The Nighlok was back in the city again on a murderous street as dozens of bodies laid dead, but the Rangers knew better. They weren't gone, not yet and that meant there had to be a way to get them back. Destroying the Nighlok would be a start.

As soon as Kevin saw the Nighlok he set out to attack but Mike grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back.

"Dude, if you rush in without think you're going to make a mistake," Mike reminded Kevin. "The last thing Mia needs is you dying as well."

"Then how do we do this?" Kevin asked.

"Don't let him get you," Mike said and he turned to Emily. She nodded to Mike and summoned her earth slicer. She threw it to the Nighlok, attacking him from afar, alerting him of their presence and successfully weakening him, even if only slightly, before they got the chance to truly attack.

Interfector rolled around on the ground in pain after being knocked down by Emily's attack.

"No fair!" he whined, "No one told me you would be back."

"You made us believe you killed out friends," Antonio shouted. "Did you think we would take that lying down?"

"Now can I go?" Kevin turned to Mike and asked impatiently. Mike nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, go for it."

Kevin whipped out his Spin Sword and glared hatefully through his helmet at the monster who had taken Mia's life.

"Time to end this," he shouted.

-Samurai-

At the Shiba House, Jayden, Mia, Mentor Ji and Serena kept their eyes on the map. As long as the dots that symbolised the Rangers kept glowing, they knew the Rangers were in battle.

"C'mon, Rangers," Jayden muttered and Mia looked up at him, worried. She tried to be brave, though.

"They'll make it."

-Samurai-

Kevin was impressive, but it wasn't enough. He was trying too hard to destroy the monster and just like Mike predicted, he wasn't thinking straight. Interfector managed to knock him down and while he was on the ground, Interfector swung his scythe. One blow was all he needed to kill Kevin.

"Don't even think about it!" Mike shouted, jumping to Kevin's aid, blocking the attack before slashing at the monster, sending him a few feet back. Kevin got to his feet and thanked the green Ranger. "No problem. Just finish him off, Kev."

Kevin nodded and summoned his hydro bow. An accurate shot would have enough power to take out the Nighlok once and for all. He prepared his shot as Mike, Emily and Antonio distracted the Nighlok, keeping him away from Kevin so the blue Ranger could destroy him.

He finally felt the power of the bow coursing through him and he knew he needed to make the shot, but the others were in his way and they were moving around so much he was scared he would hit them instead of the Nighlok.

"Guys! Out of the way!" he shouted.

"Just take the shot!" Mike called back. "We'll be fine."

"I…"

"Kevin, take the shot!" Mike ordered. "If we don't kill him you'll never see Mia again."

Kevin growled. He didn't need any more convincing as he held up his bow and fired the shot, praying he had hit the Nighlok and not one of him friends. There was a big explosion, and a lot of smoke covered the street. Kevin couldn't tell who he had hit.

-Samurai-

"No!" Serena shouted as the spots on the map that showed Mike, Antonio, and Emily's location disappeared. Mentor took her hand, keeping her calm.

"It simply means they have powered down," he said. "The Nighlok is gone as well."

Serena nodded and looked at the map, her stomach flipping around as she waited to see what would happen. If her friends and sister had survived, the map would soon pick up on their Samuraizer signals. She bit her lip and waited. Every second felt like an hour and she tapped her foot.

"C'mon, c'mon…"

Three new signals appeared on the map and Serena was relieved to see they were all her friends. The Nighlok's symbol was gone.

"There is still Mega mode," Ji reminded Serena.

Mia looked to Jayden, worried, "How are they going to fight the Nighlok without us?"

"Antonio's got his own Zord," Jayden said. "It's his turn for a golden moment."

Mia glared at Jayden as the red Ranger smirked, "If we weren't already dead, Jayden, I'd kill you for that one."

"What? The moment called for it," Jayden shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it's kind of fun. I get why Antonio does it."

"Of all the Rangers I could have died with…" Mia huffed and sat down on her stool.

-Samurai-

"This is what you get when you kill my friends!" Antonio shouted as the Clawzord struck the monster over and over again without having to worry about the monster fighting back. He could only strike the Megazord, but because the Megazord wasn't a living being, he couldn't kill it, rendering his attack useless.

From the ground, Mike pumped his fist in the air as he watched Antonio beating the Nighlok.

"Go Antonio!" he cried happily, "Show that Nighlok what you're made of!"

"Just hurry up and beat him," Kevin tapped his foot impatiently on the floor as he watched Antonio fight. It seemed to him as though Antonio was enjoying the battle a little too much. He just wanted to get it over with so he could be with Mia again. It had only been a day, but he missed her terribly.

The Nighlok received a painful slash to the chest and staggered backwards until he fell into a building. Emily watched and winced, hiding her face.

"I've never loved secret identities more than I do now."

"That building was scheduled for demolition anyways," Mike told her. Emily looked to him.

"Really?"

"I hope so," Mike looked up, "Antonio, we get it, you're pissed Jayden's dead, but be careful!"

"Just one final finisher!" Antonio said just as the Nighlok was blown to pieces and the Megazord stood in his victory stance.

-Samurai-

"Yes!" Jayden cheered as the Nighlok's signal disappeared for good and he looked to Mia, "They did it!"

Mia smiled at Jayden and turned to Serena and Mentor, who waste no time running to Jayden and Antonio's room to check on their bodies. She looked to Jayden and waited for something to happen. If the Nighlok was defeated everything should have been returned back to normal.

But nothing happened. She felt the same way as a few minutes ago. They didn't seem to be coming back to life at all.

"Jay…"

"Give it a moment, Mia," Jayden said, though he was also starting to have his doubts. They waited, and waited but nothing happened.

The Rangers came home from their battle to an empty common room. Kevin searched the room for Mia before deciding she was somewhere else. He tapped Antonio on the arm and the blue and gold Rangers raced off to the bedroom, hoping to see their fiancée and best friend being welcomed back by Mentor and Serena.

Emily wanted to follow but Mike grabbed her arm and pointed to the corner of the room, where a flame was lit. Emily saw the flame floating in midair and looked to Mike.

"It's Jayden?"

"It didn't work," Mike sighed, falling in his seat and holding his head in his hands. "We must have waited too long. Maybe they can't come back."

In the bedroom, Antonio and Mentor had given up on trying to wake Jayden up, but Kevin wasn't as easily convinced. He held onto Mia's body and whispered softly for her to open her eyes. She didn't move, her body was still cold and she still felt dead.

"C'mon, Mia," he said, "You're stronger than this. We did it! We beat the Nighlok! You have to be alive! You have to."

"Kevin…" Serena called his name gently when she knew he wasn't doing any good. He would only be working himself up for nothing if Mia wasn't coming back, and it didn't look like she was.

Still as spirits, Mia and Jayden walked into the bedroom, unnoticed by the others. They leaned against the wall and watched. Jayden seemed furious and frustrated, he couldn't be dead. He was the red Ranger. It was his job to lead the team against Master Xandred. If he was dead he would have let everyone down.

Mia was upset as she slipped down to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. She didn't want to be dead, but what upset her more was how much this was hurting Kevin. She didn't want him to be upset or miserable. She wanted to see him happy.

"There has to be a way," Jayden whispered as he looked down at Mia, "We can't just go out like this."

"Face it, Jay, we're done," Mia pushed herself up to her feet and walked out of the room. She couldn't be in here while Kevin was crying. All she wanted to do was comfort him, but in her state she couldn't even do that. She stormed out of the room and walked back to the common room, where Mike and Emily were sitting.

Mike held Emily in his arms. They were both visibly upset but Emily a little more. She was closer to Mia and considered the pink Ranger to be her sister, just like Serena. Knowing that she and Jayden were still dead was a hard blow to take.

"Everything's going to be fine," Mike told her while Mia took a seat and watched.

"It's going to be fine?" Emily looked up at Mike, "They're dead!"

"Em…"

"Dead!"

"Emily..."

Emily buried her face in Mike's chest, "She didn't even guess…"

Mike kissed the top of her head and hugged her tight, "We'll figure it out, Em."

"She has to guess…"

Mia looked down. She knew what Emily meant when she said she had to guess. She knew Mike and Emily were engaged and the secret Emily wanted her to figure out was their engagement. Now that she knew, she could share in Emily's excitement, but the only thing keeping that from happening was the fact that she was dead.

"I know, Emy," she whispered.

Mike cupped Emily's face in his hands and looked her in the eyes, "Mia's probably here with us right now," he said. "If she is dead, she'll be watching over us. She knows."

"But she has to guess!" Emily punched Mike in the chest. He grunted and knew he should have seen that one coming. Emily had never been able to cope with death and loss. He continued to hold her, though, keeping her safe and comforting her.

Mia felt terrible and couldn't stay with Mike or Emily any longer. It hurt too much to see her friends trying and failing to come to terms with her death. She hated it when people fussed over her, especially when there was no need to fuss. It wasn't like she was suffering, not any more than they were. Her death hurt all of them more. She was hurting them. She couldn't take it.

But as she got up from her stool to walk away she saw Jayden walking into the room. It was nothing new to her, but a gasp alerted her that there was something different this time.

"Jayden!" Emily cried, letting go of Mike and jumping into her leader's arms. Jayden chuckled as he caught Emily and kept him balance, but he was suddenly knocked over when Mike joined in, so relieved to see his red Ranger.

"Jayden?" Mia asked but he didn't respond to her, it was as if he didn't even hear her. Mia looked around and saw the happy faces of Antonio, Mentor, and Serena as they walked into the room. "What's going on?"

Jayden was welcomed back by all of his friends, receiving more hugs in the span of these few minutes that he had ever received in his entire life. Mia was floored and tried asking Jayden for an explanation, but he never answered her.

Finally, Jayden got Antonio to let him go and as the gold Ranger stepped away Jayden looked around the room.

"Mia?" he called her name and Mia perked up. Finally he was going to answer her.

"Jayden?"

"Mia, are you still here?"

"No shit, you moron," Mia answered but Jayden was still looking around. She groaned loudly and pulled out her Samuraizer. She blew a gust of wind, knocking the red Ranger into the wall. Jayden rubbed the back of his head as the wind settled and moved away from the wall.

"Follow me, Mia. You can fix this."

Mia did as she was told and followed Jayden and the others back to the bedroom. While the others opened the door and stepped into the room, Mia took a shortcut through the wall; the only good thing about being dead. She saw Kevin sitting with her body, still trying to wake her up. She glared at Jayden.

"You better know how to fix this," she said even though she knew no one could hear her. "You know I don't want to…"

"Body and soul," Jayden said, his eyes falling on different spots in the room because he had no idea where Mia was standing. "How can you expect your body to live if you're just standing around out here?"

Mia looked to her body, understanding Jayden's point, but she was too scared to get close. She didn't like looking at her dead body, but if there was a chance she could end this she was going to take it. She stepped closer to herself and touched her own hand. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled into the darkness. Everything was cold. She felt cold and stiff. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she could barely think.

Finally, she felt something warm was wrapped around her. She could actually feel something in her environment for the first time in a day and nestled in closer, enjoying the warmth.

"Mia," she heard her name being called, "C'mon, Mia, please wake up."

It was a whisper; a calm but desperate call for her to come alive. It took her a few moments before she realised it was Kevin calling her, and the source of warmth around her was him. He was holding her body. He was holding her.

Her eyes fluttered open for a second before she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight and nearly knocking him right off the bed. She felt him hug her back and squeeze her and she never wanted to let go.

"Don't you ever…" Kevin started but the tears overwhelmed him. He buried his face in her shoulder, taking every part of her in as she was finally returned to him.

While Kevin welcomed Mia back, Jayden got another round of welcoming hugs from his teammates, who were happy to see him alive, Mentor and Antonio most of all.

"I knew you couldn't be dead," Antonio smiled brightly as he pulled Jayden into another strong hug. "I knew that flaming dummy was you! I knew it! You were here!"

"Yeah, we were here," Jayden nodded as he tried to pry Antonio away. It felt good to be able to touch another human being and to feel alive again, but he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

"Let him breathe, Antonio," Serena laughed, pulling the gold Ranger away, "You don't want to kill him again for real, do you?"

Finally deciding it was time to let the others welcome Mia back, Kevin unwrapped his arms from around her and gave her one final kiss before letting everyone else get their turn to say hello. Warm hugs were shared between Mia, the boys and Serena until Mia looked at Emily with a harsh glare.

"I have a bone to pick with you, first," she said and Emily stepped away from her.

"What did I do?" she asked.

"You're engaged and you didn't tell me?"

Emily smiled, "You figured it out!"

"How could you not tell me?"

"Are you mad?"

"You have ten seconds," Mia said and Emily didn't need to be told twice as she took off running, forgetting all about her welcome back hug for Mia. The pink Ranger smirked and nestled back into Kevin's arms. She looked up at him, "We have ten extra seconds."

Kevin kissed her and hugged her until his time was up. He didn't want to let her go, but Mia had to leave.

"Before she gets too far," Mia whispered and Kevin let her get up. As Mia followed Emily out of the room, Kevin looked to Mike.

"Looks like you're going to have to make a decision fast. We've all figured it out."

Mike sighed loudly. Kevin was talking about Emily's ring and he still had no idea what to get her. He turned to look at Jayden.

"You couldn't have been dead for a little longer?" he asked. "Now the pressure's on."

"For what?" Serena asked.

"The ring," Mike said. "I don't know what to get her. I don't know what she'll like or…"

Serena smirked, "You leave that to me," she said. "Kevin, you help Mike figure out what he's going to do."

Antonio tugged on Jayden's arm, "Yeah, and we'll go fishing for a celebration dinner!"

"We will?" Jayden asked. Antonio nodded his head.

"Yes, we will."

"I'll go with you, boys," Mentor said. He knew Antonio was just trying to spent time with Jayden now that the red Ranger was back, but he had also been upset by Jayden's death and now that he was alive again, he didn't want to let his son out of his sight for a moment.

Suddenly, Emily raced back into the room, followed closely by Mia. Emily took cover behind Mike, using him as a shield to keep Mia from getting to her.

"It was his idea," she pointed to her fiancé and laughed. "Mike was the one who said we should keep you two guessing."

"Hey, no throwing me under the bus," Mike said and steppe away from Emily, opening her up to an attack from Mia. Emily gasped and tried to run, but it was too late. Mia grabbed her and pushed her into Antonio's bed.

"You better tell me when you're getting married," she said, pushing Emily again as the yellow Ranger sat up.

Emily giggled, "I promise. Can I hug you now?"

"No," Mia teased and crossed her arms over her chest as she went to sit with Kevin. He hugged her and Emily knew it was going to be a long time before she got a chance to finally welcome Mia back to the land of the living.

"Let's let them have their moment, huh?" Serena suggested, pulling Mike and Emily from the room so Mia and Jayden could get some time with the ones they loved.

Antonio grabbed Jayden's hand and pulled him out of the room for their fishing, trip, Mentor right behind them.

Mia wrapped her arms around Kevin. She just wanted to be held by him. She hadn't been dead for long and had never left her friends, Kevin especially, but she had missed him the most.