear if a tree almost falls on me again, I'm going to be mad," Ari warned.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," Casey patted her shoulder, and Ari shot him a glare.
"You were the one responsible for it falling on me in the first place!" she reminded him.
"Anyway," RJ cleared his throat quickly. "Fran, you, Dom and Minos okay to take care of the place?" RJ turned to the girl.
"Yeah, no problem," Fran nodded.
"Got it covered boss," Dom nodded.
"Yeah, sounds good to me," Minos nodded in agreement, still wondering how they had managed to rope him into working at the restaurant.
"Let's go," RJ smiled.
"Wonder where they're off to," Fran approached Dom, smiling at him.
"RJ clued me in," Dom grinned as Minos leaned on the counter. "Believe me, this is major," he grinned.
"Wait, you don't mean...?" Minos' eyes widened.
"Oh yeah," Dom nodded, and Minos whistled. Fran just looked at the two, confused.
"The Pai Zhuq school?" Casey looked around the temple that they had not seen since their trip to the Spirit World, and even then it had been a brief visit. "RJ, what is going on?" he asked their Master.
"Today is a very special day," RJ told them with a smile, and they looked around in surprise to see their other Masters standing waiting for them, in the same place where before Lily, Theo and Ari had fought for their places as Guardians.
"This is the day all Pai Zhuq students have worked hard to reach," Master Phant said. "Your Masters Test," he announced. Lily and Theo exchanged excited looks as Ari's eyes widened, and Casey went pale.
"Yes! We're finally going to get our Masters' Stripes!" Theo cheered.
"Only if you pass the test Theo," Master Swoop reminded him.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" he told his Master. Lily nodded, equally as excited.
"What is the Test?" Ari asked curiously.
"You'll see," Master Swift smiled at her. Ari's stomach knotted in nerves as she stared at the young Master.
"Hey, time out here, are we ready for this?" Casey turned to the three.
"That's what we're here to find out," Master Finn told him.
"Take a few moments to mentally prepare yourselves," Master Swoop told them. "And then we'll begin," the Bat Master stated. Theo and Lily began to meditate, and Ari stretched, taking calming breaths before sitting down to meditate and clear her mind. After a few minutes, RJ cleared his throat.
"The time for your Master Test has arrived," he announced, and the three got to their feet as Casey walked back over to them. "To pass, you will have to defeat your Master," he told them. The four looked from him, to the four Masters standing opposite them.
The four Rangers approached their Masters in the ring where most of the fights took place. They bowed to each other, and fell into well practised fighting stances, and Ari took another breath. Her nerves were gone as she focused her mind on the task at hand.
The gong sounded, and the fighting began. Ari ran at Master Swift, and leapt into the air, spinning and kicking out at the Master. She smiled back and caught the kick, throwing it up. Ari flipped through the air, but landed on her hands and began to spin, catching her Master and knocking her back.
Master Swift stumbled backwards, and recovered as Ari flipped right-side up and pushed at her, fighting with strength and speed honed over the last few years, but with moves she had only begun to use since she had been at Pai Zhuq. She bit back a cry as Master Swift caught her wrist, stopping a punch, and twisted, forcing her into an arm-lock. Ari instead dropped down, flipping her over her head before raising her hands again. Master Swift rushed her, and both leapt into the air. As the blonde spun, kicking out rapidly, Ari knocked her attack aside with the back of her hand and caught her with a blow to the chest. Both landed, and Ari began to glow gold. She threw her hands up, and her Sparrow flew into the air, chirping loudly. She flew through the air before angling and flying towards Master Swift, who began to glow silver. Her Spider Monkey Spirit leapt forwards, meeting the Sparrow in a fight, lashing out at the bird who dodged each move before catching her in the back, making the silver spirit disappear. Ari then straightened up as Master Swift smiled at her, and the two bowed to each other, the fight over.
The four students and Masters bowed to each other as RJ watched from the side.
"Theo, I'm very proud to tell you that you've reached the level of Pai Zhuq Master," Master Swoop announced. Theo smiled widely as Lily cheered for him, just as happy for him. Ari and Casey smiled brightly too as Lily turned to high-five Casey. Theo looked down suddenly, and pulled up his sleeve. Bright light flashed, and faded to reveal his own Master's Tattoo.
"Lily," Master Phant continued as Theo gave a startled laugh. "I have the honour to be the first one to address you as 'Cheetah Master'," he announced, and Lily gave a laugh of relief, unable to believe that she was finally a Master. "I knew you could do it," Master Phant added. Lily smiled thankfully at him, before lifting her own sleeve to find her Tattoo.
"I can't believe it! Check it out!" Lily bounced on the spot before throwing her arms around Casey. He went red, and she released him, hardly noticing as Ari smirked.
"Ari," the Gold Ranger looked around at Master Swift. "I think you're definitely one for the records, as you are now not only a Ninja, but a Pai Zhuq Master," Master Swift smiled proudly at her. Ari smiled widely, and felt a tingling in her arm. When she pulled up her sleeve, a bright light flashed, and left her with her Master's Stripes. "Congratulations," Master Swift smiled, and Ari smiled back at her.
"Casey," Master Finn spoke last. "I'm afraid you haven't passed," his words took the joy out of the atmosphere.
"What?" Lily stared at the Shark Master.
"But he did everything we did!" Theo protested.
"I'm sorry," Master Finn looked apologetic. "But the decision is final," he announced firmly, leaving no room for argument.
"I hear congratulations are in order," Ari looked up as Minos approached.
"Thanks Minos," Ari chuckled, and looked down at her arm. Her sleeves were rolled up to reveal the new tattoo on her arm. " A lot has happened the last year...we're no longer trying to defeat each other, for one thing," she smirked, and Minos chuckled.
"True," he agreed. "I'm slowly getting used to that. But I don't think I'll ever get used to modern day clothing," Minos complained, gesturing to the jeans and long sleeved black shirt he wore. Ari giggled. "How's Casey doing?" he asked, and Ari's laughter faded.
"Not great. His confidence took a serious hit today. He wasn't ready for the Master's Test, he kept looking to us for what to do instead of trusting himself," Ari shook her head.
"Oh? You figured out the test?" Minos asked in surprise, before chuckling. "Of course you did. Really, I don't know why anything you do surprises me anymore," he commented mildly.
"When Sensei Sugiura asked me to join the Academy, I never expected to reach the rank of Master," Ari admitted.
"It's not normally so quick," Minos chuckled. "But I suppose there have been special circumstances," he reminded her, and Ari grinned.
"That's why I graduated from the Ninja Academy at 15," she giggled.
"Hey guys?" they looked around as Lily walked up the stairs. "Can you help out downstairs? Casey's gone for a run to take his mind off everything," she gave a sad smile, and the two nodded.
"Sure," Ari stood up, and headed to her room to change.
"Casey's been gone a while now," RJ commented as he brought more dishes over.
"I think he was pretty bummed," Lily told him with a shrug.
"I still don't get it," Theo told RJ. "How come we passed the Test, and he didn't?" he asked, confused.
"Because he followed us, instead of following himself," Ari told them as she walked over to the till and opened it to put in money.
"Ari's right," RJ nodded. "A Pai Zhuq Master doesn't ask. He knows," he told them. Theo sighed, but dropped it, knowing they were right. They looked around as Jenna suddenly burst through the door, looking worried.
"We have a problem," she warned them.
Casey and Leapus were fighting in the middle of a quarry when Scorch and Snapper suddenly intervened, tossing Casey aside. As he pushed himself to his feet with a gulp, the rest of his team ran up to stand with him.
"Nice timing," Casey nodded to them. "These guys are brutal," he warned.
"Yeah well, you could have given us a heads up!" Ari punched his shoulder lightly. "But we're going to need as much help as we can to take on these guys!" she nodded to the others.
"Spirit Ranger! Shark!"
"Spirit Ranger! Bat!"
"Spirit Ranger! Elephant!"
"Spirit Ranger! Spider Monkey!" the four summoned the Spirit Rangers, who stepped forwards with their weapons raised.
"Jungle Master Mode!" the group began to fight the three, and while the four Spirit Rangers took on the Generals, the others fought Leapus. She laughed as she dodged their moves effortlessly, until they finally got a strike in and threw her back, dazing her long enough to blast her with all their power.
"Claw Cannon!"
"Wolf Beam!"
"Rhino Blade!"
"Powered by Animal Spirits! Fire!" they each fired their powerful moves, and hit Leapus, who screamed as she fell to the ground.
"I won't...be defeated so easily!" she declared. "Bow to me humans!" Leapus used her Rinzin Power to grow, towering above them.
"Not a chance!" Ari scoffed.
"Animal Spirits!" they summoned their Zords, and the Rhino charged at her, striking Leapus and making her cry out. She then took to the sky, flying above them. The Antelope kicked the Penguin towards her as the Squirrel Zord leapt from the back of the Gorilla Zord, who beat his chest. The two Zords collided with her, knocking the warrior towards the ground. RJ's Wolf Zord leapt through the air, spinning, and hit her, slamming her to the ground.
"Animal Spirits! Stampede!" all the Animal Spirits appeared, sending out a final blast that destroyed her.
"I'm telling you, I saw him! I saw Jarrod, the person we used to know," Casey finished telling his story to Lily, Theo and Ari. While he had been on his run, he had spotted Camille being attacked by three Phantom Beast Warriors, only for Jarrod – not Dai Shi – to arrive and destroy two of them, leaving Leapus to attack Casey.
"Well if memory serves me, Jarrod wasn't that great of a person even before he was possessed by an evil Dragon Spirit," Lily reminded him.
"Believe me, I know," Casey insisted. "But this time it was different, almost kind. What if there is some humanity, some part of Jarrod that's still in there?" he asked them.
"Our job is to protect people. Dai Shi, Jarrod, whatever you wanna call him, tries to hurt people. That's all I need to know," Theo shrugged, and Lily nodded in agreement.
"Look," Casey sighed. "Just because I don't have my Master's Stripes doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about!" he shouted at them, and they sighed.
"Casey, this isn't about that! You know I always try to see the good side of people, but even I can see..." Lily sighed as she touched his arm gently. "Dai Shi has taken over completely. Now you need to face the facts. Jarrod's gone," she told him firmly, and she and Theo walked back inside.
"Ari?" after a moment, Casey turned to the Gold Ranger who had been silent throughout. "What do you think?" he asked, a wary glimmer of hope still in his eyes. "You trusted that Minos was still good," he pointed out.
"That was different," Ari shook her head as she looked away. "Minos was always good. Dai Shi manipulated him," Casey sighed in frustration. "But..." Ari bit her lip, and looked up at Casey. "If I were you, I wouldn't doubt my instincts. They've never led you wrong," she told him.
"So you believe me?" Casey smiled.
"I never said that," Ari shook her head, and his smile faded instantly. "Like you, Jarrod was an ass to me from day one, but that doesn't mean that there's not goodness somewhere deep down," she shrugged, and offered a small smile. "Don't give up on yourself," she told him, and walked back inside, leaving Casey to his thoughts.
My bad, just realised how short this chapter is. I hope you liked it regardless!
Please review!
