Casey ran. Ran as fast as his legs would allow. He was furious. He'd lost his brother and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. The look on his face was that of anger and sadness. He didn't look like Casey. As he ran he placed his Solar Morpher on his face and morphed. He may not have been able to save RJ, but he was going to avenge him. As he morphed, he never broke stride, he still ran as fast as he could. His running was fueled by rage and he knew who to take it out on.
He arrived at Dai Shi's temple; he easily took down the few Rin Shi that guarded it with a quick strike from his claw weapon. He didn't stop—not until he found whom he wanted.
He walked into Dai Shi's throne room. He kicked open the door. It made a noise so loud that you would have thought that a bomb went off. The only one in the throne room was Camille, and when she saw Casey it took her completely off guard. When Casey spotted her, he grabbed her wrist she tried to camouflage but he jerked her to prevent her from doing so.
"Where is he?" Casey said in a voice that didn't sound a thing like his own.
"Who?" She replied. She knew who he meant, but she loved to see what this was doing to him. Casey was furious at her answer. He pulled her arm behind her back and squeezed it tightly. She cried out and was beginning to realize how serious he was.
"Jarrod!! Where is he?!" Casey screamed.
"W-what are you doing here?" Camille stuttered. Casey grew angrier with each passing moment, and didn't appreciate what Camille was doing. He turned her around to face him and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her as he spoke.
"Where is Jarrod?!" He repeated. His voice cracked from his yelling, and his devastation. Camille freed herself from his grip.
"You'll have to defeat me first, ranger!" Camille snapped back then she morphed into her chameleon form. Then the battle was on. Casey swiped his claw weapon at her with full force. He had anger fueling his movement and was easily prevailing over Camille. He leapt in the air and used his jets to come crashing down to slash her across the chest. She fell to the floor and he pinned her against it. He held his claw up high, preparing to strike.
"Tell me where Jarrod is or I'll-" Casey screamed but was cut off by Camille.
"Or you'll what? Destroy me? Then that would make you no better than Dai Shi now would it? Think about it ranger." Camille said as she played her mind games on him. Casey slowly put his arm down. He may have defeated her physically, but she defeated him emotionally. He heard his Morpher beep and he put his hand to his helmet.
Theo's voice came through the feed. "Casey, where are you? We're worried about you."
"I'm…nowhere." He said as he got off of Camille, then he began to leave. Camille didn't have enough left in her to stop him. "Don't worry, I'll see you guys in a minute." Then Casey left the base.
Camille lay there for a moment, then was finally able to stand.
"Tigers…" she said to herself, "…so aggressive." She left the throne room and entered what appeared to be a hidden room in the dungeon, for she had to pull the arm of an old statue to get the doors to open. When she entered the room, she saw Dai Shi sitting in a metal chair. His head was back and had a pained expression on his face.
"How are you feeling, Dai Shi?" She asked as she walked over to him. "Do you feel any better?"
"I won't if the Overlords find me." He answered weakly.
"The Red Ranger came here demanding to see you." Camille said.
"Red Ranger? He must be upset that his little Wolf friend is gone. Too bad." He said evilly. "Send some Rin Shi to attack the city while I recover. They ought to be a little off there game."
"Yes, master." Camille answered, and then she left the room.
"I hope I recover soon. The Wolf Master may be gone, but not without great damage to me." Dai Shi said to himself.
The next day at JKP, Casey was lying in his bed throwing a small, red rubber ball against the wall. He threw it over and over again his mind was elsewhere. Theo and Lily were sparring but stopped when they noticed how long Casey had been lying there not saying a word. Fran came up behind them.
"Is his okay?" Fran asked gesturing to Casey. Theo and Lily had a saddened look on their faces as well. "And…are you?" she asked when she noticed.
"Yeah. Just a really tough day on the battlefield yesterday." Lily lied.
"Still bouncing back from it." Theo added. "And Casey…" Theo said looking to him, "Casey's just having a bad day."
"Oh, well I hope you guys feel better soon. I bet you will when RJ gets back. Speaking of RJ, have you guys seen him around here lately?" Fran asked as she looked around the room. Theo and Lily knew that now was not a good time to tell her about RJ's passing. When Casey heard what they were talking about he stopped throwing the ball and caught it in his hands.
"Fran…" Lily began, but didn't have the heart to tell her the truth, "RJ went away for a while. He said he'd be back in a few days." Lily felt horrible for lying to Fran, but at least she had bought herself a few days to think of a way to let her down gently. When Casey heard Lily's words, he felt the anger and sadness swell up inside him again, and he resumed throwing the ball against the wall.
"He told us to tell you that he said 'Goodbye'." Theo said. After all, he wasn't really lying.
"Oh…okay." Fran said with confusion. She could tell that the rangers were hiding something, she just didn't know what. She headed back down to the kitchen to think things over. Afterwards, the rangers Morphers went off. Theo and Lily heard the call, but Casey didn't his mind was somewhere else. Theo and Lily looked to their Morphers, then to Casey. They knew that he couldn't fight; he was thrown too much by what had happened.
"Let's just leave him here alone for a while." Lily said.
"But what if he goes off and tries to face Dai Shi alone again. I mean he was very lucky that something bad didn't happen to him the last time." Theo argued.
"I doubt that he'll do that, Theo. RJ was like his big brother. He still needs time to heal—we just need to give him time, and trust him." Lily explained. Theo sighed. Lily always seemed to know the right thing to say.
"You're right. Let's go." He answered. And the two left the loft. The call had led them into town. People ran all over the place in fear. Rin Shi were everywhere feeding on the frightened civilians fear.
"Come on, T! We can do this!" Lily shouted with confidence.
"I'm with you all the way, Lil!" Theo responded as he and she ran into the large group of Rin Shi. Theo equipped his Jungle Fans, and Lily her Jungle Mace and prepared for battle.
Meanwhile, back at the loft, thinking back on past events made him grow angry. He threw the ball to hard and it hit him right in his injured shoulder. He shouted in pain, which only made him feel angrier. He threw the ball at a nearby lamp and caused it to shatter. He sighed at his actions and headed over to clean up the pieces. As he did, he looked up to see RJ's chair. Seeing this, he remembered RJ's words: "Don't get attached to the master, but to the lessons he teaches you. I've taught you all that I can and I'm proud of that. I'm lucky to have known you guys." And although he was still sad inside, Casey managed to smile. He knew that RJ wouldn't have wanted him sulking around. Theo and Lily still found it in themselves to protect the world—and so could he. So with that, he ran to aid his friends in need.
Meanwhile, Lily and Theo were trying their best to keep the hundreds of Rin Shi at bay. It wasn't easy—they were very much outnumbered and down two teammates.
"There's just too many!!" Theo cried as Rin Shi surrounded him.
"Just don't give up, Theo!" Lily shouted. She knew she and Theo wouldn't be able to last much longer.
"Maybe I can help!" Casey called from the distance.
"Casey?" Lily yelled with hope. Then she and Theo saw his crimson suit glistening in the sunlight, Shark Sabers in hand.
"Yeah. I realized moping accomplished nothing. RJ was like my brother, but now, instead of fighting with him, I'll fight for him." Casey said, sounding more like himself with each word.
"Yeah! Let's do this for RJ!" Lily shouted.
"You got it!" Theo added. Then the three Power Rangers stood together.
"Shark Sabers!"
"Jungle Mace!
"Jungle Fans!"
They all called out as they fired their weapons with all the power they could. And that did it, all the Rin Shi fell to the ground and disappeared into shrouds of purple smoke. The team gave one another high fives and cheered.
"That was for you, RJ." Casey said.
"Yeah." Lily said softly. Theo nodded in agreement.
Later that night at JKP, the rangers and Fran were closing up shop. Theo and Lily wiped tables, Fran counted the funds; Casey was cleaning the glass door to the restaurant's entrance. As he did, he looked up and saw a full moon. He couldn't help but think about the night before and everything that had happened. Theo and Lily noticed the look in his face and walked over to him.
"What is it, Casey?" Lily asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. Casey didn't answer, he just gestured his head up to the sky. When Theo and Lily saw it, they felt saddened as well.
"Oh." Theo said softly. Fran didn't notice their sad faces.
"Oh, no." She sighed. "We need some mops, I just spilled some sauce."
"There's some up in the loft. I'll get them." Casey offered.
"I'll help you." Lily said sweetly. She didn't want to leave Casey alone when he was feeling this way. Then he and Lily headed up to the loft.
"I…guess I'll go too." Theo said and followed them. Fran looked confused.
"Well if you're all going, I'll help too!" She said as she ran behind them—she hated being left out. The team darted up the stairs. Casey stopped in his tracks. Theo and Lily did the same when they saw what they did. Fran however just kept on walking.
"Hey, RJ." She said in passing. "I take it you're feeling better." She grabbed a mop. She saw the other's faces and was confused.
"RJ? Is that really you?" Lily asked in shock. And there RJ was. Sitting in his chair. When he saw the others he got up and walked over to them.
"In the flesh!" he answered.
"But…how?" Casey said, his eyes wider than ever.
"I owe it all to Master Mao." RJ explained.
"Master Mao?" Theo asked. Fran walked over to them in the meantime.
"Um…did I miss something?" she asked while she adjusted her glasses. Then she realized that whatever it was, they would tell her later and that this wasn't her business. "Actually…I'm going to go…clean the sauce." She said as she left the loft.
"So…how are you back? I thought Jarrod…" Casey began but didn't want to finish his own sentence.
"Destroyed me?" RJ finished for him. Casey nodded his head hesitantly. "Well, Jarrod did destroy me, but when I reached the Spirit World, Master Mao allowed me to return to this world." RJ explained, motioning his hands about.
"But why?" Lily asked trying to fathom what was going on.
"Mao told me that my students still needed me. You can imagine how flattered I was. So, he sent me back here—gave me a 'second chance' if you will." RJ told them with a smile.
"So you're really back?" Casey asked, finally smiling.
"Yep, back with my family." RJ said as he put his arms around the three of them, hugging them. "Yes, my whole family, even—Fran!" He yelled for her. She came bumbling up the stairs. She had sauce all over her, which meant she had fallen in the sauce she had spilt earlier. The rangers gave her a raised eyebrow look.
"I fell…in the sauce." She said meekly. RJ looked at the other rangers as to if they should let her in the hug since she was so messy.
"What the heck." RJ said as he motioned her in. Afterwards they all had sauce all over them, but they didn't care, they were together, and that's all that mattered. RJ then made his way over to Casey.
"How'd you and the team hold up while I was gone?" RJ asked.
"Best we could." Casey said. He knew that he didn't handle it well at all, and RJ could see it in his face.
"Well, no worries because this Wolf is back in business." RJ said forming a fighting pose. Casey laughed and nodded and RJ patted him on the shoulder. All was well again-- well, except for the sauce.
THE ENDA/N: Hello all! Thanks for taking the time to read my story! Thanks to all who put it on any list, or even reviewed. I love hearing from you guys! Hope you liked it! And I will try and post another story within a week.