Mike laid on his back in pain as he covered his ribs with his arms. Kevin was looking down at him with an apologetic face. He held his hand out.

"Sorry, Mike, I didn't mean to hit you that time," he apologised as he helped the green Ranger to his feet. Emily was already waiting with frozen peas for Mike as he walked to the bench and took a seat. That was going to mark the end of training for him.

"I think we've trained long enough," Jayden announced as he looked up at the darkening sky. They had been out in the yard all day training and even Jayden was getting a little tired of practice. As it stood, he didn't want to see another sword for the rest of his life.

"I'm pooped," Emily nodded as she let herself fall to the ground; anything to get off her feet.

"You all did well," Jayden smiled, "I've never seen you guys work that hard."

"It's a lot more motivating when you know there's an evil creeper who has access to you or your friends 24/7," Kevin nodded. "Even after today, I still don't feel like this is enough."

"He can't be that tough," Mike said as he held the peas to his ribs. "I mean half the fear probably comes from the fact that we have no idea who this guy is or what he's really capable of. And if you think about it, the one time we saw him fight… so what if it was against both Jayden and a Nighlok? They were both already tired out. What does that really mean?"

"Don't underestimate your opponent, Mike," Kevin reminded him. "I mean, yes, Jayden and the Nighlok weren't at the top of their game, but didn't you see the way Dekker sliced that boulder? It was a clean and easy cut straight through. I imagine you don't want to be hit by the sword that can slice through a rock."

"Well, it's not like we want to be hit by swords anyways," Mike shrugged. "I don't know about you guys, but when my father told me I was going to be a Samurai, he also told me not to get hit. As long as your opponent doesn't touch you, he can't hurt you."

"That would sound like a good idea," Emily frowned, "but you obviously don't know how not to get hit," she teased Mike by poking him in his sides. He hissed in pain and glared at her. She smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"We'll be ready for him, next time he turns up," Jayden nodded his head, "Just remember, he isn't like the other monsters we face."

The rangers agreed until they heard a low rumbling sound. They all turned with a laugh and looked at Mike.

"Are you hungry?" Mia chuckled as Mike rubbed his stomach, the source of the rumbling. Mike nodded.

"I haven't eaten in hours! I'm starved."

"Dinner and bed," Kevin agreed, "After today, I think we could all use a little rest."

The Rangers headed inside, grabbed some leftovers from the fridge and ate quickly as fatigue really started to kick in. They knew they would all be sore in the morning, as they usually were after long workouts, but they were starting to feel a lot more powerful.

-Samurai-

It didn't take long for Dekker to turn the cave into his home. There was already a chair-like rock coming from one of the walls. With a little work he managed to turn it into a semi-comfortable sleeping space. He didn't need much down in this cave. Just a home where he could stay out of sight from the Rangers and a place to stay warm and dry, without the risk of being seen (not that he really minded if anyone saw him).

As he sat on his makeshift bed he thought back to what he had observed during the Ranger's training. They were all strong warriors and they all had potential. If he could, he would challenge them all. But he only wanted one. He only wanted Red.

Then again, he knew there was a way he could profit from all the Rangers. They had different talents. They possessed some skills that none of the others possessed, particularly two of the Rangers. Blue and one other Ranger could use their symbol power without the Samuraizer. If they could do that, maybe he could learn to use Symbol Power as well. Maybe one of them could teach him.

But first, he had to figure out who else had that other power. He could feel it. He knew it was one of them.

-Samurai-

Mia could feel the extra weight crawling up her bed and she wondered if anyone else had to deal with anything similar to this during the night. Jayden definitely didn't. He slept on his own, and it was highly unlikely that Mentor would interrupt his sleep. It was possible Kevin had to deal with Mike waking him up in the middle of the night, but the green Ranger usually loved his sleep and never seemed to have any problems falling or staying asleep. Kevin also didn't seem like the type of guy who would try to wake someone else up if he was having trouble sleeping or if something worried him in the night.

Mia decided it was just her who had this problem as she rolled over and opened her eyes. Emily was sitting beside her in bed.

"What are you doing?" Mia asked the young girl. Emily pointed to the window.

"I can't sleep. There's something out there."

"Yes, the moon and a lot of sleeping people and animals," Mia nodded. "Go back to bed."

"Mia," Emily whispered as Mia pulled the blankets over her head. She knew the pink Ranger was grumpy when she was woken up, but Emily couldn't ignore the feeling she was getting. She was feeling disturbed and she knew it was coming from outside. She had already checked out the window to see if she could see anyone, specifically Dekker, creeping around the house, but the space around the house was completely vacant save for the few trees in the distance that marked the start of the forest.

"Emy, close the blinds if you're freaked."

"You suck," Emily whined as she got off Mia's bed to let the pink Ranger sleep, but she wasn't going to forget about the feeling she had. She and Kevin both learned from the Ninjas that they were connected to their elements in a special way and that it was important to pay attention to what the elements were trying to say.

She snuck out of her room, careful not to reawaken her older sister and tip-toed to Mike and Kevin's room. She knew she could count on Mike to listen to her. He always did no matter how crazy her thoughts, ideas and feelings were. It was something she loved about him.

Just as she was about to reach the boys' door, it opened. Emily jumped with a start and covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming and waking up the rest of the house. She heard Kevin chuckling.

"Please tell me you're on the way to the kitchen and this isn't you and Mike trying to pull a fast one."

She punched her older brother in the chest, "You scared me!"

"You shouldn't be up this late at night," even in the dark she knew Kevin was giving her a look. She bit her lip.

"There's something outside."

"You're paranoid too?" Kevin sighed. Emily shook her head. This wasn't paranoia; this was real.

"I can feel it."

"You're probably just a little freaked after what happened last night," Kevin reassured her, "I know I am. I was just coming to see if Mia wanted to do a walk around the house with me."

"You were going to wake Mia up?" Emily frowned. "Have you ever woken a sleeping Mia? She's not the most social creature. Trust me, I've tried."

"Maybe you're right," Kevin chuckled. He remembered when he and Mia couldn't sleep and he caught her pretending to suffocate a sleeping Emily. It had been a funny sight, but he didn't want to be on the underside of that pillow. "How about we do the walk instead, then. Jayden wants us to stay in groups just in case Dekker does come back."

"You mean go out there?" Emily's voice cracked. She didn't want to go outside in the dark, even with a buddy. Her nerves were already wracked.

"C'mon, I doubt Dekker strikes twice in a row."

"You're just asking for it now," Emily frowned. "What else are you going to say that's going to make it a sure thing?"

"Emily," Kevin chuckled as he grabbed a flashlight and guided her to the door, "nothing's going to happen."

"We're doomed."

"We're not doomed."

Emily shook her head, "Just shut up. If anything happens, I blame you."

The two Rangers stepped outside and stuck close together as Kevin waved the light around. If anything was going to happen, which Kevin doubted, they needed to stay in their little group. Kevin walked confidently. He was only walking around the house because of what happened the night before. He knew if Dekker was going to come back, he would wait a few days before he did. It was always how the bad guys worked.

"Stop that," Emily growled as she tugged on his arm. He looked down at her.

"Stop what?"

"That smirk. It's annoying."

"Em, there's nothing out here, listen," the two were silent as they listened to the night. The crickets were chirping, but aside from that the outdoors was completely hushed.

Emily shook her head, "I still have a weird feeling."

"I don't have one," Kevin shrugged. Emily glared at him.

"To be fair, there is no water for you to feel connected to right now," she moved away from Kevin and walked into the middle of the yard. She knelt down and lifted a plank of wood. Mentor had placed it there after the Pai Zhuq and the Ninjas were gone. When Dustin created the underground cave for Emily, he had left a hole in the middle of the yard, one big enough for someone to fall in. To keep his Rangers safe, Mentor covered it with a plank of wood, but he didn't close it up completely. Emily had begged him not to. She liked the idea of having an underground cave.

"That's your secret fort, isn't it?" Kevin asked his little sister as he walked up behind her. He placed his hand on her back, "If a tornado touches down, I know where I'm hiding."

"Behind your girlfriend the Wind Samurai, maybe?" Emily chuckled as she opened the entrance to her cave. The exit was somewhere on the other side of the house. Dustin had told her the many reasons on why their needed to be two exits. Emergencies, flooding, cave-ins, and sometimes people followed you down the hole and you needed to make sure you could get out.

"Are you going in there?" Kevin asked as Emily started to lower herself down the hole. He grabbed her arm, "Em, wait."

"What?"

Now Kevin was the one with the bad feeling, "You can't go down there. What if something got in there?"

"Like a rabbit?" Emily chuckled. Kevin shook his head.

"No, I… never mind. I'm coming with you," he said. He turned off his flashlight and tucked it in his pants before he started to climb in after Emily.

"Fine, but don't slip. If you fall I'm the only thing you can land on and you're not exactly tiny and light."

"I'll be careful."

"You want us to die, don't you?" Emily muttered and just as her feet hit the ground she felt someone grab her and cover her mouth before she could scream. Her heart raced and in her panic she struggled to break free but her captor had a strong hold. She tried to bite his hand, like she used to do when she and her sister were playing around when she was a kid, but he didn't flinch or remove his hand from her mouth.

Her captor smirked as he held her. He could feel the same energy as before. She was different from the others. Different in the same way the blue Ranger was different.

Kevin felt the ground under his feet and hopped off the ladder with a smile until he turned around and realised the cave was very dark. He started to wonder what exactly Emily was thinking coming down here in the middle of the night.

"Emily, I can't see a thing," he called to her as he waved his arms around to try and feel her, "Where are you?"

He then remembered he still had his flashlight with him. He grabbed it and turned it on, relieved he could see.

"There we go," he smiled to himself and looked around, "Wow, Em, this fort is pretty cool. All Tori taught me how to do was shoot Mike with little blasts of water. Though I will admit, that does come in handy. It shuts up his snoring on some nights."

He stepped further into the cave and looked around, "Hey, Em, I just had a fun idea. You know when it starts raining and we're already outside training? What if we came down here instead of trained inside. You know, because things are a little less…"

Kevin trailed off when his light hit Emily and he saw she was being held tightly by Dekker, the man he loathed deeply.

"You don't shut up, do you?" Dekker said.

Kevin reached for his Samuraizer, "That's a big rabbit…"