Chapter 19: Ultimate Jungle Fury

The Kenma Unleashed

PART ONE: Jarrod's Truth

The real DaiShi rolled his hands into fists. He felt the blood of demons course through his veins. Even though Simon died, power still flowed through his Body, a Body DaiShi now possessed.

He spoke with an unnatural voice, the voice of the demon inside. "Jarrod...Camille... my children."

"DaiShi..." Jarrod whispered.

Camille shook her head and took a step back. "What...What does this mean?"

"It means you are no longer under the servitude of the Three Kenma," DaiShi said. "You are mine, and I have come to claim you, and the RinJuken Akugata."

Two blurs of motion landed alongside Maku: Kata and Rageku.

DaiShi's pale lips curved into a wicked smile. "Good...all three of you are here."

DaiShi dashed through a blur of motion and punched Maku with enough force to hurl him across the dojo.

Kata and Rageku pounced to attack. But DaiShi snapped kicks that knocked them aside.

Maku growled with annoyance and climbed to his feet. He extended his arms, flexed his muscles, and flared with DoRinki.

DaiShi grinned mockingly. "DoRinki? Do you think that power is anything compared to mine? This Body swells with my own energy, and the energy of dozens." 

Maku stomped into a fighting stance. "Ringi! Kamu Chakka!"

His chest fired a flare of DoRinki that DaiShi swatted aside. The energy blasted through the wall with an explosion of fire and debris.

Maku lunged and swiped his claw. "DoRinki Ohotsu Ku!"

DaiShi blocked the energized slash and uppercut-punched Maku's chest. The blow sent the demon staggering backward.

DaiShi laughed with a hollowed echo. "This body is damaged, and still more than a match for you!"

The demon looked to Jarrod and extended his hand. "Who would you follow? The Kenma?Or the lord whose strength flows through your veins, and the veins of Camille. The one who gave you your power..."

Jarrod hesitated. He didn't know what to think. The attack happened so soon, without warning.

"If you truly are DaiShi..." Jarrod said. He decided to test the demon in the only way he knew how. "Then show me your power!"

Jarrod shifted into his Shaded form and dashed to attack. He snapped a kick. But DaiShi sidestepped, grabbed Jarrod by the neck, and smashed him to the ground.

"Haven't I shown you enough?" DaiShi asked.

Camille shifted into her Shaded form, unsheathed her sai-blades, and charged.

DaiShi thrust his hand and fired a TK burst that blasted Camille across the dojo.

"You are as strong as you are because I made you this way. Both of you," DaiShi said.

Jarrod rolled to his feet and stepped into a defensive stance. "I fought in your name...Everything I did...I did in your name."

Behind, Maku grumbled with laughter. "This demon is nothing but a ghast in a corpse. You would call such a thing 'master'?!"

"Yes..." Kata said as he stood. "Especially after what he did to your family..."

Jarrod knitted his brow. "My family...?"

"I have been inside your mind, little lion," Kata said. "And I see it now, so clearly. The demon who slaughtered your foster family, was DaiShi himself."

Jarrod narrowed his eyes. "What...?

"He watched you grow into childhood. Then, he possessed your foster father, killed your foster family, and finally, his host," Kata said. "In the midst of that carnage, that slaughter, you saw his true visage. Because of your connection with him, you saw him for who he truly was: the demon beast of the lion."

Jarrod remembered now...The growl of the lion. The shape of the beast.Ebbing from his own foster father, even after his death.

Rage clutched Jarrod's chest. Anger burned through his veins.

DaiShi smiled. "Rinki flows from a heart of hatred. What better way to sow hatred, to prepare you to one day revive the RinJuken Akugata-"

Jarrod screamed with a shockwave that ignited his DoRinki. Purple and black energy flared from his body and soul, intensified by his anger.

He surged forward and bashed DaiShi with a palm-heel strike that hurled him from the dojo.

Kata laughed at the sight. "Very good, little lion. You-"

Jarrod snapped towards the Kenma. "DoRinki!"

He hurled a bolt of purple energy that bashed them with massive bursts of spark.

Jarrod breathed heavily as his DoRinki dimmed. He looked to Camille and extended his hand. "Come..."

"Jarrod...?" she asked.

"No more Kenma. No more DaiShi. No more RinJuken!" he shouted. "We will carve our own path. Come..."

Camille smiled and took his hand. Together, they left the dojo.

DaiShi walked back into the dojo after Jarrod and Camille left. He saw no sign of the Three Kenma either. They likely fell back to regroup.

DaiShi took a seat on the throne room's pedestal. He wanted Jarrod and Camille at his side, but they abandoned him.

No matter. He controlled all of RinJuken now. And he could still bring Evan into the fold.   

The villain rolled his hands into fists and flexed his muscles. "I will crush the Kenma. Reclaim my youngest son. And take my place as the new Great Beast of Hell. The True Successor of the Mogralord."

PART TWO: Jungle Karma

Days passed. DaiShi remained silent and gathered his strength. The Three Kenma retreated into hiding. And Jarrod and Camille disappeared.

But the demons continued their random attacks. And the Rangers fought back.

Dominic watched them through the news and bumped into them a couple more times, which ticked them off quite a bit. Not that he cared. He wanted excitement. They provided it.

The teen took a break from Ranger stalking for a day and decided to visit Jungle Karma Pizza, an eatery in downtown Angel Grove South.

He took a seat by himself and opened the menu. Soon after, a waitress, Fran, walked to his table. She looked...perky. Too perky.

"Hi..." she said with a goofy smile. "I haven't seen you here before...Is this your first time?"

"Yep," Dom said. "Got anything good?"

"Oh, it's all good..." she said, with far too much enthusiasm, in a way that sounded almost sexual. "The cheese...pepperoni...mushroom...Oh, I love it, I love it all."

Dom arced an eyebrow. "That's...great," he said as he shifted awkwardly. "Thanks. I'll just have a small pepperoni."

"Oh, you can have so much more than that..." she said as he traced her finger across his menu. "I like the sausage the best. Big, meaty, hot sausage."

"OK," Dom said as he closed his menu and stood. "Thanks for the-"

Fran grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him onto the table. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Ew, ew, ew." Dom squirmed to pull away, but she held him tight. "What the hell are you-"

Her eyes turned solid black, demon possessed.

Dom scoffed. "Seriously?"

Dom pushed her away and scrambled to his feet. The teen looked around, and noticed the other customers stared at him with solid black eyes.

"Well..." the teen said with a smirk. "I did want some excitement."

Fran lunged at the teen. Dom sidestepped and knife-hand chopped the back of her neck, dropping her to the ground.

The other customers charged. They punched, kicked and clawed, but Dom managed to block or dodge most of their attacks. Still, they outnumbered him and forced him to the ground.

The attackers kicked his ribs and gut, and pommeled his body with their fists.

Dom struggled to fight back and cursed his stupid luck. Some excitement...

Suddenly, the doors burst open. Rick barged inside along with the Shaded: Kyle, Enzo, Evan and Rika.

Kyle shifted into his Shaded form and charged through the demons, hurling them across the restaurant.

Enzo gripped his talisman. "Homage to the all-pervading Vajras, Destroy!"

He thrust the talisman and fired a burst of Holy lightning. The blast exploded with a flash of light that scattered the demons.

Fran climbed to her feet, snarled and charged at the newcomers.

Rika shifted into her Shaded form and thrust her palms forward. "Kitsune!"

She fired bursts of electricity shaped like two foxes. The blasts smashed Fran and hurled her backward.

Rick stayed behind to protect Evan, who read scripture from a tablet. He finished the verse: "Thou shalt destroy them and shall not build them up. Blessed be the Lord. The Lord is my helper, and my protector. Thou shalt perish!"

The demons screamed and convulsed. They tilted their heads, and clouds of demon smoke poured from their mouths and dissipated into nothingness.

Dom stood as the last of the demons fell. He looked across the restaurant, demolished and littered with the unconscious forms of the demons' former hosts.

"Sick..." he said with a smirk.

Rick walked towards the teen. "I know you...You keep running into the Rangers. It's like you're looking for trouble."

"Not this time, I swear," Dom said. "I just wanted pizza. Then this crazy lady-"

Fran leapt to her feet and snarled. "You took him away!" She ran straight towards Evan. "You took away my friend!"

Dom acted without thinking. He leapt in front of Evan and swung a ridge-hand strike towards Fran. The strike speared through her chest with a splatter of blood.

Dom opened his eyes wide with shock. Without thinking, he had summoned Geki, sharp as a blade, which punctured her chest.

"That..." he whispered. "That's new."

PART THREE: Geki Chopper!

Jarrod and Camille stood on the rooftops of Angel Grove South. They looked out upon the Southern Cross Cathedral, where Rick housed and protected the young Shaded.

"I don't understand..." Camille said. "Why have we come here?"

"DaiShi...and the Kenma...I will defeat them all," Jarrod said. "To do that, I need power."

"You have your DoRinki..." she said as she rubbed his arm. "You can crush all your enemies."

"Soon. But first...This place has secrets. Secrets I need," he said of the Southern Cross. "I summoned the Kenma into this plane. Now I will banish them into an eternity of torment."

They didn't notice Kata watch from the shadows.

Kata returned to a cave outside the city. Maku sat in the center of the cave, and Rageku stood at his side.

"Well?" Maku asked with an impatient bellow.

"I've found them..." Kata said with a bow. "They are at the Southern Cross Cathedral. They want its secrets...to banish us."

Maku laughed and slapped his leg. "Banish us?! That boy...That stupid boy. Let him try. I will drink from his skull!"

"He may find a way..." Rageku said softly.

"What?!" Maku shouted.

Rageku stepped back. "The cathedral houses exorcists. Shaded..." she said. "They may have the knowledge to exorcise demons in physical form."

Maku grumbled. "That can't be done."

"Perhaps we should make certain," Kata said.

Maku slapped his legs with anger. "Certain?! That little lion cub thinks these exorcists have power?! Fine.Wipe out that cathedral. Take their power."

The demon flexed his bulging muscles. "I will drink their Life Force and make it my own. Then I will go to DaiShi, tear off his head, and reclaim the RinJuken."

He looked to his subordinates. "Go!"

"Dude, you killed that girl!" Enzo said to Dom.

Dom, Enzo, Rick and the Shaded stood in the chapel of the Southern Cross Cathedral.

Dominic shrugged. "It was an accident...sort of."

"You did her a favor," Rick said.

Kyle knitted his brow. "That's a bit...morbid."

Rika nodded. "Even for me."

"It's true," Rick said. "She was a Shallow. She let the demon consumer her Soul. So when the demon left, she was empty. Soulless."

"That still doesn't explain what happened," Kyle said. "How did he even do that?"

"His Geki," a voice said from the rear of the chapel. Adam walked inside, along with Miki. "He used Geki."

"Adam..." Rick said. "Thanks for coming."

Adam nodded. He looked to Dom. "I hear you've been following the Rangers?"

"Once or twice," Dom said.

"Why?" Adam said.

Dominic shrugged. "Not much else to do."

Miki scoffed. "This can't be him."

"I think it is," Adam said. "He protected Evan. And the way they described his Ki..."

Dom knitted his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"I mentor the Jungle Fury Rangers," Adam said. "There's four of them...but there should be five. I've been waiting for the fifth...and I think that's you."

"Are you serious?" Dom asked.

"Your Geki ignited when you tried to save Evan," Adam said. "You have a heart of justice in there somewhere. And your Geki...it's unique. Razor sharp. Am I right?"

Dom rolled his hands into fists. "I have...no idea."

"Don't think," Adam said. "Just feel..."

Dominic shook his head. "What does that even mean?"

"Like when you rushed to protect Evan. You didn't think. You acted on instinct," Adam said. "On feeling."

"And look how well that turned out," Dom said. "I killed that girl. I know she was bat-shit crazy, but still. Besides, how did I get this power all of a sudden? I've fought before. I've never popped out orange energy blades."

"Being around the other rangers, their Geki, probably sparked your own Geki," Adam said.

Miki pulled out two arm guards and handed them to Dom. "Here...try these on."

Dom sighed and reluctantly tried on the arm guards.

"Now..." Adam said. "Focus your Ki."

Dom arced an eyebrow.

"You're going to need to learn to control it," Adam said. "Now focus your Ki. Don't think. Just feel."

Enzo snickered. "That sounds lamer each time he says it."

Kyle nudged his ribs. "Shut up."

Dom took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reached for the power of his spirit. His Geki flared with orange power and sharpened into blades that stabbed from his aura.

He staggered and nearly fell as his aura died down. "What the...What was that...?"

"Like I said," Adam said. "You'll need to learn to control it."

Miki's smart phone beeped from her pocket. She pulled it out and activated the app that tied into the dojo's tracking system.

"An attack," she said. "It's Croc..."

"That alligator again?" Dom asked. The teen looked to his arm guards and smirked. "Well...if I'm going to do this, then I'm going to do this."

"It's too soon," Adam said. "You need to-"

"Do 'it's-to-soon' speeches ever actually work with you Ranger types?"

Adam hesitated. "...No."

"That's what I thought," Dom said. "I'm out."

He gave a mock salute and bolted from the chapel.

Enzo smiled. "I like him."

Kyle smacked him upside the head.

In their Jungle Master modes, Blue Jaguar and Yellow Cheetah leapt towards Croc. They clawed their fist weapons. But the villain blocked and chopped them aside.

Violet Wolf lunged with a knee strike that bashed the monster's gut. Croc grabbed the Violet Wolf Ranger by the throat and hurled him through the air.

Red Tiger flared with KaGeki and shot towards Croc. He swung his fist weapon and punched the monster with a burst of spark that hurled him backward.

Croc tumbled across the street.

The Rangers regrouped around their leader. But before they could attack, Dom ran to the scene.

"Don't worry, guys," he said with a smirk. "This one's on me."

"Him again?" Violet Wolf asked.

Adam spoke to the Rangers through their communicators. "Give him a chance," Adam said. "He's the fifth Ranger I've been waiting for."

"Seriously?" Yellow Cheetah asked with disbelief.

Dominic summoned his Rhino Morpher with a burst of orange energy. The morpher looked like a large fist weapon with a blade snapped shut.

"Jungle Beast! Spirit, unleash!" His aura wrapped around him as he morphed into his Ranger form.

The Ranger snapped into a fighting stance with his morpher - the Rhino Blade - armed as a fist weapon. "With the power of the rhino! Jungle Fury, White Ranger!"

Croc growled with annoyance. "Rinshi!"

The grunts sprang to the scene and hopped towards White Rhino to attack.

The White Rhino charged through their ranks and chopped them aside. His Rhino Blade hacked through their bodies with massive bursts of spark that flung them through the air.

White Rhino chopped a Rinshi's chest, side-kicked a grunt's face, and slashed a third grunt aside.

The White Ranger high blocked a blow, stabbed through the grunt's chest and tossed him away.

He snapped around and chopped a Rinshi's shoulder, dropping the grunt to the ground.

White Rhino leapt through the air with a flying sidekick that bashed a grunt backward. The Rinshi smashed against his comrades and tumbled across the street.

The White Ranger landed and poured his Geki into his fist weapon. "Rhino Blade!" he shouted. "Nen Nen Dan!"

He thrust his weapon and fired darts of Geki that punctured through Rinshi with bursts of spark.

The White Ranger charged and swung his fist blade through wide arcs, firing volleys of Geki that tore through Rinshi like rags.

White Rhino slid into a defensive stance as the last Rinshi collapsed and exploded.

"Sick..." he said.

Suddenly, Croc lunged with a double punch that smashed White Rhino with bursts of spark. The blow hurled him backward.

The White Ranger crashed, tumbled across the street, and rose to his feet.

"You've really done it now..." he said as he stepped into a fighting stance. "Let me show you what the Rhino-Fist can really do!"

Croc charged and chopped at White Rhino. The White Ranger dodged and parried, then stabbed his Rhino Blade against the monster's chest - but the creature barely felt the blow.

White Ranger dodged and stabbed again. And again. But the blows barely fazed the monster.

Croc grumbled with delight. "My armor is solid..."

He swung an uppercut that slashed White Rhino with a burst of spark and snapped him off his feet.

"Your Geki can't hurt me..." the monster taunted.

White Rhino crashed and tumbled. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet.

"Oh really?" White Rhino asked. He poured his Geki into his fist weapon. "Rhino Blade!Chou Nen Nen Dan!"

The White Rhino Ranger fired a massive dart of energy that pierced Croc's body with bursts of spark. The impact hurled him to the ground.

Smoke hissed from the monster's broken body as he staggered to his feet.  

White Rhino shifted his stance. "Really? You want to go through all that again?"

The Ranger snapped open his weapon's blade.

Croc shoveled into the ground and hurled a bolder of concrete.

White Rhino slashed through streaks of orange energy that smashed the boulder to pieces.

"Geki Waza!" White Rhino shouted. "Ei Ei Tou!"  

He chopped through a streak of orange energy that slashed towards Croc. The blast tore through the street and ripped through the monster with massive bursts of spark. Croc collapsed, and his body exploded into ashes.

White Rhino breathed deep and lowered his weapon. "Osu!"

Rick spoke with Kyle and the others after Adam and Miki left the Southern Cross Cathedral.

"OK..." he said them. "Now that things have settled down, I wanted to teach you about-"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Enzo said. "That Adam guy has new Rangers popping up every day. When is it out turn?"

Evan's face lit up. "Yeah...when can we be Rangers?"

"You can't," Rick said. "You're Shaded. You can't harness Geki."

"So?" Enzo said. "There are other types of Rangers, right?"

"Yes, but..." Rick shook his head. "I brought you here to train you as exorcists. The Rangers can handle the warlords and monsters. But someone needs to stay on the streets, and fight the demons people face every day."

Kyle scoffed. "You mean the demons too lowly to catch the Rangers' notice."

"Let them handle the monsters that stomp through the city," Rick said. "We'll take care of the creatures that hide in the shadows."

Suddenly, the ground shook. Then again.And again.

Rick knitted his brow. "Guys. Stay-"

The chapel doors exploded with bursts of wind energy.

The demon Kata floated inside with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hello, little exorcists..." the monster said. "I hear you may have a way to banish demons in physical form. I'm afraid that won't do. Not at all..."

The rangers powered down their armor and regrouped around Dominic.

The teen smirked. "See. I told you I'd be helpful. Just took one big-ass morpher to make it happen."

Their communicators toned before Casey and the others could question the new addition to their team.

"Guys, get to the Southern Cross Cathedral, now," Adam said.

R.J.'s face paled. "Why...?"

"The Kenma," Adam said. "They've attacked."

"No..." R.J. said as he ran off.

The other started to follow, but Adam called on them to wait. "Casey, Theo and Lilly, you guys go ahead. Dominic, I need you back at the dojo."

"But I can help," Dom said.

"I know you can," Adam said. "But you'll need a zord."

"Well when you put it that way..." Dom said.

Casey, Theo and Lilly followed R.J., and Dom ran back towards the dojo.

Casey, Theo, Lilly and R.J. ran to the Southern Cross Cathedral. They found the entire campus a smoking ruin.

"No..." R.J. said as he rolled his hands into fists. "Rick..."

To be continued...Chapter 20