Jungle Furious

A/N: Hey guys, I was going to say that there were only a few teams left but I just read the announcement for the next team so yay, the fun continues, can't wait to write for them too. This was great fun to write, especially since I got the chance to give Jarrod a more humorous side. ENJOY R&R PLZ!

The sun was just setting over Ocean Bluff and Theo, Casey, Dom, Jarrod, and RJ were cleaning up the remnants of Fran and Dom's welcome home party. The pair had returned from their tour of Europe with gifts for everyone including an extra surprise: they were a couple! Somewhere in between the Swiss Alps and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Dom had romanced Fran into being his girlfriend not that any of team believed it took too much effort. The girls, Fran, Lily, and Camille, were upstairs in the loft going over all the presents while the boys were charged with ridding the restaurant of all the streamers and confetti in time for opening the next day.

"It's good to have you home man, the gum under the tables has been piling up," Casey said while sweeping.

"Ha, ha," Dom fake laughed. "Thankfully I have Fran to help me this time."

"She loves you Dom but I don't think anyone loves you that much," Jarrod snickered.

"Aw Jarrod you don't love me," Dom pouted.

"Sorry you had to find out like this," Jarrod smirked.

"Passing over Dom's heartbreak," Theo interrupted. "How are things at the Academy Jarrod?"

"Great, I'm hoping the Tiger Master lets me in on the special weapons lesson next week. He hinted that he might bring out the Shark Sabers."

Casey shook his head, "I talked to Master Finn, he wants to be there too so it might be put off until the week after. Of course you're in, think you can handle it?"

"As long as I don't drop anything, what's the worst that could happen?" Jarrod said ruefully.

"Gentlemen," RJ appeared after throwing out the last bag of garbage. "The restaurant is clean and I think we've earned a snack. I suggest we make a nice big pizza then kick back with the ladies upstairs."

"Sounds like a plan," Casey put the broom to the side. The five Pai Zhua trooped into the kitchen and set out the ingredients for a huge pizza with all the fixings. All of them could hear some funny sounds coming from somewhere but couldn't place it so they tried to ignore it.

They had just rolled out the dough when Theo couldn't take it anymore, "Okay seriously where is that noise coming from?!" Glad someone finally broached the subject; they searched the entire kitchen but couldn't find it.

"It's gotta be here," Dom said while checking under the workbench.

At last it was Casey who discovered the source. "Hey guys!" He was looking up at the ceiling. "I think that's it." He pointed to a vent right above the work station and Theo levitated up to it.

"This is it," he reported back. The jaguar carefully popped open the vent's cover, the volume increased and the noises turned out to be voices.

Someone laughed. "Was that Lily?" Casey asked.

"Sounds like it," RJ stared at the opening. "I think it's the new ventilation we put in, the guys redid all the ducts. Looks like they made a mistake."

"Or they're freaking geniuses," Dom countered. He moved the pizza dough aside and got up on the bench. He grinned down at the rest, "You can hear them perfectly from here. Come on up!" Casey immediately jumped up, followed closely by RJ who gave Jarrod a hand. It was a little awkward having four grown men stand on one small station but they managed to maneuver themselves around the gap to stand somewhat comfortably. Theo had the good luck of levitation on his side. The voices coming through were slightly echo-ish but pretty clear all the same.

Camille – "Switzerland sounds beautiful."

Fran – "It was, Dom bought me the prettiest necklace in this antique shop. I forgot to bring it with me, I keep it safe in my jewelry box. So now that the boys are out of earshot -" the guys chuckled at this "- what did I miss?"

Lily – "Well for starters, Theo and I were a no-go."

Fran – "Awww what happened?"

Lily – "We went out but it just sort of fell flat. No spark, nothing. Even Theo had to admit we were better off keeping our standing lunch appointments to just that. On the bright side, he and this girl Kayla look like they're really hitting it off."

Fran – "That still kinda sucks but at least you're still friends. What about you Camille? You and Jarrod seem awfully close."

Camille – "Close but not close enough. Jarrod is nice but he's blinder than Master Swoop fast asleep."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jarrod demanded.

Camille – "He doesn't even realise that I'm attracted to him. Just the other day he told me how grateful he is for my 'friendship' and how happy he is to have such a great 'friend' in his life. On the one hand, I'm thrilled that he appreciates and values me but on the other, he doesn't even consider the idea of us being something more."

"I had no idea," Jarrod muttered.

"Dude seriously?" Casey quirked an eyebrow.

"You all knew?" Jarrod asked and everyone nodded.

"Pretty much," Theo shrugged.

"Even I saw it," RJ made a face.

Lily – "Sweet but frustrating, and hopelessly dense. I think that applies to every male out there including wolves."

Fran – "NO WAY! YOU LIKE RJ?!"

"WHAT?!" The five guys chanted.

Lily – "Say it a little louder Fran, I don't think they heard you properly downstairs!"

"Nah we heard you just fine," Dom laughed.

Fran – "Sorry."

Lily – "It's okay. But don't worry Camille I can totally sympathize. I've been throwing hints at RJ for months and they just completely fly over his head."

RJ squeezed his eyes shut in humiliation, "Alright how many of you noticed?" He opened his eyes to see Casey, Theo, and Jarrod with their hands up. "Really? You too Jarrod?"

"Well I'm more of a half," the black lion clarified. "I saw her act a little weird around you."

"So did I but I didn't realise that she 'like liked' you," Casey admitted.

"Same," Theo chipped in.

"You two are two of a kind," Dom moved a hand between Jarrod and RJ.

"Dumb and dumber," Casey patted their backs.

Fran – "So what's been going on with Casey?"

Lily – "Oh yeah, you want to talk about dumb and dense look no further than our dear Tiger Master."

"Does this make you 'dumbest'?" Jarrod smirked.

"Damn," Casey pinched the bridge of his nose.

Lily – "There's this girl Anna, she used to be Casey's student but she's got her stripes. Totally gifted and talented. She's been after him for weeks now and he doesn't have a single clue."

"Do I dare ask?" Casey rolled his eyes but to his surprise only Jarrod and RJ put their hands up.

"Camille and I joke about all the time," Jarrod said outright.

"I'm not around the academy much, Lily is the one who likes to go visit," Theo looked more than happy to take himself out of that mess.

"RJ?" Casey looked at the wolf master.

"Erm, to be honest Casey, I personally haven't seen anything. But dad did say something about it to me…"

"Master Finn knows?!" Casey face-palmed.

RJ patted Casey's back, "Would now be a good time to mention that this also includes Masters Swoop and Phant?" Casey groaned dismally.

"I'm almost regretting going to Europe," Dom cackled.

Lily – "Okay that's us, but come on Fran spill. How did you and Dom get together? You two get cozy one night in the woods?"

"Well Lily is nothing if not direct," RJ commented stunned.

"And yet you didn't realise the girl had a thing for you," Dom reminded him.

Fran – "Not exactly like that although there were plenty of those nights."

Dom gagged on air while the others struggled to maintain their balance, or in Theo's case levitation. RJ braced one hand on the ceiling, "You were right Dom, the duct guys were geniuses!"

Camille – "So then how did the rhino ranger sweep you off your feet?"

Fran – "For our first date, he planned this picnic for me on my birthday. Flowers, wine, good food, these amazing truffles, he even found a hill with a great view of the French countryside. It was so romantic and sweet, I could've melted."

"That does sound awesome bro, good job," Casey bumped fists with Dom.

Lily – "If only someone would do that for us eh Camille?"

Camille – "No kidding."

"Don't you dare steal my idea," Dom warned RJ and Jarrod.

Fran – giggles "If only we hadn't been interrupted."

"Fran no," Dom went wide-eyed. "Please don't."

Camille – "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Francine…" Dom looked prepared to jump off the table just stop her.

Fran – laughing "You know that hill with the amazing view? It backed on to a farm that sheep and goats. And one goat in particular didn't seem to like Dom as much as I do. That Billy goat chased Dom around the field for a good fifteen minutes before the farmer came out and caught it."

Lily – "Please tell me he didn't morph!"

Fran – "Thought about it."

Dom turned red as the laughter flowed freely from both sides of the vent. "It's not funny," he pouted. "That thing had horns and I swear it was feral or something."

"You are aware that you possess the rhino spirit right?" Theo checked.

"Yeah that would've been manly," Dom said derisively, "having to pull out my animal spirit just to get rid of a goat."

"Better than morphing," Casey sniggered.

"Look on the bright side, at least you don't have to worry about us stealing your idea Dom," RJ smiled. "There is no way any of us are going to do that."

"So is this a confirmation?" Dom asked attempting to steer the conversation away from him. "Are you going to be asking out our fair Lily?"

"I don't see why not," RJ replied. "I'm not her teacher anymore and she's a great girl."

"You like her don't you RJ?" Jarrod teased.

"Perhaps, but what about you? Is Camille getting out of the friend zone?"

"That's if I even want to be friends with him anymore," a voice sounded from the stairs. Camille materialized not looking very happy at all. "Fran! Lily! You might want to come down here!" The chameleon's eyes dared them to move as footsteps could be heard from above and the other two appeared.

Lily took in the scene in front of her, "What's going on here?"

"They were eavesdropping on us through the vent," Camille accused.

Now the guys really wanted to defend themselves but there were no other really plausible explanations are to why four full grown men were standing on the workbench with another floating nearby. Theo bravely attempted to calm the women down, he levitated back to the ground and said reasonably, "Now ladies this isn't as bad as it looks -" it was then he noticed he was brandishing the vent cover. Theo froze, whipping it behind his back and plastering on a cheeky smile. "We're dead aren't we?" The girls nodded.

"I'll handle Jarrod on my own," Camille declared and Jarrod winced at the old venomous tone. He knew firsthand why she became Dai Shi's best lieutenant and knew it wasn't beneath her to prove it either.

"Is there any chance of mercy?" Jarrod asked, jumping from the table.

"At this point, mercy would be not making you suffer Flit's fate," Camille hissed dragging him out of the restaurant.

"Who do you want Lily?" Fran offered.

"RJ and Theo," Lily chose.

"That leaves me with Dom and Casey," Fran crossed her arms. "What are you thinking?"

"Looks like they had started a pizza," Lily noted. "How about they make us a nice one and we can decide how merciful to be from there?"

"Sounds perfect."

Needless to say, the JKP boys had never put more effort and care into a making a pizza in their entire lives. But as for mercy, well… that depended on who you spoke to. Camille forced Jarrod to enrol in Master Swoop's notoriously hard hand-to-hand combat class that left the lion sore for days. Lily confiscated RJ's chair and made Theo use his levitation to clean the ceiling and ducts. Fran had Casey scrapping gum while Dom was to wear a shirt with a cartoon goat on it for two weeks. Despite this, I only wish I can say that the vent was never used again but even the girls, yes the girls, were guilty of popping the cover open every now and then. Don't worry they were caught…most of the time.