//------------------------------// // Compassion of the jaguar // Story: Welcome to the Jungle: A Power Rangers Story // by TheHardie-Boy //------------------------------// The adrenaline of the day before was still getting to Theo. He couldn’t believe that he got the chance to fight alongside TOMMY OLIVER, let alone meet him. He didn’t let this get to him, though. He knew that overconfidence would lead to his downfall. He decided to burn some of his energy and go for a run. Theo was starting to get used to this new world, crazy as it was. He found himself thinking about his old life back on Earth. He remembered when he attended the Pai Zhua Academy, meeting Lily, becoming a ranger, and defeating evil spirits. Sure, he and Casey had a few bumps here and there, but the two had really become close friends. In fact, he couldn’t seem to remember a time before the Pai Zhua Academy. After all, he was a ranger through and through. Theo woke up from his day dream when he tripped over Fluttershy. The butterscotch pegasus started to gather her stuff from the ground and back away. “Hey, I’m really sorry. I really should have been looking where I was going,” Theo said. “Oh no, it’s alright. It’s my fault for interrupting your run. Oh I hope you can forgive me,” Fluttershy responded. Theo was shocked. He knew Fluttershy was really nice, but this was insane. “Forgive you? You should be the one forgiving me. I ran into you,” Theo responded. “Oh no, I could never make you take the blame for something like this. After all, you’ve only been here a week. I don’t want you to feel unwelcome,” Fluttershy responded. Theo was unsure what to do. He wasn’t about to make this nice little girl apologize for something like that, but he couldn’t find a way to convince her that it was his fault. “T-That’s okay. I forgive you...I-I guess?” Theo said. Theo walked away, still shocked about what just happened. He made a note to himself to talk to Fluttershy about that. Before he could think about the topic any further, he was instantly surrounded by Rinshi. He looked back at Fluttershy and saw she was under attack as well. He pulled out his sunglasses and hit the button. “Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!” Theo jumped into action and defended Fluttershy as best he could. It was a lot easier to just fight the Rinshi, but protecting someone in the process was another story. He could easily make quick work of these guys, but protecting the innocent always comes first. He swept a Rinshi off the ground and took a few more down. He had to get out of the middle, so he could gain a higher advantage. Fluttershy was completely helpless. She could be assertive when she needed to be, but she had no fighting experience at all. All she could do was fly, but these Rinshi could really jump. Every time she tried to escape, they just pulled her back down. Theo was being overwhelmed by the Rinshi. He just couldn’t hold them down long enough to help Fluttershy. Eventually, he just pulled out his jungle fans and attacked with those. He had to be careful not to hit Fluttershy. He managed to get to her and finished taking all of the Rinshi down. “T-Thank you. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you weren’t here,” said Fluttershy.. “There’s no need to thank me. It’s what I do,” Theo responded. “Especially because you won’t e defeating me,” said a lead Rinshi. Theo took a stance and prepared for battle. Flutter shy got away from the scene as quick as she could. Theo and the leader went at it. Rinshi may have been clumsy, but lead Rinshi weren’t. Luckily, Theo had a big speed advantage. He didn’t;t have to try too hard to attack and dodge. The lead Rinshi couldn’t keep up. Fluttershy took cover and looked back at Theo. She didn’t know how to fight, but she just couldn’t live with herself if something happened to him. The lead Rinshi saw her and fired an attack at her. She screamed and ran for Ponville. The lead Rinshi took in her fear and became the monster. It was a furry beast with huge hands and muscles. He had the spirit of the gorilla. It charged at Theo and mauled him. “Guys, I need help. This guy’s huge,” Theo said. “We’re on our way,” said Lily. Theo got back up and tried to attack the monster. He attempted to tackle it, but it had a too low enter of gravity. The monster simply just picked Theo up and threw him a great distance. Then, with a roar, the monster blasted Theo. Casey and Lily arrived on the scene, already morphed. They saw the monster and drew their weapons. Lily swung her mace at the monster in hopes it would do something. The mace connected with the monster, but it barely fazed the it. Casey attacked from behind with his blades, but the monster didn’t even notice. “I think we’re gonna need some real firepower,” said Theo. The rangers pulled out the canon and fired at the monster. The blast connected, and the monster fell back. It’s fur was on fire. The ouster ran away before the rangers could do anything else. The rangers powered down and went to check on the citizens. They found nothing wrong, other than a scared Fluttershy. “We barely even fazed that guy. Almost nothing we did worked,” said Lily. “The canon worked, but we can’t fire that over and over without demorphing,” said Casey. Theo thought back to the situation and realized that the monster wasn’t so strong until it took in fear. “Guys, I have an idea. All we need to do is keep the locals from being too scared,” said Theo. “How do you think we can do that?” asked Lily. “Hear me out...” Later Theo was on his way to Fluttershy’s cottage. He needed to talk to her. He found her watering her plants. “Hey, Fluttershy, do you have a minute to talk?” Theo asked. “Oh hello, sure. I hope you’ll forgive me, but my house isn’t very organized at the moment,” Fluttershy said. Theo rolled his eyes. “It’s fine. Anyhow, I have a plan on how to beat that monster from earlier.” Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide with fear. She did not want to even think about that monster. “It’s fine. Just listen too this,” Theo said. “O-Okay. I hope I can help,” Fluttershy said. “Trust me, if this works, you won’t have to worry about that monster anymore.” “So what’s your plan?” “I need you to face the monster. It feeds on fear, but it’s weakness is bravery.” “Nononononononono. I can’t do that!” “It’ll be fine. You just have to show him that you aren’t afraid.” “But I am afraid. I can’t even think about that monster without shivering.” “Don’t show him that you aren’t afraid of him. Show him that you’re not afraid to face him. It’s perfectly fine to be afraid, but with fear comes bravery.” “I just can’t do it. I can’t and you won’t make me.” “Fluttershy, I know you can do this. Why do you think I came to you other than any other pony? If I didn’t think you could, I wouldn’t have asked.” “I-I don’t know. What if I mess it up? What if he sees my fear anyway?” “You won’t. As long as you believe in yourself and put your heart into it, you’ll do amazing.” “Really? Are you sure?” “Of course I’m sure.” With that, Fluttershy gave a confident smile and nod. “Alright, let’s do this!” “That’s it. One more thing, stop apologizing for stuff that isn’t your fault.” Fluttershy blushed. Later “Alright guys, I just spoke with Fluttershy, and I think this plan is going to work,” Theo said. “Great. What is it?” asked Casey. “You’ll see,” Theo said. “As long as it works. I have no clue how to beat that thing,” said Lily. Before anything else could be said, the rangers’ morphers buzzed. They looked and saw the monster from earlier was back. “Let’s go get him,” said Casey. The rangers all morphed and faced the monster. It gave a huge roar and charged at the rangers. Before it reached them though, Fluttershy ran in between them. “Look who’s back? Gonna run away again? Or cry this time?” the monster taunted. “You can make fun of me all you want, but it won’t get to me,” Fluttershy responded. Twilight came up to the scene. She nearly freaked when she saw what Fluttershy was doing. She wanted to run in and stop Fluttershy, but was stopped by Theo. “What is she doing? She’s gonna get herself killed!” Twilight pleaded. “She’ll be fine; trust me,” Theo responded. Back at the scene, the monster was still trying to torment Fluttershy. “I remember what happened last time you saw me: you ran. Because you’re a wimp.” “I am not a wimp. There’s nothing wrong for me to be afraid. After all, I’m here now. If I were afraid I would be running now,” Fluttershy should her ground. “Oh please, I can smell your fear from here.” “That doesn’t mean anything. I won’t lie; I am afraid. But I have courage, enough to face.” The monster shrank back at the mention of courage. “Oh really? Courage doesn’t mean you’re strong,” it said, trying to sound threatening. “As long as I have courage, I’ll always be stronger than the likes of you, who preys on the fear of others.” The monster didn’t know what to do. It charged at Fluttershy, only for the rangers to get in its way and attack. This time, the rangers were able to match the monster in strength. Theo used his fans to swipe at the monster, and since it didn’t have a weapon of its own, the monster couldn’t counter. Theo kept attacking until the monster couldn’t take anymore and tried to escape. The rangers drew their cannon and fired at the monster, causing it to go up in flames and explode. The rangers demorphed and took a breather. Theo walked up to Fluttershy. “I’m proud of you. What did I tell you? As long as you believe in yourself and put your heart into it, you can do anything,” Theo said to her. “You’re right. And I say this a lot, but this time I mean it. I am going to be more assertive,” Fluttershy said, proudly. Twilight walked up and joined them. “Fluttershy, that was amazing! I had no idea you had it in you!” “Thanks, Twilight,” replied Fluttershy. “Nice job. See, I’m not the only one who knows how to teach,” Casey said to Theo. “Thanks man. When I saw Fluttershy run from the monster, I knew she had more potential than she showed,” Theo responded. Before anything else could be said, the monster grew and loomed over Ponyville. “Let’s hope the zords can take this,” Casey said as he and the others summoned their zords. Theo also summoned the bat zord so they could form the Jungle Bat Megazord. The monster went to attack the rangers but was stopped short by the blades. The Megazord kept attacking and didn’t give the monster a chance to attack. Eventually, the monster saw an opening and struck. The zords had trouble staying together. “We need more power! Lily, try the elephant,” said Casey. “But then we’ll be vulnerable on one side,” Lily responded. “Wait, what if we tried the bat zord and the elephant zord? That way, we can attack with one weapon and defend with the other,” said Theo. “Will that work?” asked Lily. “Only one way to find out,” said Casey. With that, Lily summoned the elephant zord. Instead of becoming a mace, the ball and chain connected to the side of the Megazord. The other bat wing was still on the other arm of the Megazord. “This feels great!” said Theo. “Yeah. Now let’s see what it can really do,” said Lily. The monster came back and attacked the Megazord, but was slashed by the blade. The Megazord then turned and hit it with the mace. The monster went flying back. The Megazord started to spin like it did before. This time, it turned so that it was spinning in a vertical motion. The monster was first slashed by the blade. Then it was completely crushed by the mace. It was destroyed. Later Casey, Theo, and Lily were deep in the Everfree Forest, tracking a signal they found often the battle. They looked around for anything out of the ordinary. According to Twilight, the forest was a dark place, which many ponies were afraid of. Theo looked around and saw a tree with claw mark on it. He ran over to it and found tracks in the ground near the tree. He called the others over, and they began tracking the trail. After a while, they came upon a fire. But it wasn’t like a wildfire, it was more like an campfire. They also heard humming. They all took cover as the humming got closer. Out of the shadows came a human. This human had long hair and a short beard. It was RJ, the wolf ranger. “RJ! What are you doing here?” Theo asked. RJ jumped when he heard Theo and jumped into a fighting pose until he realized it was him. “Um, I’m not entirely sure. Do you guys happen to know, since we’re all here together?” RJ asked. “Come with us. It’s a really long story,” Casey said. RJ and the rest of the rangers made their way out of the forest and into Ponyville.