Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
Chapter 22 – Jungle Master Mode
Kira and Master Phant continued to train over the following weeks, but they weren't the only ones. With Master Phant's renewed view on life, he was determined that all three Rangers have extra training and that they gain every advantage they could over Dai Shi, and so he called in some friends of his. Master Swoop had the Spirit of the Bat and chose Theo as his student, teaching Theo his technique of fighting without sight, for Master Swoop was blind. Theo learned pretty quickly that his lack of sight did not make him any less of a fierce opponent; if anything it made him more lethal, for unlike his opponents he did not rely on his sight in battle. Master Swoop taught Theo to use the Jungle Fan, a combined offensive and defensive weapon that saw a quick end to the monster they fought that day. Casey's Master was Master Finn, possessing the Spirit of the Shark, and who also happened to be RJ's father. The two weren't on great terms, Master Finn never having truly forgiven RJ for wanting to find his own Animal Spirit instead of learning the Shark Technique, while RJ had never forgiven his father for not understanding that he wanted to make his own way, not just follow in others' footsteps. His family was rare in that instead of finding their own innate Animal Spirits, each generation had learned the ways of the Shark, until RJ. While Master Finn trained Casey to use the Shark Sabres, the two were either at each other's throats or completely ignoring each other. In the end though, RJ ended up saving his dad from one of Dai Shi's monsters, revealing to his father, after all these years, that he had the Spirit of the Wolf. The two had reconciled and had since been re-building their relationship.
Not long after, the Rangers gained an unexpected, though welcome, visitor at JKP.
"Lily!" Kira cried upon seeing her friend enter the pizza parlour. Dropping the tray she was holding on the counter she ran over and pulled her fellow Cheetah into a hug. Kira's cry had brought Theo and Casey in from the back room, the former of which immediately ran to his best friend.
"God, I've been so worried." Theo muttered as he led Lily through to the back and upstairs, closely followed by Kira and Casey, after they left the restaurant in Fran's hands; thankfully it was in between the lunch and dinner rushes.
"RJ! Lily's returned!" Theo called as they reached the loft. Although RJ had never met Lily personally, he'd heard a lot about her.
"Lily this is RJ, our new Master." Kira introduced.
"The one who gave you the Ranger powers." She surmised.
"Yeah…how did you know we were Power Rangers?" Casey asked.
"Come on, it's not that hard to find out if she's been keeping up with the news." Kira said. And it wouldn't be, not for a Pai Zhuq, especially one who knew Dai Shi had been released and knew the Guardians' Animal Spirits.
"Kira's right, of course…but I haven't been watching the news."
"Then how-"
"Lil' what happened to you?" Theo interrupted. "What happened after you followed Jarrod?" Lily sighed but sat down and prepared to tell her story.
"I found Jarrod pretty quickly, and it didn't take too long to convince him to return to the Academy with me. But on our way back Dai Shi found us…"
"Dai Shi?!" Theo gasped. "Are you ok? How did you escape? Where's Jarrod? Oh god…he isn't…"
"Jarrod is Dai Shi." This did not garner any shocked outcry, but rather utter silence, and so Lily took the chance to continue. "Dai Shi's spirit went inside Jarrod, and took over…"
Jarrod's scream as Dai Shi entered his body reverberated through the jungle, and was quickly joined by Lily's as she ran to her mate's side, only to find she couldn't approach him.
"Jarrod! Jarrod!" She cried, trying to get past whatever force field was blocking her. He was still covered in the mist and glowing power of Dai Shi and she couldn't even see him properly. Eventually the mist cleared but not to reveal Jarrod, or at least, not the Jarrod she knew. It was Jarrod's body, but that was where their similarities ended, he'd even gotten a change of clothes; instead of the Pai Zhuq uniform, he wore a lot of black leather, and even had a black fur cloak.
"Jarrod…" Lily asked hesitantly as he checked out his new body. At her voice, he turned around and Lily gasped at his expression, one of harshness and anger, one she'd never seen outside of training, and never directed at her; even if they sparred together, he could never maintain the fierce look while looking on his mate.
"And you are?" He asked, his voice far lower then normal as he took a menacing step towards her only to stop half a second later. "You're his mate." He growled after a moment. Even after having taken over Jarrod's body and having pushed his mind down he could not stop that information from coming forward. So long as he was in Jarrod's body, he'd know everything to do with this woman and would never be able to hurt her. This weakness made it imperative that he become strong enough to gain his own body. He'd taken the body of the man who'd freed him because he'd possessed a strong Spirit, the mighty Lion, but with a mate in the picture, this body could only take his plans so far, so it was important to get rid of it as soon as possible.
"What have you done to him?" Lily breathed as she took her own steps forward, only she didn't have to stop.
"He belongs to me now." Dai Shi said. Although he'd never had one himself, he'd lived long enough to know all about mates and so knew that making her see the truth of her mate's situation, and subsequently hers, as fast as possible would be for the best. "There's nothing you can do about it, so you'd best just accept it."
"No…no, I won't…" She said as tears began to fall. Being unable to truly feel Jarrod through their bond was starting to get to her. "I won't, I will never accept that! Give him back…give him back!" She cried as she began to bang her fists against his chest as if that would bring her mate back. Dai Shi allowed her but a few strikes before he grabbed her wrists and forced her to stop.
"Enough." He said. "I must make plans. Let's go."
"He took me back to his lair." Lily grumbled unhappily. "And he's kept an eye on me ever since. He can't hurt me, and he can't let me go too far because of our bond, so he's done whatever our bond demands, and pretty much kept me by his side, cause apparently Jarrod fights him less when I'm near. So of course he's gonna be pissed when he finds out I've left. I'd expect a big attack on the city."
"Why did you come?" Kira asked. "Not that we aren't thrilled to see you, it's just…why now?"
"I had to warn you." She said. "He's decided he needs more training and is going to get it from the three Overlords."
"Overlords?" Asked Casey and Kira.
"The Overlords are three powerful Spirits who fought alongside Dai Shi in the Spirit Wars." RJ explained. "However, while they fought with him, they did not fight for him. They are entirely independent Spirits who, like Dai Shi, the Order of the Claw could not destroy, but could only imprison. Dai Shi is not nearly as powerful as he once was, the fact that he cannot form his own body is proof of that, so in terms of mere power level, the Overlord's are currently more powerful then he is."
"And he wants to learn their power." Casey surmised.
"Yes." Said Lily. "But to do that he'll have to resurrect them, meaning there'll be one to three beings out there with more power then Dai Shi who are just as determined to destroy you."
"We'll certainly have to think on that one." Said RJ. "There's not much, if anything, that we can do to stop Dai Shi resurrecting them, but we'll have to figure something out to defeat them. Thank you for warning us."
"I had to. I only wish I could do more." Lily said, looking sadly between her friends. "But I can't. Even if it's not Jarrod's heart or mind that's in control, it's still him, and I…I can't go against my mate."
"We understand Lily." Kira said wrapping an arm around her. "And we'd never ask that of you." Suddenly the alarms blared throughout the room and the TV lit up to show Camille and two monsters at the quarry, but they weren't alone. Dai Shi was with them, and the Rangers got their first look as to what Jarrod had become.
"Looks like Dai Shi knows you're gone." Muttered Casey.
"This is not good." RJ added.
"What's not good?" Theo asked.
"Those two monsters, that's Carnisoar and Jellica, the Sky and Sea Overlords. Thankfully they haven't revived Grizzaka, the Earth Overlord, yet. He's the worst out of all of them."
"Dai Shi must know Lily came to warn us. He doesn't want us to have time to prepare, to find a way to defeat the Overlords." Said Kira. "And for now he's won. We have to face them, even just as we are, without enough power."
"Well…no time like the present." Said Casey as he led the way out of the loft, closely followed by the other two Rangers and Lily. They arrived at the quarry and were immediately met by a blast from the Overlords, or would have been had Dai Shi not stepped in the way and stopped it with his bare hands, sending it right back at the Overlords who fell to the ground.
"I said you could do what you wanted to the Rangers, not to my mate." He growled at them as they tried to pick themselves up off the ground. Dai Shi alone may not be stronger then the Overlords, but combined with Jarrod's power when it came to protecting his mate, they didn't stand a chance. Once assured that they weren't going to try something stupid again, Dai Shi turned to face the Rangers and his host's mate, and merely held out his hand to the latter. Lily sighed and smiled sadly at her friends before going over and taking his hand, allowing him to pull her close and for Jarrod's consciousness, which became stronger whenever she wasn't near and it wasn't blatantly obvious that she was safe, to take comfort from their proximity.
"Don't try anything like that again." Dai Shi growled to her. He hated this weak form, more so that he was at the whims of this girl, his host allowing for nothing less and fighting him tooth and nail anytime she wasn't near, thus the reason he kept her close instead of just locking her in his dungeon, which would solve a lot of his problems cause locked in his dungeon he'd know she was safe, and she'd be kept out of his way. But no, his host wouldn't allow it, not without a fight.
"Come." He said grabbing on to her arm and dragging her away once his host had calmed down. "Now you can destroy them." He told the Overlords once Jarrod's mate was safe out of the line of fire.
"No!" Lily cried, trying to break free from his grasp only to be held onto twice as hard. She knew that would happen, knew that the moment she was out of the way that the battle could begin, but she still couldn't help her reaction.
"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" The Rangers cried, morphing as the Overlords fired at them once again. The battle began after that with the Rangers basically having their asses handed to them, the Overlords' having that much power. When the Rangers lost their morphs, Dai Shi stepped in, leaving Lily in Camille's hands, wanting to be the one to finish them off for good. As he approached them, Dai Shi called on Jarrod's Lion Spirit and gained an armoured suit. This did not bode well for the Rangers, and apparently RJ thought so as well, for as soon as the battle had turned south he'd left the loft, arriving at the quarry in time to stop Dai Shi's attack.
"Woah, chill out." He said.
"So, the Wolf Master makes an appearance." Dai Shi snarled. "Let's see what you're made of." Neither held back as they engaged the other in battle and RJ more then just held his own against Dai Shi in terms of pure fighting ability. RJ had always said there was more to being a Master then just being able to fight, or having a strong Animal Spirit, and holding out against Dai Shi as he was, all on his own, the Rangers never believed it more then they did now. Of course, while RJ matched Dai Shi in fighting ability, he did not match him in power, for while the Wolf and Lion Spirits could duke it out, the Lion had Dai Shi's power behind it as well as Jarrod's. RJ was knocked back as his Wolf Spirit disappeared, losing to the Lion, and landed a few feet away from the Rangers.
"RJ!" The three of them cried.
"Let's see how your students do without their Master." Said Dai Shi, preparing to launch another attack and finish RJ off, except that Kira saw red and got in his way.
"Leave him alone!" She yelled, placing herself protectively in front RJ. Dai Shi merely laughed.
"What do you think you can do?" He taunted. "Your Spirit is no match for mine, and you have no Ranger powers at the moment."
"You're wrong." She disputed. "On both counts." Although pissed off, Kira was not so far gone into her anger, and desperation to save her friends, that she would let Dai Shi know that no Spirit was more powerful then hers; there was no way she was revealing the prophecy. So, deciding to go with the other option, Kira raised her left arm and activated her Dino Morpher.
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" She called, morphing once more into the Yellow Dino Ranger. "Ptera Grips!" She called on her faithful weapon and ran at Dai Shi. Not having expected this in the least, Dai Shi was not prepared for her assault, nor was he prepared for fighting such a worthy opponent as a Power Ranger, for he had to grudgingly admit that they were worthy or they would be defeated already, fighting with something other then an Animal Spirit. While Kira's training at Pai Zhuq had taught to use her Animal Spirit, and Lily had taught her the Cheetah Technique, she still had an entirely different fighting style used as the Yellow Dino Ranger, meaning Dai Shi was facing an opponent who's fighting style he knew nothing about. Had Dai Shi remained the only one she fought, Kira may have stood a chance on her own using powers not meant for this enemy, for while it had had the element of surprise, Ranger powers never worked as well against an enemy they weren't made to fight. So when the Overlord's joined in the battle, it was all Kira could do not to get killed, and she wasn't the only one who realized that for moments before a fatal blow would have hit her, Connor appeared before her, raising his arm and used the power his part in the prophecy gave him to block the attack.
"What?!" Jellica cried.
"Impossible!" Carnisoar agreed. "No one could have blocked that attack!"
"Good thing I'm not nobody then." Connor snarled and threw the energy he'd caught right back at the Overlords. As the energy exploded and the Overlord's fell down and tried to pick themselves back up, Connor turned and went over to Kira, the Lion in control.
"I thought I told you to call me if you needed me." He growled angrily at her as he picked her up off the ground and inspected her for injuries, the previous blast having forced her to de-morph.
"I had it under control." She muttered.
"Oh yes, of course you did. You had it so under control that the Lion was absolutely frantic as we both felt our mate about to die!"
"Ok, I should have called you. I'm sorry." She said, really not wanting to fight right now.
"We'll talk about your stubbornness later." He said, agreeing that now was not the time. The two turned back around and saw that the Overlords had finally picked themselves up, though were not yet recovered from the blast, and so Dai Shi stepped forward in their place.
"Your Lion Spirit is no match for mine." He growled, recognizing Connor from Jarrod's memories.
"We'll see about that." He growled right back.
"Connor wait!" Kira said. "You do this and we're gonna have a lot of explaining to do." She had to try, though she ultimately knew that with Simba in control, there was no chance of reeling him in and his full power, the power of the Ninjetti, would be on display for all to see. Connor merely looked at her and after a moment Kira backed down; Simba was pissed, and he didn't care if they'd have to explain things. Connor stepped forward to meet Dai Shi and the two released their Spirits, Jarrod's black Lion appearing surrounded by Dai Shi's power, while Connor's burst forth in a show of golden light, his red coloured Lion at the centre of it, both meeting head on and Simba tearing Dai Shi's borrowed Spirit apart. There was no hesitation, not even a fight, for there was no possible way that Dai Shi was going to win this one, not when his mate had once again come so close to death. Once Dai Shi was down, Connor was about to turn his Spirit on the Overlords only to see that they weren't there. As everyone had been focused on Connor and Dai Shi, the two Overlords and made their way over to RJ, who stood off to the side, and grabbed him, holding their weapons at his neck.
"Surrender now." Said Jellica.
"That was only a fraction of my power. Do you really want to test me?" Connor growled, his voice taking on a guttural tone.
"Jellica…" Carnisoar whispered. Although they were powerful evil beings, they still had survival instincts.
"Fine…" She mumbled. "But we're taking him with us!" The two quickly disappeared before anything beyond a cry of "No, RJ!" could be done. Dai Shi and Camille followed, taking Lily with them and leaving behind some exhausted and very confused Rangers.
"What the hell was that?" Casey asked of Connor, the taller man merely glowering at him, the power of the Lion still flowing freely within him and he could think of nothing beyond his mate whom was once again held securely in his arms.
"We'll explain everything, I promise." Kira said when Connor said nothing. "But first we have to get RJ back, and I don't know how we're gonna do it."
"Well with that kind of power we can just storm Dai Shi's hideout." Said Theo as if it was obvious, but Kira shook her head.
"It's not that easy. It's dangerous to use a power like that. And we can't always control it. And when RJ's life is in danger isn't the time to be testing it."
"So what do we do?" Asked Casey.
"We're not powerful enough on our own. There must be someone out there who can help us." Said Kira.
"Maybe Masters Finn, Swoop and Phant can help us." Theo suggested. "Or at least know someone who can."
"It's worth a try." Said Kira. "Guys call your Masters, tell them to meet us at the loft." They did just that, using the training bond they'd formed with their Masters to call them, trying to impart the seriousness of the situation. Their Masters answered quickly and by the time they got back to the loft, the Masters were already there.
"What has happened?" Asked Master Swoop.
"And I assume this is Connor." Added Master Phant identifying the only one the three Masters hadn't met, knowing of his student's mate; though granted the way he still clung to her it wouldn't have been that difficult to determine his identity.
"Yeah this is Connor." Kira confirmed.
"RJ's been kidnapped by Dai Shi." Casey then rushed out, feeling it his duty to inform Master Finn of his son's capture, what with being his student and all.
"What?" Finn asked, feeling dread towards his son's safety, no matter how capable he knew him to be.
"We're sorry. We weren't strong enough to save him." Said Theo.
"They grabbed him and disappeared pretty quickly, we didn't really have a chance to even try." Kira elaborated. "But Theo's right that we aren't powerful enough. Dai Shi has released the Sea and Sky Overlords. And we got our asses handed to us."
"The Overlords are extremely powerful." Said Master Swoop. "Nearly as powerful as Dai Shi, though I would wager in his current form they would be stronger."
"That's exactly what RJ said." Casey agreed. "We were going to look for a way to defeat them, but they appeared before we could."
"So now we really have to find a way to defeat them." Said Kira. "And save RJ. We're hoping you'd know something that could work."
"I would suggest adding more Animal Spirits to your arsenal, but that is not possible at the moment." Said Master Phant. "Aside from RJ, the three of us are the only Masters who are not at the secret location protecting the students and continuing their training. We cannot contact them without risk to their safety."
"And there's no other Masters who can teach us their Technique? Lend us the power of their Animal Spirit?" Asked Theo.
"No. Not alive at any rate." Swoop said to his student. "All other Masters reside in the Spirit World."
"Well can you tell us how to get there?" Asked Casey. "We have to save RJ!"
"No one has ever returned from the Spirit World. It is a place unlike this Earth. It is impossible." Said master Finn, dismissing the idea.
"But we're not ordinary people." Kira insisted. "We're Power Rangers. We have the habit of making the impossible possible."
"It's too dangerous." Master Phant insisted. "We cannot risk your lives on a fool's errand." His words brought on a reaction from Connor, who's arms tightened around Kira at the thought of her life being in danger once again.
"Ok, chill Connor." Kira hissed, elbowing him in the gut to get him to loosen up. For once Connor did what she wanted. Normally while in this sate there was no reasoning with him and any attempt would see his protectiveness flare even higher and often his anger directed at her as he lectured her on her safety. But this time he relented, and she assumed it was because of her current state of mind and how she herself wasn't far from losing control.
"Masters." She addressed them all after a moment, her decision made. "I swear to you, as The Child of Power, that we will return." Kira had learned not long after having met Master Phant, that he, along with Masters Swoop and Finn were a part of the High Council, and the only other three beings Master Mao had said that knew of the prophecy. Hearing her words there was no doubt that she spoke the truth, for they knew exactly how secret the prophecy was, and the very fact that she knew of it had them believing.
"The child of-what?" Theo asked.
"That's part of the explanation for later." Kira answered, not taking her eyes off the Masters. "To those who are Ninjetti, anything is possible." She quoted Dulcea, her favourite quote whenever someone said something was impossible; though she often had to paraphrase it for most did not know who the Ninjetti were. "We will return to save RJ and stop Dai Shi and the Overlords." With only a moment more of hesitation, the three Masters nodded, knowing they'd now need to trust her implicitly, knowing who she was.
"Very well." Master Finn said.
"We shall call on our Animal Spirits and open a portal to the Spirit World." Master Swoop added. "You will have to move quickly when we do. The portal will not stay open for long."
"Will it hold all four of us?" Kira asked. "As much as I'd like him to stay, I don't think Connor's going to be letting me out of his grasp anytime soon, let alone let me go somewhere as far as the Spirit World without him."
"We may be sending four bodies, but only three people." Said Master Phant with amusement. "You are true mates, the portal will not recognize physical bodies, but Spirits, and while Connor has his own, the Lion and Cheetah share a soul as you do. It will be fine."
"Good. Then let's go." The three Masters agreed with the need to leave immediately and formed a circle around their students and Connor. It took a moment, but eventually their power began to manifest and a swirling vortex appeared.
"Go now!" Master Finn cried, and the four did not hesitate. Jumping through the portal, they landed in a jungle of sorts, but instead of a lush green, everything was brown and dead. A mist swirled around the area, giving it a mysterious feel, and a mysterious edge to the three beings that approached them not a minute after they themselves had arrived. The figures came to a stop in front of them, two men and a woman, all having the air of a Master, though the stripes on their arms could not be seen.
"Who are you, and how did you get here?" One of the men demanded, this one with a full white beard.
"We're students of Pai Zhuq and the new Guardians of Dai Shi." Theo said, explaining quickly as they did not have much time. "Masters Swoop, Phant and Finn sent us…because we're not strong enough to defeat Dai Shi."
"And the two Overlords he's released." Kira added, not wanting Theo to sell them short. "We need your help."
"I see." Said the women. "I am Master Guin, this is Master Rilla, and Master Lope." She introduced, believing their story as the other two did, for there were very few who could have opened a portal to the Spirit World, and they knew their old friends Swoop, Phant and Finn would not have done so without true need.
"Dai Shi only ever has three guardians." Master Lope commented. "Not four."
"The three of us are the Guardians." Said Casey, pointing to himself, Kira and Theo. "I'm Casey, his is Theo and Kira."
"And this is my mate, Connor." Kira added. "He didn't exactly feel too good about letting come to the Spirit World alone, so hitched a ride."
"True mates." Said Master Guin. "Your bond is strong."
"Yes, it is, more then any of us knew." Casey ground out. "Not to be rude, but we don't exactly have much time."
"Patience." Cautioned Master Rilla. "You must prove yourselves worthy before you can be rewarded."
"Rewarded?" Kira asked, her control slipping. She knew this was usually how things went, you have to prove yourself, complete some kind of test, but RJ was in danger and she was so not in the mood right now. "You mean rewarded with your help and the power to defeat the Overlords and Dai Shi and protect Earth, like you've sworn to do? Last I checked that oath didn't die with your bodies, especially when your Spirit lives on."
"You are a student. You have not sworn any oath. What could you possibly know about it?" Asked Master Lope.
"A lot more then you think. I may not have sworn as Pai Zhuq to protect Earth, but I've sworn as a Power Ranger, and as The Child of Power." She'd taken a guess that these three would have also been a part of the High Council while alive, but it had paid off, for their eyes widened at her revelation. "So I know a lot more then others about duty and destiny. We're not here to gain something for ourselves, we're here to save our friend and Master, RJ, Master Finn's son, and to save the Earth. And there isn't time to play your games, so either help us now, or we'll go find some other Master who will." Kira knew it was kind of harsh, but she was ok with that at this point in time. The three Masters merely stared at them for a moment before releasing their Animal Spirits. The Penguin, Gorilla and Antelope flew around for a moment before landing beside the three Guardians, staring at them as if they could see into their souls, which was probably not that far off, for they felt their own Animal Spirits come to the surface, no doubt meeting these Masters' Spirits half way. Eventually, the three Spirits turned back to their partners, and calmly sat next to one of the Guardians.
"Our Spirits trust you." Said Master Guin.
"You will forgive us for having to make sure of your intentions." Added Master Lope.
"Our Animal Spirits will be with you from this point forward." Said Master Rilla.
"The Pai Zhuq, the Order of the Claw, was not just created to protect this planet, and ensure the continued existence of Animal Spirits upon the destruction of the Ninjetti." Master Guin said, approaching Kira. "We were also created to answer your call. So long as you stay the path of light, our allegiance is to The Child. You will be able to call on us should you have need."
"Thank you." Kira said. "All of you. I'm sorry for how I acted, but we really don't have time."
"No, you don't." A voice said as it appeared from the mist in the trees.
"Master Mao!" The Rangers cried happily.
"The Overlords are preparing to make an example of RJ. You must hurry."
"How do we get back?" Asked Theo. In answer, the four Pai Zhuq Masters raised their hands and opened the swirling vortex, much as the other Masters had. With a final wave of thanks, the four jumped back through the portal, arriving back at the loft much to their Masters delight.
"Guess I didn't really have to go after all." Connor commented, speaking for the first time in awhile.
"You back with me?" Kira asked, believing since Connor was admitting he didn't have to go that Simba was no longer in control, but she needed to make sure.
"Yeah, I am." He said with a small smile. "But I'm not apologizing for my protectiveness."
"Wasn't going to ask you to." She said, going as far up on her tiptoes as she could and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Alright, now Master Mao said the Overlords were going to make an example of RJ, so let's go!" Her fellow Rangers couldn't argue with her and so the three ran out of the loft, heading back to the quarry; Connor actually stayed behind voluntarily.
"Rangers." Dai Shi greeted, standing beside the same company as earlier, Lily being the only one who was absent this time. "Where is the other one?"
"He's not here." Kira said. "We don't need him to defeat you."
"You sure about that? I seem to remember you losing until he came."
"Maybe. But things are gonna go a little differently this time." Said Casey as they pulled out their Morphers.
"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" Dai Shi too, morphed into his warrior mode. The battle began and at first the Rangers weren't doing as well as they needed to.
"We're still not powerful enough!" Said Theo.
"Hey, remember what Master Rilla said, we have more power now then ever before. And I intend to see just how much power we have!" Casey said as he picked himself back up and stood tall, calling on his Animal Spirit, and on Master Rilla's. He felt the Spirits well up inside him and as per usual, The Power told him what to do and what to say to call on this new power.
"Jungle Master Mode!" He cried, holding his hand out and watching as something materialized. "Claw Booster!" It was indeed a metal claw that had appeared in his hand and he waved his arms in a circle, bringing his hand down on the side of the new weapon. The claw sprung open and the power within flowed over Casey, changing his suit, and giving him a power up similar to Kira' Super Dino Mode; or at least, it was a similar premise. "You see? We do have the power!"
"Impossible!" Dai Shi growled.
"I don't like where this is going." Camille mumbled from her place with the Overlords who were watching over RJ. Apparently, the Overlords didn't like it anymore then she did for they abandoned their posts guarding RJ and went to join Dai Shi.
"What do you think Kira? You feeling it?" Theo asked, as they too got back up on their feet.
"Oh yeah!"
"Jungle Master Mode!" The cried together, gaining their Claw Boosters and using them to power up.
"Spirit of the Tiger! Full Fury! Jungle Master Red Ranger!"
"Spirit of the Cheetah! Full Fury! Jungle Master Yellow Ranger!"
"Spirit of the Jaguar! Full Fury! Jungle Master Blue Ranger!"
"We summon the Animal Spirits from within! Power Rangers Jungle Fury!" The three struck poses as they did their roll call, following Ranger tradition, and felt the run off of extra power as it surged through them and exploded out of them, making a fireball raise up to the sky.
"Go for it!" Casey said, and Theo and Kira did not hesitate in launching themselves forwards, each taking one of the Overlords and leaving Dai Shi to Casey. Although the Overlords were incredibly powerful, and arguably quite probably more powerful then Dai Shi at the moment, neither Theo nor Kira felt as if they were in over their heads. The battles were surprisingly short, the Overlords relying almost entirely on their power and not their skill in hand to hand combat, so with the Rangers added power, and their extensive training in their individual Techniques, they were able to have the Overlords on the run. But before they could run away and regroup, Theo and Kira called on all the power their Jungle Master Mode gave them and dealt the final blow. Casey's battle with Dai Shi went in a similar fashion but Dai Shi saw earlier on that he was outmatched and fell back, giving Casey a chance to jump up to where Camille stood guarding RJ.
"You have three seconds to get out of my way." He said to the Chameleon who took his threat seriously and went off to join Dai Shi.
"This is not the end!" He snarled as Camille helped him up, the two disappearing.
"RJ are you ok?" Theo asked.
"Totally, no sweat!" He said, practically beaming with pride at his students. "Woah!" Was his next word as the Overlords grew big. "Shocking." With RJ's weirdness none of them could tell if he was being sarcastic or not; it was always a toss up with RJ.
"Come on, let's show them our new Technique guys!"
"Right!"
"Spirit of the Gorilla!"
"Spirit of the Penguin!"
"Spirit of the Antelope!"
The three called on their respective Masters' Spirits, watching as they grew big and solidified into Zords.
"Woah! New Zords!" Said RJ. This time they were pretty sure he wasn't being sarcastic. The three joined with the new Spirits and tested them out before joining them together.
"Jungle Master Megazord!" Just like with their power up when the Overlords were small, they did not stand a chance against the super powered Megazord. With the Overlords destroyed, the Rangers went back to RJ and all four returned to the loft. Master Finn was out of his chair and embracing his son the moment he'd appeared in the loft.
"You ok son?"
"Yeah dad I'm fine. These three totally saved my ass back there, and took out two Overlords in the process." Of course everyone knew all that having seen it all on the TVs, but none of them were about to begrudge RJ his pride in his students. After having been welcomed back by the other Masters, and Connor while he made his way to Kira, RJ turned towards the room in general and held his arms out wide. "Loft sweet loft! It's good to be home!" He reached the area with his chair and stopped in his tracks. Reaching down he picked up one of the chips in the bowl that was constantly by his chair and sniffed it before licking it. "Someone's been eating my chips." He looked accusingly at Connor and the Masters, the ones who'd been in his loft alone. They all, of course, denied it, and though still suspicious, RJ didn't pursue them as the culprits. "And someone's been tearing at my TV Guide." He added, seeing the partially shredded book on the ground. It was then that the culprit became clear, though RJ approached his chair and spun it around to be sure.
"I'm not even going to scold you." He told the cat as he picked Jefferson up off his chair and sat down with him in his lap; much to Jefferson's delight for RJ began scratching him behind the ears. Jefferson was the only one who could get away with sitting in RJ's chair and eating or shredding his stuff and not being freaked out at, and he took full advantage of RJ's leniency. "So…what now?"
"Now I think we deserve some answers." Theo said, turning to look at Kira and Connor, the eyes of everyone else following close behind him.
A/N - I know it's only been a day since I posted, and I normally like at least 2 days between chaps, but the gold medal men's hockey game is tomorrow and I'm gonna be doing nothing but cheering Canada on!
RJ and Dai Shi were supposed to have this big fight that wounded RJ's Spirit which ultimately led to him becoming a Ranger, but I'm changing things up. He'll still become a Ranger, but not in the same way. I know there's a couple of you that were looking forward to me doing those episodes, as well as Swoop and Finn's intro episodes, and that you'll be disappointed that I'm not going them, but it just didn't work out. Sorry.
On a side note, I've just realized how close I am to finishing this story. I'm about to start writing the Megaforce arc which is where the story comes to an end. Don't worry, you've still got many chapters to go as I'm many chapters ahead in my writing (thus how I'm getting them out so fast) but I'm actually about five or six chapters from reaching the end of writing this story, with only editing and posting to do afterwards. It's kind of sad...yet exciting. lol
Review please!