Chapter 5: A Taste of Poison
"This is a far sweeter gig that Rock Porium as your day job," Ari rolled her eyes as Xander finished the pizza Fran had made for them for lunch.
"You would say that," Ari poked him, and he squirmed.
"Don't poke a man who's just eaten!" he exclaimed.
"You're a dork," Ari laughed, lifting the plate before he broke it. She squeaked as he followed her and lifted her from behind. "Don't lift a girl who's just eaten!" she teased, squirming in his grasp.
"Then don't call me a dork," Xander replied, unapologetic as he set her down. Ari turned and stuck out her tongue, before dancing away as he grabbed for her again. "Maybe I'll just go back to Briarwood then," he mused, pouting as Ari washed the dish in the little kitchen in the loft. The Gold Ranger didn't respond, drying her hands, before moving suddenly. Before Xander knew it, he was on the ground and Ari was sitting on his chest smirking.
"Don't make empty threats dude," she told him as he groaned. "We both know I'm stuck with you here for the time being," she teased, poking his forehead. Xander caught her hand, and grinned. She was right. He had managed to get some time off work, thanks to Toby hiring even more staff for the wildly popular music store.
"Alright, alright, now would you get off?" he sighed, and with a laugh, Ari got to her feet, jumping away as he grabbed for her.
"Trying to get one over on a Ninja? Good luck," she teased, before allowed him to pull her close.
"Why do I bother with you?" Xander sighed playfully.
"Cause nobody else will put up with you, you egomaniac," Ari poked him. Deciding not to rise to her teasing, Xander instead kissed her, tightening his grip on her as she kissed him back, her arms going around his neck as she pulled herself closer to him. "Plus, you love me, so it's really your own fault," she winked as she pulled away.
"What was I thinking?" he grinned back at her.
"That's what I'd like to know," Ari hummed. "But to be honest, I question more why I love you too," she told him, and his grin widened.
"Because I'm amazing," Xander replied, as if this were obvious.
"I love you despite you thinking that," Ari retorted, before hearing the TV come to life below. Pressing another kiss to his cheek, Ari pulled from Xander's grip and ran over to the TV. Grabbing her Morpher from her pocket, she alerted the others, who were downstairs, to the trouble.
"What's up?" Casey asked as he, Theo and Lily rushed up the stairs.
"Uh..." Ari stopped as she saw Casey and Lily covered in food. "You know what? I'm not gonna ask. We've got trouble in town. Let's go," she sighed, leading the way out.
Arriving Morphed, the Rangers landed on the building where a Rinshi wearing a red coat stood watching over the city as he gathered fear.
"Surprise! We're here to stop you!" Casey yelled as they fell into fighting stances.
"Surprise! Think again!" they were taken by surprise when another two landed on the building. While the first wore a blue sash, these two wore green and red ones. Another two, landed on the other side, laughing. One wore a white sash, while the other wore a yellow one. "Urgh, these are the Pai Zhuq students? I'm so unimpressed!" the female Rinshi, wearing the red sash, scoffed.
"They look pretty sorry to me!" the one in green commented.
"And ugly!" the one in yellow exclaimed.
"Yes, let's get this fight started!" the one in white cheered.
"Gecko...scorpion...cobra...toad...centipede," Ari saw the emblems on their foreheads, and frowned. "All poisonous and not to mention gross creatures. Guys, be careful," she warned her team, who nodded. The five Rinshi stood together suddenly.
"By the power of Dai Shi! Inner beasts arise!" the five chanted, suddenly changing forms.
"A hundred legs to strike you! Rantipede!" the centipede monster announced.
"Fangs full of venom! Naja!"
"Queen of the toxic dance! Stingarella!"
"Master of trickery and deceit! Gakko!"
"Skin stronger than armour! Toadie!"
"We are the Five Fingers of Poison!" the group declared.
"Poison?" Casey frowned as they fell into fighting stances, wary of the monsters.
"Get them!" Naja snapped his fingers, and the five rushed at them. Calling on their weapons, the Rangers began to fight, with Ari facing Naja.
"I really don't like snakes," Ari groaned as she blocked Naga's curved swords with her own straight ones.
"And I really don't like birds! Isn't that a coincidence!" Naja laughed, kicking her in the stomach. Ari stumbled backwards, and recovered to spin, using her swords to knock Naja's back. She kicked out, only for one of his blades to hook under her boot. He yanked up, and as she was tossed into the sky, he delivered multiple strikes that made her cry out in pain. She hit the ground, crying out again.
"Dai Shi really brought out the big guns with you lot," Ari groaned, pushing herself up. "But I've fought worse!" she told him, swinging again. Naja laughed, and dodged her attack suddenly. Ari's blades hit Toadie, and she felt herself being bounced back.
"That tickled!" Toadie laughed mockingly.
"So that's what it's like to be on the other end of my shield," Ari mused with a groan. She lunged at them again, only for Naja to strike her from the side. Ari cried out again, hitting the ground and demorphing. Lily and Theo followed shortly after, and they ran over to Casey as he fell next.
"They're too strong, we have to regroup!" Lily warned as they helped him up. Casey grabbed his Morpher, and they ran off, much to the amusement of the monsters.
The four finally stopped running after half an hour, gasping for breath.
"I liked it better when we were fighting them one at a time!" Casey exclaimed as he rubbed his shoulder.
"I feel you there," Theo nodded.
"Something tells me that even one on one, these guys are gonna give us a challenge," Ari groaned, and the four were suddenly blasted off their feet. The five Rinshi, back to their sealed forms, leapt through the air and formed a pyramid, with Stingarella to the side. With a flash of gold and black lightning, another figure leapt in with a powerful roar, landing on Naja's shoulder.
"Is that...?"
"Of all the people who had to be on their side!" Ari groaned.
"Jarrod?!" Casey cried out, remembering the bully well. The four got to their feet as Jarrod leapt down, smirking darkly.
"Jarrod? What are you doing here?" Lily asked. Camille and Minos suddenly appeared, standing on either side of him.
"No, it's not Jarrod," Ari suddenly said, taking a step forwards. "Can't you feel it? There's darkness there...before, Jarrod was just a bully. That is true evil inside whoever that is," Ari warned.
"The one you call Jarrod is gone," the young man warned with a smirk. "I am now filled with the evil of Dai Shi," he announced.
"Great!" Casey groaned. "It was bad enough when you were the jerk who got kicked out of our school!" he yelled, and Dai Shi's smirk fell.
"And you were responsible for that humiliation!" he snarled back at the tiger. "Now you will pay," Dai Shi promised.
"Oh, this is gonna be good," Camille smirked. Dai Shi pulled the fur cape from his shoulders and let out a roar. Black armour lined with gold suddenly surrounded him.
"I challenge you to a battle!" he declared, pointing to the Red Ranger.
"I beat you once, I can do it again," Casey smirked.
"No way dude," he felt himself being shoved back, and found Ari standing in front of him. "That was Jarrod, and you caught him off guard. No offence dude, but you are in no way ready to fight Dai Shi," the Gold Ranger warned.
"Oh, and you are, little bird?" Dai Shi chuckled as Ari took several steps forward. "Only a month's training and Master Mao thought you were ready to be a guardian of my prison...the old man was growing senile in his age," he mocked. The five Rinshi laughed, and both Camille and Minos smirked. "And with such a pathetic little spirit too...you're a joke!" he shouted.
"Let's see who's laughing Dai Shi!" Ari grabbed her Morpher. "JUNGLE BEAST, SPIRIT, UNLEASHED!" she Morphed into her golden suit, and her golden aura began to surround her. "With the Agility of a Sparrow!"
"I call forth the spirit of the mighty lion!" Dai Shi roared, and a gold and black lion roared as it flew from him and took to the sky.
"Call to the beast inside! Release the Sparrow!" Ari summoned her own golden spirit, which flew into the sky and lit it up golden. The two spirits began to fight, with Ari's Sparrow easily avoiding the Lion's swipes as she flew in to attack. With a yell, Dai Shi ran at her, and Ari ran to meet him. They leapt into the air, and struck each other before landing.
"Cat versus bird, who do you think is going to win here?" Dai Shi laughed as he lashed out at her.
"I'm already mad you stole my colour, don't start underestimating me now Dai Shi," Ari warned, dodging and striking him with her fist. Dai Shi stumbled back, mildly surprised. "Jarrod already did that," she reminded him.
"And you will pay for it!" Dai Shi snarled, rushing at her again, only to slam into her shield. As he bounced back, once again surprised, Ari followed and leapt up, kicking him hard. He grabbed her ankle, and swung her away. Ari cried out, but managed to right herself in mid-air, and landed easily. As soon as she landed, she hurled multiple energy-balls at him, and Dai Shi batted them away.
"I said I'd stick to my Pai Zhuq training, but if it's a fight for my life, I am not going to be stubborn!" Ari cast a spell, and golden light flew from her hands, slamming into Dai Shi.
"You have magic? Well well, it seems that Master Mao was not so senile," Dai Shi laughed, but it was strained as he fought against it. "And you may have made yourself very valuable," he added, making Ari's eyes narrow.
"To you and every other psycho wanting to destroy the planet! Been there, done that!" she shouted, before Dai Shi managed to break through the magic and lunged at her again. Ari blocked his strike, but he put much more force into it, and the Gold Ranger was thrown backwards.
"I suppose I should stop going easy on you," Dai Shi chuckled low. Ari shook out her arms, having felt the blow run right up her arms. She dodged his next blow, only for Dai Shi to swing his leg out, catching her side. Ari cried out as she was thrown into the cliff wall, and Dai Shi called on his own power. "You're not the only one with tricks, my little bird!" he laughed, throwing the energy at her. It struck dead on, and Ari was blasted through the air. She landed hard in the middle of the quarry, demorphing as the lion finally pinned her sparrow, striking her and causing her to vanish.
"Ari!" Lily cried out to the Gold Ranger, who forced herself into a sitting position.
"It wasn't hard at all to clip this bird's wings," Dai Shi snorted. "She may come in handy at some point," he commented, turning and walking away. Ari hurled an energy-ball which clipped the back of his head, making him jerk forwards. Dai Shi stumbled, and Camille's eyes widened, her hands flying to her mouth as Minos was forced to turn his head to hide his amused look. "You have a death wish, don't you?!" Dai Shi snarled.
"I've been told that," Ari shrugged, and Dai Shi snapped his fingers.
"Yes master," Stingarella nodded, leaping through the air and landing by Ari. The Gold Ranger's eyes widened and she raised a shield, but a swift kick broke through it. Stingarella's fingers then struck Ari just below her collarbone, and red light flashed. Ari screamed, falling back and curling up in a ball.
"Her poison is now in your bloodstream. It is not fatal, but the pain may teach you a lesson you have refused to learn," Ari began to glow, taking them all by surprise as she gasped for breath. "Let's go!" Dai Shi snapped, turning away. He disappeared with a laugh and a flash of gold. Camille smirked and vanished, and Minos snorted, stomping a foot to the ground and turning to dust as the Rinshi leapt away.
"Ari!" Lily cried, running over to her with the others as tears of pain streamed down Ari's face.
"I'm fine," Ari insisted as Lily tried to hand her a glass of water.
"You were just poisoned after getting knocked about by Dai Shi, you're not fine," Lily frowned.
"You shouldn't have done that, he was challenging me," Casey shook his head. The Gold Ranger scowled at him.
"Yeah, and if I hadn't stepped in," Ari groaned as she moved and grabbed her chest where Stingarella had hit her. "You would have been where I am, best case scenario," she shook her head. "You weren't ready to take on Dai Shi," she told him. Casey shook his head, but didn't speak.
"Even you were insane to challenge him," Xander spoke up from Ari's other side.
"I know..." Ari sighed, and tears stung at her eyes. "He's so powerful..." she mumbled.
"It's freaky that Jarrod turned out to be Dai Shi..." RJ commented as he appeared in the room. "But standing up to him sure took a lot of guts," he smiled to Ari.
"Or not a lot of brain cells," Theo mused. Ari glared at him, and Xander snorted.
"Theo, I'm ignoring your negative energy," RJ sighed. "Casey, I'm working on something new for you that you're just gonna love!" he then grinned widely to the Red Ranger. "You just power it up with your Tiger Spirit and it'll blow your mind!" their Master exclaimed.
"Not literally I would hope," Ari smirked weakly, and groaned as she was hit by another stab of pain.
"Is it dangerous?" Lily asked worriedly.
"Casey already has one mommy, he doesn't need two," Theo told her. Lily frowned as Ari rolled her eyes at the jealousy the Blue Ranger was radiating.
"You don't hear me complaining," the Red Ranger smirked.
"We're gonna need whatever you can cook up RJ," Ari told their Master. "The Five Fingers of Poison are going to be a challenge," the other three Rangers nodded in agreement.
"Lights out team, we're up against some major badness here, we all need some rest," RJ told them, and walked away.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright Ari?" Lily turned to the girl, who grinned.
"And I've already got three mommies, I don't need a fourth," she told Lily, who frowned in confusion with Theo and Casey. "I'll be fine," she insisted.
"Who's the third?" Xander asked curiously.
"Zoe," Ari said as if this were obvious. "She'd freak if she found out what happened today...my poor ribs..." Ari whimpered, hoping the Moon Ninja never found out.
"I'll make sure she never finds out," Xander told her with a chuckle. He'd seen first hand how Zoe reacted when Ari was injured. Ari smiled, reaching out and taking his hand, wincing as her chest protested again.
"Get some sleep guys," she told her team, who nodded and shuffled off.
"If you ever do do something that ridiculous again, I will tell Zoe," Xander warned, and Ari pouted. "I'm serious, I'm not going to lose you," he told her firmly. Ari's childish pout disappeared as she felt guilty.
"Alright...I'll try to be more careful," Ari mumbled, looking down. The Mystic Ranger sighed heavily.
"I guess that's the best I'm going to get with you..." Xander muttered.
"Large Thrilla Gorilla, and two cokes. Anything else?" Ari smiled to the two sitting at the table she had just served. They shook their heads, thanking her, and Ari smiled even brighter before moving on to help another table.
"Loving the hat by the way," Ari felt it lifted from her head, and turned to snatch it back.
"Hey, it's all part of the uniform. Less dorky than a cape, you'll find," she stuck out her tongue at Xander, who knocked the cap down to cover her face. "Bully!" Ari complained as she reached past him to grab pepper from the counter.
"Yeah, you are," Xander retorted, and Ari contemplated throwing pepper in his face when he knocked her cap down again, before turning around and walking over to the table that had requested it. "So you're feeling better?" he caught her as she made to walk past.
"Much better, it's like I was never beaten up by an evil lion and then poisoned by a scorpion," Ari shrugged. He rolled his eyes. "I'm fine now, really," Ari laughed, leaning in and kissing him before moving on.
"Hey Ari, when you're done messing around with your boyfriend, table 3 needs drinks," Theo grumbled, and the Gold Ranger saluted.
"Where's Lily?" she called over her shoulder to Theo as she walked over to the table. Theo frowned, realising that the Cheetah student was still missing.
"Still in bed?" Casey asked as the three walked over to each other.
"I'll go check," Xander volunteered, disappearing upstairs.
"Good thing, I was just about to give him a uniform, if he's gonna be sticking around," Theo commented. Ari raised an eyebrow at the shorter boy.
"Good luck with getting him to work," she told him, before Xander suddenly rushed back down.
"You guys are gonna need to see this," he told them in a quiet voice.
Rushing to the beach where Lily was fighting Rantipede alone, the three Rangers found her knocking him to the ground with her bo.
"Hey! What's the deal going off on your own?" Theo asked as they reached her.
"I seemed to be doing just fine!" Lily defended.
"Oh dude, you never say that!" Ari groaned, slapping a hand to her helmet.
"Not for long! Rinshi warriors!" Rantipede was back on his feet. He summoned a large group of Rinshi, who started moving towards them.
"See?" Ari sighed, dropping her head.
"Me and my big mouth..." Lily gulped.
"I got these guys covered," Casey smirked.
"Right!" the other three nodded, rushing off and leaving Casey to take on the Rinshi. Calling on RJ's new invention, Casey summoned a bike powered by his Tiger spirit. Lily continued her fight against Rantipede while Theo and Ari took out the last of the Rinshi that Casey missed.
"Come on then," Ari smirked, spinning her swords. The Rinshi rushed at her, but Ari dodged each one and cut through them easily, and as she tossed the last one into the sea nearby, she heard more movement behind her. Spinning around, Ari moved to dodge Minos' punch.
"My dear sister is fighting the Red Ranger on his fancy new toy, so I thought I'd keep you preoccupied," Minos smirked, already in his armour as he rested his hammer on the ground.
"Aren't you kind?" Ari rolled her eyes, and dove aside as he moved, swinging his hammer at her. She rolled and pushed up, slamming her blades against the handle as he blocked. They fought at a seemingly even matched pace, before Ari got under his attack and slashed across his chest. Minos grunted, dropping his hammer, which landed in the sand with a dull thud. He then swung a hard punch, that Ari knocked aside with the back of her hand before she caught his chest with a punch of her own.
"I'm going to have fun destroying you, little bird," Minos smirked, undeterred as Ari fell into a fighting stance again.
"Good luck with that dude, people have been trying for years," she told him. "Call to the beast inside! Release the Sparrow!" Ari released her animal spirit, and Minos was blasted back. "Not such a little bird, huh?" Ari couldn't resist taunting, before running off to join her team.
"Good work Lil!" Casey complimented the Yellow Ranger, who had defeated Rantipede by herself.
"You know, except for the whole running off by yourself thing," Ari smirked.
"Thanks," Lily laughed, before Rantipede suddenly got back to his feet.
"Now you'll see who you're really dealing with!" he declared with a roar, pulling the sack from his head. When he did, he revealed that he was completely covered in what looked like multiple centipedes, crawling across his face.
"Aw gross!" Ari yelled.
"Ew! Nasty!" Lily shuddered at the Rinshi's true appearance.
"His face is crawling!" Theo yelled.
"Your fear makes me stronger!" Rantipede laughed as he began to grow.
"We'll see about that!" Lily growled. The four summoned their animal spirits, and combined into the Jungle Pride Megazord. Below, Camille staggered towards the fight to watch.
"Urgh! That bike blast has some kick!" she groaned, and was caught by her brother.
"They're all more powerful than we expected," he grinned, and she rolled her eyes.
"Only you would be happy about that," Camille grumbled.
"Oh! It's on now!" Flit yelled as he buzzed through the air. "Let's watch!" he cheered as the Megazord kept up with Rantipede's powerful strikes, and caught his hands to force them down.
"Oh man!" Casey gulped when the large centipede that was his head suddenly uncurled. "This guy is out of control!" Casey groaned, and struck them repeatedly before wrapping around their Megazord and restraining them.
"Now you're mine!" Rantipede declared with a laugh.
"Don't give up guys!" Casey yelled. "Come on!"
"Not a chance! We can get outta this!" Ari nodded to her team. With some struggling, they managed to get their hands free and grab the end of the centipede holding them. They began to spin, before tossing Rantipede to the ground. They ran at him, and with one final strike, finished Rantipede off.
"No!" Camille groaned.
"Another victory for the Rangers!" Flit declared as Camille and Minos returned to their normal forms. "What a heartbreaking upset! Now you have to go and tell Dai Shi!" Flit laughed, not seeming very worried.
"I know...he's not going to be happy..." Camille sighed as Minos swatted Flit away, scowling.
"Where's Lily now?" Xander asked as Ari walked past, putting money in the till and grabbing the change needed.
"Kitchen," Ari smirked. Seeing his confused look, Ari's smirk widened. "She's to wash all the dishes. RJ's punishment for running off alone," she explained, and walked over to one of the booths to hand over the change. She smiled brightly at them, before turning back.
"Why did she run off alone?" Xander wondered as he glanced over his shoulder to where Lily was currently washing all the dishes in the restaurant.
"To protect Casey," Ari snorted as she walked back over, stretching. It was close to closing time, and only a few customers remained. "She's worried cause he's so new and all," she smirked, and Xander glanced back at her again.
"Really?" he grinned in amusement as well. "That's interesting," he mused.
"Oh yeah," Ari laughed. Hearing laughter, they went to the door and peeked in to see Casey and Lily having a water fight, oblivious to everything and everyone else. "That's very interesting," Ari muttered to Xander, who nodded in agreement.
"Guys!" Theo yelled from the top of the stairs, scowling at the pair. "Must you?" he yelled, but they didn't hear him. With a huff, he stormed off, back up the stairs, and Ari's grin faded slightly. That didn't look good.
Gonna be on lame shifts for three days but I'll update by the end of the weekend at the latest! I got more written than I expected to so yay!
I hope you liked it!
Please review!