Power Rangers Jungle Force

Chapter 31 - Who Leads Who?

   It had been three days since Chell had dawned the mantle of the Platinum Ranger. She stood in the dojo wearing a training uniform similar to the others but was mainly grey with purple sections. Richard, Rachel, Daric, and Faith were standing opposite of her, loosening their bodies for an exercise. After a few moments, the Rangers took their ready stances while Chell did not. Her demeanor was calm yet confident. Richard was the first to attack; he swept Chell's leg, but she raised it quickly. Faith followed next with a jab, but Chell used her raised leg to kick Faith away. Rachel then attacked with sweeping motions, but Chell ducked under and kicked her midsection. Daric was the last one to attack, and he did so with a left hook. Chel blocked with both of her arms and as she was about to let an elbow strike, Daric ducked under and moved back.

   Richard came in with a series of jumping spin kicks akin to taekwondo, but Chell dodged. He followed with another kick that resembled the fighting style, capoeira. Rachel stepped up and threw a punch before Chell blocked it. After she did, Rachel countered with a jab, but Chell blocked with her arm. Richard, in all of his impatientness, came back for another round and attacked with a series of kicks. He went low but Chell raised her leg to block. Richard went high, but Chell locked with her arm. Chell then used a clawed strike on Richard's chest, sending him flying to the exit door. Rachel came with a kick, but Chell blocked with her hand, and Rachel continued with jabs. Faith took her place with a series of flip kicks and sweep kicks that Chell ducked and dodged. Daric followed with solid punches and kicks, but Chell blocked or forced them back.

   As Richard rose to his feet, Alex came through the door with a duffle bag watching everyone train. After putting his bag down, Alex helped Richard stand again.
   "Uh, guys, I thought we agreed on training at three," Alex called out.
   "Oh, Chell changed it," Richard said nonchalantly as he went to get a drink of water. "What? No one told you?"
   "No," Alex answered as he saw Daric punching faster while Chell swatted them down.
   Chell grabbed Daric's arm, pressed a pressure point, and was about to punch his face but fell short. She waved a finger with a large smirk on her face. She released Daric's arm as he left while Faith and Rachel came with ax kicks. Chell then grabbed their legs and flipped them onto their backs. It was after she had finished with the girls that Chell noticed Alex.
   "Hey Alex," she called out. "Glad you could make it."
   "Well...since you moved the group training a bit, I figured we could get some weapon practice in."
   "Oh, we already did that," Faith said nervously.
   "Yeah, my thought was some light one on one sparring," Chell added.
   "I'm game," Richard said as he walked past Alex.
   "Let's do it," Rachel said excitedly
   "Ready when you are Chell," Faith said.
   "H-Hold on, still need to get some feeling back in my arm," Daric said half-jokingly.
   Hearing everything, Alex was visibly upset and no one was paying attention. A common sign for those on the Autism Spectrum is a sense of routine. They have a set structure for their day-to-day life. Whether it be school schedules or after-school activities on certain days if just one thing is thrown out from left field, then they become flustered and do not adapt well. This was what Alex felt was happening.

o

   In a remote mountain range in Japan, Grey Back was standing at the base of a mountain. Grey Back held his arms in an X-pattern as he channeled Arceiron into them. He then moved his arms in a circular motion before snapping the bottoms of his hands together. Finally, Grey Back struck the mountain with both hands, revealing a catacomb full of Shinos.
   "Ah, my most faithful warriors," Grey Back said before launching a wave of Arceiron at two of them. "AWAKEN!!!"
   The Shintos resembled the ones Alecia had used to defeat Alex and the Rangers once before. However, they did not have any unique features to set them apart. They were mostly black with white areas but their eyes were ruby red as they held polearm weapons. After a couple of seconds, they bowed to Grey Back to show loyalty.
   "It is time to destroy," Grey Back commanded.
   The Shintos rose and slammed their weapons into the ground before vanishing.