Kali closed her eyes as the Hidiac swung his axe high into the air. She turned her head towards the tree trunk and waited for the agonising pain that was sure to follow the attack - but it never came. Instead, a surprising roar echoed through the air and Kali looked up just in time to see a stream of fire slam into the Hidiac.

The Hidiac hit the road with a distinctive crunch and rolled over backwards before coming to a stop. He groaned and sat up, looking directly at Kali, his face shifting from surprise to anger and then to fear.

Just like they had done four months ago, Kali's hand shimmered with residual energy, but this time, instead of disappearing when Kali shook her head, the glow remained long after.

"What the -?" Kali breathed. A shiver swept down her spine and she looked up just in time to dodge an attack. The Hidiac that had just tried to decapitate her had recovered and was back for round two. Rolling to her feet, Kali pivoted on the spot and kicked the encroaching Hidiac in the gut.

He stumbled and his friends rushed in.

It didn't take long, or much effort before Kali had finished off the horde of foot soldiers. She dusted her hands on her jeans and then took off in search of her friends. She found them cornered by Necrolai in a dingy alley behind the Rock Porium.

Clenching her hands into a fist, Kali summoned the energy she had felt previously and threw a fireball at Necrolai. The ball extinguished as it collided with Necrolai's back, but did very little damage.

Snarling, Necrolai turned and sneered as she spotted Kali. "How do you still have magic?" she hissed.

"That's a good question," said Kali, running forward. She leapt into the air as she closed in on a stack of boxes, and kicked off their side, swinging her leg around and catching Necrolai in the head.

The vampire reeled back and Kali landed beside her friends.

"It doesn't matter if you still have magic," Necrolai said, standing tall and glaring at Kali. "You're still finished without your abilities to morph."

The clouds parted, a small flicker of light shone brightly through. Necrolai gasped and looked up, as one-by-one the Rangers morphers appeared in their hands.

"What's happening?" Maddie asked, looking up. More and more beams of light were appearing through the clouds, each one causing the darkness to ebb away.

"No!" Necrolai yelled as, after a while, nothing by sunlight and blue skies could be seen.

"I don't know about you, guys, but I'm feeling the magic," said Nick, looking down at his Morpher.

Kali grinned and nodded at her best friend. "Ready?" she asked, snapping open the phone.

"Ready!"

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

Galwit Mysto Ranger!

Necrolai seethed as the team morphed right before her eyes. "Bring it on!" she challenged, summoning a load more Hidiacs and sending them into battle.

"You got it!" Kali yelled, running ahead. She flipped over several Hidiacs and landed amongst them, transforming her magi staff into its sword mode and spinning wildly in a complete circle. The tip of the sword knicked each Hidiac in turn, causing them to explode.

"Leave them alone!"

Kali looked around at the sound of Vida's yell and spotted several Hidiacs harassing a small group of civilians, including Toby. Running over to assist her friend, Kali quickly lifted a small crying girl into her arms and kicked an oncoming Hidiac in the chest.

The little girl squealed in excitement and threw her arms around Kali's neck. Kali patted the child's back and then returned her to her mother's care. "Go, get out of here!" she said, urging the family of two away from the fighting.

"You ready?" Vida asked, taking out Magi Staff.

Kali rolled her own between her fingers and nodded.

"Magi Staff, Tornado Power!"

"Magi Staff, Hell's Firewall!"

The two attacks merged and a blazing tornado whipped around the last of the Hidiacs.

A second shiver run down Kali's spine and she looked around just in time to see a dark seal appear above the city. "Don't celebrate yet," she said, interrupting the others as they spoke, excitedly, over one another, each inspecting their Ranger uniforms like it was the first time they had morphed.

"Why, what's -?" Xander broke off as he looked up, seeing what Kali had been talking about. Fightoe was towering over the city and using his staff to destroy every building within his reach.

"Now I'm a big dog!" Fight-toe growled.

Kali unclipped her Morpher and punched in a three-digit code. "Let's take it to the titans!" she said, as a black seal appeared above her head. It descended over her, encasing her entire body and causing her to growl in strength, power, and height. Soon she towered over both Fightoe and the city.

"Right behind you!" Nick said as he and the others followed Kali's lead.

"Mystic Titans, Megazord mode!" the Rangers yelled, transforming into their megazords.

"See if you can break these!" Fightoe bellowed, twirling his staff around and unleashing a series of bubbles at the rangers. The clear pockets of air transformed into rocks as they soared towards the team, but the Rangers cut through them with general ease.

"Titan Megazord, galaxy slash!"

Nick and the others stepped forward, ahead of Kali and swung their sword up into the air. It pulsated with energy and sliced straight through Fightoe's staff, destroying a part of it.

"My staff!" Fightoe boomed. "You will pay for this, Rangers! You'll pay!"

He shrunk and disappeared through a spell seal.

"We'll be waiting, Fightoe," Kali murmured.

~X~

Upon their return to Root core, the Rangers were reunited with Udonna, Claire, Daggeron and Jenji. The latter scooped the team up in his arms, crushing them together as he hugged them. Once they were released, Kali hugged Claire as the apprentice run down the stairs towards her.

"Going to the tribunal of magic took a lot of guts," said Daggeron, sound impressed. "I just can't believe Koragg helped you."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Kali. "We needed Koragg's help just as much as he needed ours, his magic had also been taken, although I'm curious as to how."

"Yes, it is intriguing to think that he lost his magic at the same time Imperious cast the dark wish," said Udonna. "If he truly is evil, he shouldn't have lost it at all."

"Are you seriously considering Koragg could be less than evil?" Xander asked.

Kali shook her head. "No. But, maybe he did something to make him lose his magic at the same time we lost ours," she said. "Although, Necrolai's newfound magical abilities do have Koragg's signature. Maybe he somehow lost them to her?"

Daggeron looked thoughtful. "Koragg has always been about fighting with honour," he said. "Imperious could be testing him to see if he can fight without magic. Maybe Koragg willingly gave up his magic to Imperious, to prove a point, and Imperious then gave the magic to Necrolai."

"Why would he do that?" Xander asked.

Kali shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," she said. "I don't think we're ever going to find out why."

"Uh - I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Jenji said, drawing the conversation back to the dark wish. "This whole mess happened because of me."

Maddie shook her head. "It's not your fault, Jenji," she said, smiling. "You had to grant the wish."

Jenji lowered his head, still disappointed that he had caused his friends to lose their powers.

"The danger isn't over yet, Rangers," Udonna warned. "Two of the barbarian beasts are still..." she broke off as the golden globe on the table donged, revealing Fightoe and Fifty-Below in the city.

Vida groaned and turned to Udonna. "You had to say it," she said.

Kali turned to the others and grinned. "Let's go finish what they started," she said.

The others nodded and followed her out.

~X~

Fightoe and Fifty-Below stood in the centre of Briarwood city. They both looked menacing as they waited for their quarry to arrive when they finally did, Fifty-Below stepped forward, his fists clenched tightly around his staff.

"We meet again, Rangers!"

Kali clenched her hand into a fist as both beasts charged forwards. She reached for her magic staff and rolled it between her fingers, as she and the others charged Fightoe, leaving Daggeron to deal with Fifty-Below.

Fightoe laughed as he easily took out four of the six Rangers.

"Over here you big mutt!" Kali shouted, jumping over Vida and Chip and slashing her sword at Fightoe's chest and stomach. He lowered his arm over the blade and brushed it against his body, before slamming his staff into Kali's shoulder as she struggled to break his release.

Kali groaned as she hit a fence and rolled down onto her stomach.

Fightoe laughed as the team gained their footing and regrouped. "You don't stand a chance!" he bellowed, unleashing several attacks and sending the team back to the ground.

"We should have done our best to defeat these guys when we had the chance," said Vida, struggling to get to her knees.

"We took the easy way out by using Jenji," Chip agreed.

"Face it, guys. We got lazy," said Xander, admitting what the others didn't want too.

Nick groaned and struggled to his knees. "That's what the tribunal was trying to tell me, but I wouldn't listen," he said.

Kali exhaled heavily and tried to push herself to her knees. She turned her gaze skyward, staring at nothing in particular; but when she spoke it was like she was addressing someone that only she could see. "Is that what you wanted to hear?" she asked. "Us to admit that it was our fault? This whole thing, we caused it!"

Fightoe and Fifty-Below regrouped and laughed as Kali looked back at them. This was it. The punishment for their failure.

"Let's finish this!" said Fightoe. He raised his staff, crossed it with Fifty-Below's and unleashed a blast at the rangers that caused Kali's entire body to stiffen. There was more than enough dark magic in this attack to level the entire city, not just destroy them.

As the blast hit, Kali raised her arms to protect herself and felt a wave of energy wash over her. She cracked her eyes open and peered out of her visor, realising that she was a lot higher up than she had been before. Lowering her arms, Kali gasped and looked down at the two barbarian beasts, as they snarled up.

"What happened?" Maddie asked, looking around at the others. "How did we get up here?"

Kali looked down as her Morpher chimed. She snapped it open and grinned at the magic that emanated from it. "We got more power," she said, looking around at the others.

"Use this power wisely, Black Ranger. We won't grant it again."

Kali smiled and looked to the others. "I can think of only one place where this kind of magic could've come from," she said. "I think it's their way of telling us we learned our lesson."

"Then let's show them what we got!" said Nick, taking the lead. He snapped open his Morpher and punched in the three new digits.

"Legendary Source, Mystic Force!"

With a surge of energy, the team transformed right before everyone else's eyes. As the glow of magic ebbed away, Kali cast a glance around. The others uniforms and she could only guess her own, had transformed into the spirit of the animal they now embodied.

Feeling a weight in her hand, Kali looked down to see a staff appear in her palm. She grinned and held it up. The long staff was white with gold wrapped around the top and bottom, and a large lion's head adorned the top. Inside the gaping mouth was a red dial with numbers one-six embossed.

"Element of Earth, Green Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Wind, Pink Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Water, Blue Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Lightning, Yellow Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Darkness, Black Legend Warrior!"

"Element of Fire, Red Legend Warrior!"

"We call forth the power of light magic! Mystic Force, Legend Warriors!"

As the Rangers descended back to ground level, Fightoe and Fifty-Below prepared for their last battle.

"We're not afraid!" Fifty-Below bellowed.

Kali tightened her grip around her staff. "You should be!" she retaliated.

"I'll make the first call," said Xander, taking the lead. He hooked his finger into the slot that read number one on his staff and pulled it around. "Code One. Rockslide!"

A mountain of rocks collided with the two beasts.

"Code One," Vida called, following Xander's lead. "Whirlwind!"

A tunnel of air spiralled out and slammed into the pair, causing them to stumble.

"Code One, Tidal Wave!" Maddie yelled, summoning a wall of water above her head. She pointed her staff at the two beasts, and the wave crashed over them.

"Code One. Lightning Bolt!" Chip called. Thunder crashed overhead and a single strand of lightning hit the ground surrounding Fightoe and Fifty-Below. The two sparked dangerously as energy coursed through them, using the water from the previous attack as a conduit.

Kali grinned as she stepped towards the two beasts. "Hey, Fightoe, you tell me who's the big dog now?" she asked, holding up her staff. "Code One. Inferno!" A ball of dark energy rose out of the ground behind and, following the directions of Kali's staff, spiralled towards Fightoe.

The dog howled as it collided with him, causing him to explode.

"No!" Fifty-Below yelled. "You'll pay for that, Black Ranger."

"Watch your step," Nick said, side-stepping Kali and facing the yeti. He held up his staff and activated it. "Code One. Firestorm!" he yelled, slamming a wall of fire into the last beast.

Fifty-Below bellowed as he soared through the air and crashed into a solid wall behind him. He groaned and stumbled back to his feet, gripping his staff tightly. "Let's see you stop me now!" he yelled as a dark seal appeared beneath him.

The team looked up as Fifty-Below towered over the city.

"Listen to me carefully, Black Ranger. The Legend Mode has more power than you can scarcely imagine. Follow the prompts on your Mystic Lion Staff, and may you never be without magic."

Holding up her staff, Kali watched as the number four on her staff shimmered brightly in the sunlight. "Guys, do what I do!" she said, turning the dial and holding her staff above her head. "Code Four!"

Xander, Vida, Chip and Maddie did the same, as Nick raised his staff and called "Code Three" instead.

"Legend of the sky, Mystic Firebird!" Nick called, transforming into a large fiery Phoenix.

"Legend of the jungle, Mystic Lion!" the others called.

Once transformed, the two megazords charged Fifty-Below, striking him with their abilities.

"Let's take it up a notch!" Kali called. "Ready, Nick?"

"Ready!"

"Manticore Megazord!" the team called, combining their powers and transforming the two Zords into one massive fighting machine.

Fifty-Below took a step back in alarm as he faced the newest auxiliary in the Ranger's arsenal. "It won't matter," he growled. "You won't defeat me."

"You should never make a promise you can't keep, Fifty-Below," said Kali. "Your kind ends here!"

"You're as naive as I thought if you believe this ends with me, Black Ranger," Fifty-Below said. "The Barbarian Beasts will never be destroyed, not as long as one remains, even if only in the shadows."

Kali shook her head. "Enough talk!" she snapped. "You're finished!"

The others nodded and raised their staffs. "Legend Striker!" they called, and the Megazord summoned its spear to hand.

"Ultimate Ice!" Fifty-Below bellowed, summoning a chunk of ice and slamming his hockey-stick staff into its side. The ice puck soared towards the Rangers.

"Striker, Spin Attack!"

The tip of the spear spun rapidly. The faster it spun, the more it sparked until a blizzard of flame surrounded the head. Rolling the staff around the arm, the Rangers speared the ice puck, causing it to melt, as a stream of flames collided with Fifty-Below.

Fifty-Below howled as he exploded.

"Checkmate!" the Rangers cheered.

~X~

Vida laughed as she jumped up onto Chip's back and hugged him tightly. They had just walked away from the battle with Fight-toe and were heading back to the Rock Porium to finish up their the first-anniversary party with Toby.

"That was unreal," Chip grinned.

"We did it, guys," said Xander, happily as he pulled Maddie and Kali in for a hug. "No more Barbarian Beasts."

"Not unless you take Fifty-Below's threat about them never continuing to exist from the shadows," said Vida.

"He's evil," said Kali. "Do you believe anything he says?"

Vida shrugged.

Kali released herself from Xander's clutches. "Besides, even if it does turn out to be true, we'll deal with it," she said. "For now, let's just be happy that we have our powers back, and a little extra boost."

The others cheered in agreement.

"Rangers!"

The team turned to find Koragg striding towards them.

"Just so we're clear," Koragg said, stopping a few feet away. "Our alliance is over."

"It doesn't have to be," said Maddie.

"I only serve the Master."

"Got it," said Nick. "We're back to being enemies."

"But don't forget, Koragg," said Kali, stopping the Knight Wolf as he turned away. "We've got more power than ever now, and if today has proved anything, it's that we don't go down so easily."

Koragg smirked and turned back to the team, his gaze locked with Kali's. "The fact that you have more power will just make my victory all the more satisfying when I defeat you," he said. "Until next time, Rangers."

He turned and walked through a dark spell seal.

~X~

Rachel Russell looked up at the sound of fast and furious footsteps approached from outside the Rock Porium. She'd taken the afternoon off to attend the record store's anniversary party.

"There you are!" Rachel exclaimed as the pair in question raced into the store, behind them came their friends. "I've been calling you both for the last half hour, where've you been? Why haven't you been answering?"

Kali clutched the stitch in her side and turned to Nick. "You explain," she said, breathing hard. "I'm going to die real quick."

Nick rolled his eyes at his best friend and turned to his sister. "We forgot the cake," he said, sheepishly.

"Typical," Rachel muttered. "You'd both forget your heads if they weren't screwed on. But that doesn't explain why you haven't been answering my calls."

"Well, my phone's dead," said Kali, holding up the device and showing the screen. "I can't speak for him."

Nick patted his jeans down and looked back at his sister. "Must've left mine at your place," he said. "Anyway, we're here now. What did we miss?"

"Your boss has been listing the top percentages of music genres," said Rachel. "I hope your dash out was worth it. The crowd's getting restless, and I can't see many of them sticking around for much longer."

Taking a deep breath, Kali looked around at Vida and Xander. "Nick and I made the cake," she said. "Maddie and Chip made sure we got it here safe, it's now your turn to present it."

Chip passed the cake box to Vida, and she stepped through the crowd with Xander and the others. The green ranger produced a single candle from his pocket and stuck it in the centre of the cake.

"Sorry we're late, Toby," Vida apologised. "We accidentally destroyed the last cake, and it was too late to get an exact replacement. So we decided to make you one, instead."

"It's not perfect," said Xander. "But we made it the old fashioned way, with hard work."

Vida presented the cake to Toby. It wasn't immaculate. It was a small one-tier compared to the last one, and the chocolate frosting was laid on extremely thick, as well as the edible icing writing was skewered.

"He said hard work, not good work," said Chip, awkwardly.

Kali leaned forward and lit the candle with a matchstick.

But Toby was smiling. "I love it!" he said, much to the Ranger's relief. "I'll just make a wish."

He inhaled deeply -

"NO!"