The sun hung in the sky, and the clouds cast a low shadow. A group of college students were having a beach party. People were jumping in the water from the docks, not having a care in the world. A girl started swimming to the shore when her friends gathered on the beach for a volleyball game. Little did she know, something was in the water with her. The girl felt a tug on her leg and she screamed out loud. Her friends looked over and ran to the docks.

"Mikayla!" They yelled over and over.

Mikayla struggled and thrashed but she was pulled under. By the time one of her friends came under and brought her up, she wasn't breathing. One of her friends frantically dialed 911 and explained everything. The ambulance got there just in time, revived her, and drove her to the hospital.

The being that attacked her laughed with joy. "Nothing special about this one, but it was fun! And the Nemeton's unsealed power gives me strength!" It said to itself.


It had been a few days since the first battle. It was Saturday morning, and Dr. Bly called the Rangers into Bayview Forest. He walked with them, talking about more Magical History and the Earth's hidden magical realm. The fog, he explained, was a magical protection to hide the HQ and their current destination. After a few minutes of walking, the group happened upon a large tree stump with a smooth top.

"This is the Nemeton," Dr. Bly pointed out. "One of few in the world, a center of powerful energy."

"I can... feel it," Alicia commented in disbelief. The current of energy felt like waves of water washing over her being. The others made eye contact, feeling it too.

Dr. Bly nodded, "It's this sacred site that's keeping our world safe from the Dark Void. The Twilight can't find it, even if they tried. So, they resort to weakening it from afar."

~A bit Later, inside HQ~

After the Nemeton lecture, the Rangers were brought in to train. This was done on the training floor in the middle of the Base. Xander cast a spell that teleported Jared into a magical simulation, to which the others were able to track via Computer Screens.

Devon manned one of the consoles and said, "Okay, Jared. You're up."

The Slayer stepped into a small white room. He readied his Morpher, and the room changed around him. Now surrounding him was a ruined city that was on fire. Coming up from the ground were digital foot soldiers.

"Spirit Legend, Awaken!"

Jared blocked a punch from an attacker and kicked it away. He then jumped into the air and spun and kicked two. He backflipped away from more, turned and ran toward a wall. He focused his Mana into his feet and ran up the wall. The focused energy allowed him to stand on it, defying gravity. He turned and made the tiger hand sign. A small translucent red ball appeared on his fingertips.

"Soul Fire, Ignite!" The ball caught fire and soared at the foot soldiers as a roaring flame, destroying them.

"Nice shot, Jared!" Rachel's voice said. "Here comes more."

Jared simply said, "I'm ready."

Noah, Alicia, Liam and Sonia looked on, impressed.

"Wow, Jared's strong," Sonia commented as the slayer slashed down a few holograms with his X-Sword.

"He already has a handle on his Mana." Alicia added. She saw the confused look on Noah's face and explained, " The energy from inside that lets us use our powers."

Rachel then explained, "Jared's been a Slayer for a year. He was taught to use his Mana effectively. And now with his Ranger Powers, his abilities as a Magic User will only grow. The same can go for you four, when you find out what you're capable of."

Jared used his Supernatural power to jump into the air via energy step circles. He again made the tiger hand sign and formed a small red ball of energy on his joined fingertips.

"Soul Fire, Ignite!" The ball caught fire and erupted into a huge flame, disintegrated all the holograms.

When he landed, the scene disappeared and showed the white waiting room. He de-morphed and took a deep breath.

"So, how do you use an elemental attack?" Liam asked Dr. Bly as Jared rejoined the group.

Dr. Bly explained, "So there's loads of energy out in the Universe, right? Different types with different functions, but it's all energy. Magic users use Mana. As Witches and Wizards, you can use Mana to cast spells. The Five of you can also use Mana with your abilities and your Ranger powers. The trick is to find a connection to your elements."

"Connection?" Sonia asked.

Jared stepped in. "Yeah. The more emotion you feel, the more your power grows. You need to establish that connection..." Jared made a small translucent red orb catch fire in his hand. "...to control your element."

"So how do you know all this?" Noah asked. "I mean, how are you so good at fighting already?"

"My Light-Watcher."

"Your Light-Watcher?" Liam asked.

"Yeah. Besides healing and teleporting, Light-Watchers are also assigned to seek out innocents, Supernaturals, us, and in my case, Slayers, and train them. It's a dangerous job. Light-Watchers are humans who died and their souls were brought to life. They can only be killed by evil Light-Watchers called 'Dark-Seekers.'"

"What happened to your Light-Watcher?" Alicia asked.

Jared winced, terrible memories flowing through his head. "He was... killed…"

"I'm sorry." Alicia put her hand over Jared's, but the boy recoiled at the touch.

"What kind of things were you taught?" Noah asked, but upon seeing Jared's face, he backed down a little bit. "Sorry... Just curious."

"It's fine. Well, the first thing he taught me was the Slayer line. The first ever Slayer was infused with the heart and soul of a demon. Her power is passed on every time the host dies. It goes girl, boy, girl, boy. Then he explained how my predecessor died. She was drowned by a water demon. He then taught me how to fight and use my Mana to get stronger."

"What about your power?" Sonia asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. Pulling information or objects out of other people is unheard of, apparently."

Noah looked at the ground and tightened his hand into a fist.

"I have to speed it up." He said to himself as Dr. Bly led them into the training pit for hand-to-hand combat. "Gotta catch up to him… Somehow."

~Cue theme, link on my profile~

-Ryder Household-

Later that afternoon, Noah sat in his living room studying. His younger siblings came in.

"Hey bro, heard you got into a fight!" Noah's 15 year old brother, Arum (Air-um) teased. Arum had the same brown hair as Noah, but had tanner skin. He also had blue eyes.

Noah sighed. "That's old news."

His 8 year old sisters, who were twins, marched in. Daisy asked, "Noah can you play Candyland with us?"

"Pretty please?" Asked May.

"Mayflower, Daisy, I'm working. Maybe later?"

The twins had their mom's black hair. They too shared Noah's blue eyes. "Noooo, now!" They pouted in unison. Noah grunted in annoyance and left his house. He had to get to lacrosse practice anyway.


He was in possession of the ball and maneuvered his way around all his opposing team mates. He shot the ball into the net, earning a cheer from his side of the field.

When he and his team mates left the locker room to go home, someone said, "Did you hear what happened at the beach yesterday? Apparently something tried to drown a girl."

"Yeah, I heard about that too. They said she had grip marks on her arms and neck, but no one was in the water with her. She claimed she was attacked."

This caught Noah's attention and made him formulate a plan.

-Bayview Beach-

Within the hour, the Blue Ranger stood at the scene of the crime by himself. He was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt, black swimming trunks, and blue sandals. He closed his eyes and focused on his Mana. He grinned when he picked up a non-human presence. The moment he stepped foot in the water, the surface about twenty feet away from him burst upward. Standing over the water was a humanoid figure. It stood upright like a person, but it had scaly green skin. Its face was wrinkly and it had a dark brown beak protruding at the center. It has a turtle shell on its back and what looked like a straw hat on its head.

"Ah, I knew that moving to a new place would give me the opportunity to fight another special person."

"Excuse me?" Noah asked, taking a fighting stance.

"Oh, never mind. You wouldn't understand. Now why don't you hold still so I can drown you?"

"Not happening. Spirit Legend, Awaken!"

~Noah Morphing Sequence~

Noah super sped toward the figure, using his Mana to walk on the water surface.

Noah sent a high kick, but the figure ducked. He then jumped and sent down a chop, nailing the figure's head. However, the creature's head partially turned into water, wrapping around his hand and pulling him in. He broke off and super sped all around the figure, sending punches and kicks, but he kept getting stuck for a few moments. The figure then sent a watery punch, but Noah blocked it.

"What are you?" Noah gasped, his chest heaving.

The creature laughed and in its croaky voice, it replied, "You don't know? I'm a Kappa!"

The two broke off and jumped away from each other.

"You seem to be attributed to water," The Kappa observed. "Let's see who's better..." With that, the water demon raised his arms and sent a gigantic blast of swirling water at Noah.

"No problem..." He said to himself. "Take this!" Noah thrusted his hands forward, but only managed to move the water back a few inches before it rushed at him again, sending him spiraling to the beach. The hard impact caused him to de-morph.

"Whether in the water or on land, I will drown you!" Another rush of water was sent down on Noah, but a green wall blocked its path.

"Noah!" Liam shouted as he ran to his friend's side. "You alright?"

"Dandy..."

"We can't face him while he's on the water." Jared said. "X-Defender!" Jared, Sonia, Liam and Alicia twisted the dial on their Morphers. The female voice announced, "Battle Gear." On the touch screen appeared two different windows.

One read 'Cross Defender' and the other read 'Spirit Weapon.' They pressed the Cross Defender side and in swirling green lights, they grabbed the special handgun from the air. They pointed them at Kappa and fired away. The silver bullets covered in glowing energy that would cause a mini explosion on impact, but they were absorbed by Kappa's body and nullified.

"It's not working!" Sonia said, lowering her gun in disbelief.

"He's sending another wave!" Liam pointed out.

Jared stepped forward quickly and shouted, "Soul Fire, Ignite!" The burst of flames collided with the oncoming rush. The two attacks canceled each other out causing vapor to fill the area.

Alicia used her Morpher to materialize a scope that launched a grappling hook. She attached it to her Cross Defender and shot it at Kappa. When he absorbed it into his body, she pressed a button that reeled him in from the water. Kappa got up.

"You little..." He transformed his arms into blades and sent a wave at Alicia, knocking her down and de-morphing her.

"X-Sword!" Jared and Sonia stopped the demon's blades, while Liam flipped over the side and slashed down.

The three then slashed him together. Kappa screamed in pain and shot three tentacles from his body, each whipping the rangers away, causing them to de-morph.

"My body isn't as strong when on land... I have to recover..." Kappa looked at Jared with knowing eyes, turned into water and retreated back to the ocean.

Noah clenched his fists and slammed them into the sand.

-HQ-

"It's called a 'Kappa,' originally a creature from Japanese Myth," Jared explained. In front of him, was the Destiny Book, which was moved from his attic to HQ. It had pages upon pages that detailed numerous different Supernatural creatures from all over the world. "It's an amphibious yokai demon or imp. Usually found in bodies of water, they've been known to challenge Humans in altercations."

"Looks like we got a nasty one," Liam commented, rubbing his chin between his fingers.

Noah sat down in a chair, his eyes glued to one spot on the floor. While Rachel was going off while Xander stood to the side and listened.

"You could've been killed!" Rachel lectured in a mixture of worry and anger.

Noah kept staring at the ground, his arms tightly crossing his chest.

"If you knew something like that was lurking in the water, you should've called everyone! What were you thinking? You keep jumping in like this, Noah! What if the others didn't get there in time?! Who's gonna bail you out if you get into another jam?!"

Dr. Bly placed his hand on Rachel's shoulder as a calming gesture. "Rachel, please. Relax. Noah, are you okay?"

Noah got to his feet and took in a deep breath. "I'm... I'm fine..." He muttered, before leaving. While he walked, Dr. Bly patted Devon on the shoulder, signaling him.

"Where are you-" Rachel was not given the chance to finish.

Devon nodded at Dr. Bly, and walked by Rachel. He raised his hands in defense and said, "I'll talk to him."

"Okay. Go." She turned to the others and said, "In the meantime, I think you four should rest up, and be alert."

-Dark Void-

King Cepheus watched the battle with Kappa through a circle of black energy. "Interesting..." He commented.

"Father? You called?" Roxas asked.

"Yes... Send a specter to grant that Water Demon more power. Remember, he must accept it willingly."

"It shall be done."

"A water demon... You don't see those everyday." Medusa said.

"Yeah... Roxas, don't screw up!" Phoenix taunted.

"Silence." Roxas threatened as he disappeared in black orbs.

Phoenix muttered, "Don't act so perfect, Roxas. Your son's missing and we have no heir."

"Phoenix," Medusa whispered, "Stop, talking before his Majesty hears you."

Meanwhile, Cepheus closed his eyes to meditate. His mind wandered to the past, where he heard voices from his deepest memories. "Soon... all of my people... will feel the light of day once again..."

-Underwater-

Under the surface of the water, Kappa was gaining his strength. "Soon... I will rise again and destroy those pesky rangers."

"Will that really be enough?" Came Roxas's voice. Roxas appeared in front of Kappa.

"What do you want?

"What I want is to give you power... if you're interested."

"So what's the catch?"

"No catch. Just giving you power straight from the Dark Void."

"The Dark Void, you say? Well, it's breaking seal has already given me power."

"Yes, but this power will make that seem like nothing!"

After thinking over, Kappa said, "Deal. I want the power."

-Back on the School field-

Noah was on the sports field, shooting a lacrosse ball at the net. Devon walked up to him. "Rachel can be scary, right? Don't worry. She means well."

"I don't wanna talk."

"Okay, cool. Just listen. I saw the battle you had with Kappa. I know the reason why you couldn't control the water sent at you."

This caught Noah's interest, because he looked at Devon with curiosity.

"You know about my power, yes?"

Noah nodded silently.

"By focusing my Mana, I can not only Orb, I can heal, levitate, and control Light among other things. But, when I first became a Light-Watcher, it wasn't that easy."

Noah pressed, "And what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, I had trouble controlling it the same way you're having trouble managing your abilities." Devon stated casually. "Well, I was garbage. Until Dr. Bly and the Light-Watcher Elders trained me up."

"What?"

"When controlling the powers of a Light-Watcher, one has to produce a constant flow of energy and will. If one were to be disrupted, nothing would happen!"

"I still don't understand."

"Come with me."

Devon had led Noah to a nearby river. "Look at this river. It has an absolute flow. It's all natural and you can't change it."

"Now, you tried to oppose the water thrown at you with force. Naturally you were defeated. Look." Devon picked up a boulder and threw it at the river. It created a splash, but was eventually defeated. He then picked up a leaf and let it fall. It pushed the surface back a little, and was moved with the flow.

"It's like the leaf and the boulder. The basic rule is that no matter what you throw at the natural flow, you can't reverse it. It has to be maintained. Whatever comes at them, they must be strong enough to keep the flow going. All you can do is redirect the flow. You get what I'm saying?"

Noah thought back to the worried looks on his friends' faces, and the furious gaze of Rachel. He remembered getting into a fight with Paul days before, he remembered how he would always leap before he looked. While his headstrong attitude and willpower served him well, he realized that sometimes, an alternative approach can work better.

"I think I do... No... I get it! I know now!" Noah's face lit up.

"I'm glad." Devon said with a smile.

Noah's Morpher started to ring and Rachel's voice came through.

"Noah, the others need you. They can't hold Kappa off."

His face hardened into a focused look as he replied, "I'm on my way."

"Oh and Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you can do it."

Noah smiled with content. "Thanks."

-The Plaza-

The Plaza was a large place within Bayview. It lined up with stores and restaurants. Four of the rangers were defending themselves from Kappa in the center of the Plaza, where a fountain was.

Sonia was knocked back but quickly got up and sent a blast of sound.

Kappa was not just made of water now. He had black armor plates around his chest, arms, forehead and legs. Also, the power of the Twilight made it so he didn't weaken from being away from water.

The water demon absorbed the sound waves with a water wall and wrapped it around the Yellow Ranger. The trapped sound waves struck her inside the water prison. Alicia fired an arrow, but it passed through Kappa. He sent a blast of water at her, and planned to strike her with another while she dodged. However, Alicia felt this coming. When she jumped to the left, she quickly back flipped away from the second attack.

"Oh, an Empath… Interesting." Kappa sent a barrage of water rods at Alicia. She dodged them the best she could, but was struck down. Before more rained on her, Liam stood in front of Alicia, blocking the rods with a barrier. However, Kappa easily broke the shield.

Jared kicked Kappa back and wielded his Legend Sword in his right hand and his Cross Defender Sword in his left. He lashed out against Kappa, giving his team enough time to get up. However, just as before, Kappa blasted them away with water tentacles.

"Now, the finisher!" A sphere of water sped its way to the teens, but Noah appeared in front of them and redirected it into a concrete wall.

"Step off..." Noah warned, with a glare.

"Noah!" Sonia exclaimed.

"The Ranger of Water! Come back for more?"

"That's enough, Kappa! You're going down."

"Oh really?" Kappa raised his hands and sent a bigger rush of water straight at Noah. He closed his eyes and focused his Mana.

"...no matter what you throw at the natural flow, you can't reverse it. It must be maintained. Whatever comes at them, they must be strong enough to keep the flow going. All you can do is redirect the flow..."

When Noah opened his eyes, he raised his hands. The water was inches away from hitting his palms, but Noah spun around and the water flow followed his hands. He then thrusted his hands forward after a 360 spin and launched the water went right back at Kappa with more power.

Kappa was smashed into the ground and yelled, "How is that possible?!"

Noah answered, "Mana."

"Focus...Focus...Focus...Focus...Focus..." He opened his palms, made blue translucent energy balls and made them turn into flowing water spheres. He pressed them together to form a bigger sphere.

"River Rush!" Noah thrusted his hands forward and the sphere erupted into a highly pressurized blast of water. It smashed into Kappa and tore him apart. Kappa was laying there, motionless.

"Did Noah get him? Liam asked, cautiously stepping forward.

"Only one way to find out." Jared replied, casually. He dematerialized his helmet and approached Kappa. Unexpectedly, Kappa turned into water and entered Jared's body through his nose. The Slayer clutched his throat and made choking noises.

"Jared!" The others shouted.

Kappa's voice was heard. "I knew you were special! You are a Slayer! My second one!"

Jared choked out, "It was you..."

"Yes, I killed a Slayer. And guessing by the time frame, I'd say you were activated right after her death."

Kappa laughed as he recalled the memory. "Yes, bright girl. Kind and strong. She died protecting her friends and family. 'Katie! Katie!' They yelled. Ending her life felt so sweet. Now, let me tell you something Slayer. I've learned a few things over the years..."

"Noah, flush him out!" Alicia yelled, her voice cracking.

Noah closed his eyes and focused. He reached out with his Mana, trying to find the water within Jared.

"...Slayers are destined to be alone. What got her killed was her emotional attachments. You will die... you will..."

Noah stretched to his wingspan, and Kappa burst out of Jared as strips of water. Jared was coughing viciously, but he was alive.

~HQ~

Jared fell unconscious from the strain and was taken back to HQ to be healed by Devon.

Noah, however, sat on the HQ's roof staring off at the water that surrounded it. He spent hours making bits of water float between his hands. He looked off, staring at the endless sea off tree on one side of HQ, while a large lake sat on the other. The Blue Ranger could see the mist rising from the treetops, the magical protection of the Nemeton.

"You're getting it." Came Jared's voice. The Slayer sat down next to Noah.

"So, you made it." Noah whispered with relief, "I'm glad…"

"Yeah, barely. You saved me."

"You almost died."

"But I'm alive. That's the point, Noah."

"I was so scared. I couldn't focus and if I was just a second late, you would've..." The water between Noah's hands burst.

"I'm okay now because you figured it out. You're well on your way."

"Thanks, Jared."

"Don't mention it, bud."

Jared turned and walked away. Kappa's words hung on his mind."...Slayers are destined to be alone. What got her killed was her emotional attachments. You will die... you will..."

Jared winced as his mind cast itself into the past. "No!" Jared heard himself grunt. "NO!" Trying to blot out the pain, Jared covered his ears with his hands.


Please review and share! Later Days!