Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated characters, names or events. Anything not covered by these rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

Rating: T – may be some mild adult themes.

Dayu's journey had been long, even with her ability to travel through the gaps, but she was willing to go to any lengths on her quest.

Since she had reforged Urumasa, and it now had its full power, it called for its master. Its voice whispered to her constantly, urging her onwards. For the first time it allowed someone other than its recognised master to wield it since their purposes were aligned. Dayu knew what the blade had taken from her before, but for now, it was the only chance she had of finding him.

She arrived in a strange place, far beyond the furthest reaches of her previous travels. She found herself standing at the foot of a huge mountain, overlooking a desert which stretched as far as the eye could see. The only thing that broke the scene was a gigantic, black stone building, which stood almost as tall as the mountain.

It was a forbidding structure, topped with spiked towers, standing over her like a hellish crown. Inside, she could hear the roars of voices, chanting as she approached.

He made her way to the gate, finding guards wearing golden armour standing there. She tried to think of a way in, but as she got loser, they simply stood aside, allowing her to enter. Deciding not to press her luck, she went inside.

She ascended a stairway, finding herself on a stepped, stone arena, looking down into a central ring, almost a hundred feet in every direction. She was surrounded by creatures, some she recognised, but others she could not even guess their origin. However, she had seen enough combat in her time to know that they were here to see some form of battle. They were all jeering, and as she looked around, she could hear that for some reason, they seemed far from happy.

She made her way as close to the outer wall as possible, looking out into the arena. She found herself breathless, and Urumasa called out to her as she saw that one of the two figures in the arena was the very man she was looking for. She had never stopped believing, but now she could see with her own two eyes that Dekker was alive.

In the arena, Dekker hit the wall hard after a strong kick from his opponent. The gold-armoured woman, introduced to him as Scorpina was pacing intently as the crowd continued to boo and hiss. He had no desire for battle. He had hoped that when the Red Ranger had bested him, that his curse was at an end, and he would at last receive the peace of oblivion.

"Fight back you coward!" Scorpina screamed at him.

"For what purpose?" Dekker asked her, simply throwing down his sword. "I have no desire for this battle, do what you will."

"I said fight BACK!" She screamed at him, launching a power blast into him. He struck the wall hard, and landed on the ground, but did not attempt to defend himself. Scorpina looked around the arena, with a look of panic on her face as she heard the disapproval of the crowds. She knew their purpose here. "Can you not hear the crowd?"

"I do not care for the crowd." He told her.

She ran for him, kicking him hard across the face, hoping that she could spur him into action. The crowd were becoming increasingly vocal in their dissatisfaction with Dekker's refusal to provide them with a competitive bout. Dekker though just lay on the ground, face up, looking at her defiantly through his bloodied face.

"Stop dancing and finish him already!" One of the creatures next to Dayu screamed at her. "If the useless bastard won't fight, just kill him and give us a real fight!"

Scorpina approached Dekker, standing on his crotch, but even grunting through his pain, he still refused to fight. Dayu called out to him, trying to reach him, to will him to fight back, but he couldn't hear her over the crowd. Realising that the cause was lost, Scorpina looked forlornly, almost apologetically to a box. Dayu followed her gaze to it.

Inside was a creature, swathed in huge, purple robes, covering the entirety of its body. The hood shielded his face. The only thing that could be seen were huge, armoured gauntlets. Dayu started to run towards the box, hoping to reach the creature.

It stood up and headed for the edge of the arena, looking over the battle site. Its eyes flared red beneath its cloak.

Dekker knew what was coming. The creature was to make the decision, and he was sure that his refusal to fight had secured his fate. Scorpina raised her sword, preparing to strike as the creature raised a hand.

"NO!" Dayu screamed as she got to the box, being caught by the creature's guards. It looked to him, and the crowd fell silent. No one ever dared to approach The Judge. "Spare him please!"

The Judge looked to her, and she could feel its gaze burning through her. Its eyes grew wider as it saw Urumasa strapped to her back.

"You and I have much to discuss." The Judge said in a rasping voice. It turned back out to the arena, holding out a hand.

"No!" Dayu screamed as she struggled against the guards. The Judge held up a thumb, before turning it downwards.

Scorpina saw the signal, just as the crowd had. There was silence in the arena, before a ripple of disapproving jeering started up. Scorpina threw down her sword and stepped away from Dekker.

The Judge waved a hand, at which Dekker found himself once more in the dungeons. The creature in the cell next to him just snorted in disgust.

"You're back?" It asked. Scorpina appeared in a cell a little way off, without so much as a mark on her. "So, The Judge rewards cowardice now?"

"I do not know why I yet live." Dekker assured him. "However, I can assure you, it was not my intention."

"Well, if you ever face me, then trust I will grant you the end you seek." The creature assured him.

Back in the mortal realm, Spike arrived at the hospital after seeing his mom off at the airport. He got to a room, finding her on the bed waiting for him. Sitting up, Melanie smiled.

"You came!" She called out. Spike just nodded.

"I heard you wanted to see me." He told her. "How are you?"

"I'm feeling pretty sore." She told him. "The guys threw me about 20 feet, but when those things arrived, there was no one to catch me."

She was wearing a support collar to protect her neck, and he could see some bruising on the side of her face where she had hit the ground. Spike approached the side of the bed and sat down.

"That doesn't sound like fun." He commented.

"Well, I heard you took a pretty big hit too." She replied, holding up her iPhone. She showed him a video of him being slammed through the bleachers. "Why aren't you...?"

"I was more worried about my mom." Spike told her honestly. "The Rangers got her back, but when I heard she was taken..."

"God, you must have been going out of your mind!" She replied, pulling herself up on the bed. She took her hand softly in his.

"It was really scary." He admitted. Melanie pulled into him and softly kissed his cheek, causing Spike to look at her, a little stunned. Just then, Spike heard a little cough and saw Vicky standing in the doorway.

"Um...Vicky hi!" Spike stammered. "Um...what are...?"

"I'm here to pick up Jimmy." She told him. "He broke his arm."

"Sorry, I didn't...um..." Spike stammered. "Is he alright?"

"You can check on him yourself if you like." She said a little coldly. "Mom and dad are just signing his paperwork. He's just down the hall."

"Yeah, I should..."

"It's alright." Melanie told him. "I'll call you later once I get out alright?"

"Sure." Spike answered as he got up and left the room. Melanie watched him go with a little smile, before seeing that Vicky was still giving her a little glare. Vicky just turned on the spot and stormed out, taking Spike from the arm. Melanie just sniggered as she saw this, before picking up the remote and turning on her television.

Mike and Emily were in the park, taking some time to enjoy the improving weather with some skating. Mike had offered to teach Emily to shred a couple of times, and she had finally relented. He couldn't get her to agree to learn on a skateboard, she had insisted on rollerblades instead, but he was just happy to have something else they could share.

They followed the cycle path through the park, weaving in and out of the other people enjoying the day at the park. It was then that something caught Mike's attention.

He was so caught up in what he saw, that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Before he knew what was happening, he had taken a headfirst tumble down a small flight of stairs.

"Mike!" Emily screamed as she glided over to him, rattling down the stairs to kneel by his side. She pulled off her helmet, looking over him with concern. "Are you alright?"

He just sat up, and pointed across the park. Emily followed his arm, seeing Mentor Ji and Brenda standing by a food cart, chatting in a care-free manner. Emily just smiled.

"Aw!" She cooed, seeing the way they stood with each other, completely at ease. She had an arm around him, and a huge smile on her face. Ji seemed delighted to be with her also, and they were talking like they didn't have a care in the world. "They worked things out!"

"Yeah...it looks that way." Mike answered.

"He was really sad when they broke up." She commented. "I'm really happy to see them back together."

"Yeah, that's great." Mike told her. She just furrowed her brows.

"Mike, why did that bother you so much?"

"Think about it Emily, they're here all lovey dovey right?" He asked her.

"Yeah, it's really sweet." Emily responded.

"Um...did you see him at training this morning?" He asked her. "Or at breakfast?"

"No, I..." She stopped as she saw where Mike's thoughts were going. "You think...?"

"I don't think he came home last night." Mike told her. Emily just closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

"Ew!" She responded as the mental image came to her. Mike just nodded.

"Maybe we should just get out of here." He suggested.

"I think so too." She agreed, strapping on her helmet as the two of them scrambled away as quickly as dignity would allow.

Back at the Shiba House, Serena was wandering around the Shiba House, clearing up. Spike and Bulk weren't training with her today, and everyone else was out of the house. Kevin and Mia had gone off somewhere to train, Mike and Emily had gone somewhere to...well, she really didn't want to give too much thought to what they were doing. Jayden and Antonio had gone fishing, and where the hell Ji was, she hadn't the slightest idea. Basically, the house was empty, leaving her with the clearing up to do. Since she and Ji were the only ones in the house without any real employment, it seemed only fair they were responsible for the upkeep of the house.

She got to Emily and Mike's room, and groaned. Mike was not the most organised of creatures, but she sometimes thought he occasionally made a mess deliberately just to make her job harder.

"You're still manhandling my baby sister." She sighed as she started to pick things up, throwing them onto the bed so she could sort through them. She got so far through, before she saw something that made her smile. It was Emily's diary.

Emily had been given a diary by their grandmother when she had learned to write, and ever since then, she had made a habit of writing everything of importance in it. Although she had a laptop, she still always wrote her diary in a book.

She was about to move it to Emily's dresser, when she was overcome with curiosity. Although she knew it was wrong, that it was a gross invasion of privacy, she couldn't help herself. Looking around to make sure she really was alone, she opened it, flicking through.

Most of the recent pages were very sparse in their detail, some of them only a few lines long. It had been quite a busy few days, so she really couldn't blame Emily really. It was then that she saw a page with a fair bit of writing on it, and it caught her attention. She started to read.

"Mike and I are getting really close lately. Since we got back from Corinth, since we saw what could have been our lives, I really feel like everything's right for us." Serena read. She mimed being sick as she read it. "I really think he's the one."

"Yeah, we all think that." Serena commented. She continued to read.

"I know everyone says they respect me, but sometimes I still feel like they still see me as a kid. I really wish I could talk to Serena or Mia about this, but I don't think they'd take me seriously." Emily continued to write. "I finally got the courage to go and get it. It took me ages to be able to go into the store, but I finally got it."

Serena was really baffled by what that meant. What was so big that Emily couldn't think she was able to talk to her or Mia about it? She had been trying really hard to see Emily as a grown woman and give her space. It hurt a little to know that Emily would keep something from her, especially if she thought it was so important.

"Four days to go until the big night." Emily continued to write. "I'm nervous, hell, I'll admit, I'm terrified. I don't know how Mike's going to react, but I really feel like the time is right for us. I've never been more scared, but so excited at the same time. Four days!"

Serena snapped the diary shut and put it down, her mouth hanging open in horror. She knew that it was wrong to read Emily's diary, she obviously had never intended those thoughts to reach anyone else, but reading it...

She needed to sit down. Her heart froze solid in her chest, and she struggled to breathe. She had bought something, something she was obviously nervous to buy, and she referred to a "big night" in four days.

"Emily?" She gasped, leaning forward to aid her breathing as she tried to comprehend it. Her little sister was growing up, but this was something she wasn't sure she was ready to handle.