A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she sat on the white-washed rock face looking out to sea. She was still within the city limits and had come to this spot for a bit of alone time and silence. While she loved being at the Shiba house, it was sometimes too noisy, especially when she needed time to think.

The waves crashed against the rocks far off into the distance, but she could still feel the spray of the sea on her face. She had managed to wedge herself into a crevice, her feet folded at the ankles, knees bent and hugging her chest. She felt a sense of calm being here, even though her innermost thoughts were in turmoil.

She'd felt it for a while now. Some sort of spike in the atmosphere. Normally she'd have put it down to energy - there was a new moon occurring, and magic usually heightened with each moon phase - but this spike wasn't a neutral source, it was dark. Almost evil.

If she didn't know any better, she'd have said there was a half-Nighlok walking the human realm somewhere. But, the only three half-Nighlok's in existence were either aboard Master Xandred's ship in the Netherworld, dead, or fighting the good fight. Had another been created, she highly doubted it.

"There you are."

Rune jumped and looked back, over her shoulder. "What are you doing here?" she asked, watching Mike climb down the cliff and sit beside her.

"The others were looking for you," said Mike. "You've turned off the location on your Samuraizer."

"I know. I didn't want anyone to find me. How did you find me?"

"All magic is connected, right?" Mike asked. "I just followed your magical aura."

Rune smiled lightly. "You're getting good," she said.

"Thank you."

"How come only you came after me?"

Mike shrugged. "I could say that the others were busy training and whatnot, but the truth is none of them have mastered the 'travelling through trees' thing yet," he answered.

Rune laughed. While the others had been taken on by Mystic Defenders and in the process of being taught to control their respective elements through magic as well as symbol power, there were some parts of magical intervention that they still struggled with. Travelling being one of them.

The trees of the Mystic Realm were gateways between the two magical realm and the human realm. If one believed in their magic, then they should've been able to access the portal between the bark. She could, and so could Mike. The others, not so much.

"So much for Kevin's 'practice makes perfect' scheme," said Rune.

Mike chuckled.

Silence fell between them. Each one lost in their own thoughts as the scene played out before them. Birds dropped from the sky, picking fish out of the sea, waves crashed against the rocks, sending salty spray into the air. The wind blew and rustled the leaves of the large oak tree behind them, and now and again the sound of an engine would pass on the road adjacent to them.

"The others are worried about you," said Mike, after a while. "You've been quiet and distance the last few days. Everything all right?"

Rune hesitated. He had a right to know what was bothering her. Especially if what she could feel was potentially something they would deal with later. But how could she explain something she didn't fully understand herself?

"You ever hear of the New Moon phase?" Rune asked.

"Yeah," said Mike.

"Well, there is another phase called the Dark Moon phase," Rune explained. "It's what I tap into when I use my sealing symbol and magic. It's also connected to my darker half."

"Your Nighlok half?"

Rune nodded.

"Okay," said Mike, unsure. He wasn't a hundred percent certain what Rune was trying to tell him, only that whatever it was had made her run off to be alone.

Rune glanced at him and smiled, reassuringly. "I'm not going to turn evil," she said. "I'm just saying that the Dark Moon phase can amplify my abilities, and right now I can tell that there is something wrong. There is an essence that holds this world together, something that the Mystic Realm draws its magic from -"

"Oh, wait, I remember this from my lessons with Xander," said Mike, interrupting. "It's the Quintessence, right?"

"Yeah. The Quintessence makes up the entire world. It keeps us in balance," said Rune. "There is also Quintessence in us."

"You are more specifically."

Again, Rune nodded. "And because of that, I can tell when something is amiss," she said. "I've been so withdrawn the last few days because there is an imbalance somewhere. It's not too far away, so I would say within the limits of the city, but I can't be a hundred percent sure what it is. I just know it's bad."

"What does it feel like?" Mike asked.

"Dark, but not completely dark," Rune answered. "I'd say half and half."

"Half-Nighlok?"

Rune shrugged. "There's only three in existence," she answered. "Dayu, as far as we know, is in the Netherworld, Deker is dead…"

"And you're here. Hey, do you think you could sense yourself?"

Rune smiled and shook her head.

"Is there a chance that there is another you don't know about?"

Rune shrugged. She had considered that possibility, but if her history lessons were anything to go by, creating a half-human, half-Nighlok was not an easy task. They were either born naturally or a human was poisoned, just like her mother had been.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Fishing his Samuraizer out from his pocket, Mike snapped it open as Jayden's voice echoed from the speaker. "There's a disturbance at the beach. Meet us there."

Brow furrowed; Rune looked around. She and Mike were already at the Beach, but so far everything was as silent and serene as a postcard picture.

"There!" said Mike, pointing towards the rocks the furthest away.

"I see it," said Rune. "It looks like Serrator and Octoroo, but I can't be sure from here. Let's check it out."

"Jayden, get here as quick as you can!"

As Mike snapped his morpher closed, he and Rune jumped down onto the beach. They stumbled slightly in their descent but quickly recovered their footing and took off towards the rocks.

~X~

"Serrator!"

Serrator chuckled as he turned and spotted two out of six rangers charging towards him along the coastline. He was holding Dayu's harmonium at his side, and the sight of it made Rune falter for a moment. If the harmonium was in the human realm, did that mean Dayu was, too? Was that what she was sensing?

"Interfering as always," said Serrator, blasting the pair from his vantage point. He growled as the sand settled but found that both Mike and Rune had disappeared.

"Behind you."

Serrator turned, raising his arm, and blocking the downward strike from two spin swords. He threw his arm up, raking his claws across the two's chest and sending them backwards down the cliff.

Rune coughed as she rolled to her knees. She raised her sword horizontally above her head, blocking the second strike from Serrator. "Mike!" she called, struggling in the fine sand to regain her footing.

"I'm coming!" Mike called. He struggled forward, also sliding in the fine sand, but managed to hit Serrator in the side with his sword.

Serrator released the hold he had on Rune and stumbled back, causing her to fall forward onto her hands.

"What are you up, too, Serrator?" Mike asked.

"I was merely admiring the scenery," said Serrator. "It's a picture of absolute beauty."

"You wouldn't know absolute beauty if it bit you on the nose!" Rune said.

Serrator chuckled.

"Why do you have Dayu's harmonium?" Mike asked. "What are you planning?"

"That's no concern of yours, Green Ranger."

Grip tightening around her spin sword, Rune felt herself sliding in the sand as she glared at Serrator. He was at the top of the dune while she and Mike remained at the bottom. "You'd find that it is our concern," she said. "You're up to something, and we're here to stop it."

"I'm as innocent as a dove in this case."

Mike snorted. "You don't know the meaning of the term!" he snapped.

"I don't have time for this," said Serrator. "Moogers!"

Both Rune and Mike backed up slightly as the Moogers surrounded them. Without coaxing, the fish faces attacked, dividing the pair from one another, and forcing them further down the beach.

"I hate fighting on the beach!" said Rune, slipping and sliding as she blocked each incoming attack. The grains of sand were so fine underfoot it was hard to keep her bearings. She was knee deep and struggled to move her legs, resulting in the Moogers throwing her onto her back more than once.

"Fire smasher!"

Rune gasped and covered her face with her arm as Jayden landed beside her, swinging his fire smasher around and incinerating the Moogers that surrounded her.

"Need a hand?" Jayden asked, offering her his and pulling her up.

"Took you long enough!" said Rune.

"You and Mike went off on your own," said Jayden, using his fire smasher to block another load of Moogers from attacking.

The sand shifted again, pushing the couple further down the beach. They hit a harder patch of sand and easily caught their footing, making it twice as easy for them to take out the second horde of Moogers without breaking a sweat.

Lifting his arm, Jayden twirled Rune around him and into the path of a third set of Moogers. She released his hand, attached to spin disc to the handle of her sword and spun it as hard as she could.

"Celestial Chasm!" Rune called, cracking her whip against the ground, and shooting a series of stars into the air. They glinted the sunlight and the Moogers screeched in protest.

"Serrator!"

Rune turned to the sound of Dayu's voice. So, she was in the human realm!

"What's your game?" Dayu demanded. She was standing on the same cliff face that Serrator had once been situated, he now was standing opposite her, the harmonium still within his clutches.

Serrator chuckled. "Your love for this instrument is sickening, Dayu," he taunted. "What kind of decent Nighlok has any emotional attachments to their former human lives?"

Dayu clenched her hand into a tight fist. "You had no intention of fixing it, did you?" she demanded.

"No. All I wanted was Deker, to be frank."

"Deker?" Jayden murmured. "He's alive."

Rune swallowed. That was what she was sensing. It was never just one force; it was the combined energies of both Deker and Dayu being in the human realm.

"Look out!"

Rune turned, raising her arm, and blocking a strike from a Mooger. In her distraction she had become a target for the fish faces, but she was more concerned with what Serrator was up to with Deker and Dayu.

"Can you manage these things?" Rune asked Jayden.

"What are you going to do?" Jayden asked, concerned. Rune had been withdrawn for too long, even from him. He was glad to see that she was physically all right, but he wanted to know what was going on inside her head. How come Mike had managed to find her today? Why hadn't she let him know where she was going? Was she avoiding him?

"I need to know what's going on with them," Rune explained.

"But -"

"I promise to explain everything later," said Rune. She squeezed his hand and took off toward the cliff face where Dayu and Serrator were fighting each other.

Mike frowned as he noticed Rune from their corner of his eye. "Where she going?" he demanded of Jayden.

"She said she needed to find something out," said Jayden with a heavy sigh. It irritated him slightly that Rune wouldn't confide in him, and it irritated him more that Mike seemed to know. What was it about Mike that Rune found so disarming that she would go to him with something so important?

Uneasy, Mike turned his attention to the cliff-face. From what Rune had told him about the Quintessence and her imbalance he felt that at least someone needed to be beside her, to cover her back should Serrator or Dayu turn on her. If it wasn't going to be Jayden, then maybe it should've been him.

"Mike, where you going?" Emily called.

Without answering, Mike took off after Rune. He reached her the second she breached the top of the cliff and caught her arm before she could follow either Serrator or Dayu.

CRASH!

Lightning crashed overhead. Mike looked down at his hand wrapped around Rune's arm - had he done that?

"Why is the sky?" Antonio asked. The Moogers had started to disappear, retreating into the crevices that glowed from between the rocks. "It's darkening like an eclipse."

Mike turned to Rune. "You, okay?" he asked, noticing she was doubled at the waist, clutching his hand painfully tight.

"Something's coming," said Rune, her voice rigid.

"Guys!" Mike called to the others, waving them up to where he and Rune stood. They joined them, and Jayden immediately wrapped an arm around Rune.

She fell against him, gasping.

"What's going on?" Kevin asked.

The ground shook violently, sending boulders tumbling down from the cliffs into the sand as a loud booming voice echoed across the water.

"Day shall become night as I escape the Netherworld to face my enemies!" it boomed. The boulders colliding against one another and forming a doorway in the middle of the beach.

"Is that -?" Emily breathed.

"Master Xandred," Jayden confirmed.

The makeshift doorway glowed red and, as the darkness give way to the light again, Xandred stood before them. His whole appearance was more terrifying than the stories had described.

"It can't be," Serrator breathed, just as stunned as everyone else. Not once in any of his plans did, he ever consider Xandred travelling to the human realm.

Xandred laughed, his voice low and dangerous, his gaze sweeping the area and drifting from one enemy to the next. He stopped on Jayden and Rune, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

Rune swallowed and she felt Jayden's grip around her tighten.

If there were two people that Xandred wanted more than Serrator, it was them. He wanted Jayden destroyed since he believed he held the sealing symbol that would lock him away permanently, and he wanted Rune because she was destined to be his heir.

Antonio chuckled, earning him the attention of his friends. Now was not the time to being laughing. Xandred being in the human realm was a problem, one that they were not ready to face yet.

"Looks like you're not as strong as you thought," said Antonio. "Your spell is already losing power."

He was right. Patches of dried skin were already starting to form on parts of Xandred's body, draining him of his abilities.

"His spell is fading," confirmed Serrator. "So, his visit here will be short."

With an angry roar, Xandred narrowed his eyes at the colourful nuisances that had plagued his existence for generations. "I will destroy you all!" he announced. He raised his sword, flames wrapping around the blade, and sliced it through the air.

The Rangers cried out as they were thrown backward off the cliff they were standing on. Rune rolled away from Jayden, her suit disappearing. She coughed as searing pain ripped down her chest. She couldn't remember a time where she had felt such pain, it was indescribable.

"Serrator, you're next!" Xandred howled. He clenched his fist and then threw it out toward Serrator, unleashing a ball of dark energy. It dissolved into smaller swirls, each one attacking Serrator from all angles.

The Nighlok king cut through the attack with his claws. "I will not be bound!" he bellowed.

Xandred threw another dark energy ball at him, dislodging the Harmonium from his grasp. Serrator yelled at the sudden loss but resorted to dealing with Xandred's attacks before reclaiming his lost possession.

"I never thought you would venture into this realm," said Serrator. He leapt into the air and landed a short distance away. He would have to reclaim the harmonium when Xandred had departed. "While you dry out, I'll take my leave."

Rune clutched her chest with a wince as Serrator left. One enemy down was better than having to deal with both at the same time. She and the others may not have had the abilities to deal with Xandred, but they didn't have the strength to deal with both Xandred and Serrator in one sitting.

"You will not escape me!" Xandred yelled.

Clash!

Xandred huffed and turned, his hand tightening around the blade of Jayden's sword. "Ah, yes, Red Ranger," he said, slowly, forcing the sword toward the ground.

Jayden struggled to maintain his grip, his arms straining against Xandred's immense strength.

"The pathetic head of the Shiba clan," Xandred continued to insult. He shoved Jayden back, raising his sword and striking down. He sliced directly through the spin sword and tossed Jayden backward toward his team with a chuckle.

Using Mike for support, Rune stumbled over to Jayden just as the others helped him stand.

"You red-faced creep!" Mike hissed, shouldering his spin sword. Xandred was here for him and his friends, meaning he would do everything possible to keep them alive and safe.

Fixing his spin disc to his sword, Kevin led the charge forward - despite Rune calling for him not too. "Time to team up," he told the others.

"Quintuple slash!"

The high beam of active energy soared through the air toward Xandred, but he merely cut through it with his sword. Their power was clearly no match for his, even now when he was drying out.

Xandred laughed as he unleashed a second flame attack, knocking all five Rangers to the ground.

"He's more powerful than I imagined," said Mia, clutching her chest.

One arm wrapped around Rune, hers around him, Jayden struggled to his feet. He unclipped the Bull Disc from Rune's belt and loaded it into the Black Box.

"Don't be stupid," said Rune, pivoting herself so that she was stood before him. "You can't do this alone. Even with the Bull Disc he's too powerful."

"I have to try," said Jayden. "He wants you -"

"He wants you, too!" Rune argued. "You don't want to watch me go dark side, but I don't want to watch you die!"

Jayden sighed. He knew she was right. But he was red ranger, and regardless of everything he had learned in the last two years, this is what he had trained for his whole life. It didn't matter who was at his side now, it was his job to stop Xandred when no one else could.

"Jayden, please," Rune begged.

But he ignored her. Pushing past her and staggering across the sand toward Xandred. With each step, a little energy returned, and by the time he had passed where the others lay, he was almost back at full strength.

Rune grit her teeth as she watched him. If he wasn't going to listen to her reason, then she'd make him listen the only other way she knew how.

"Enough playing around!" Xandred growled, raising his sword above his head. He slashed down for the third time. He slashed down, knocking Jayden to one knee.

Breathing heavily, Jayden tightened his grip on his spin sword. He was resting with one knee in the sand, the other bent as his boot left a heavy imprint beneath him. He rested for a split second, and then stood, facing his biggest enemy.

Xandred chuckled at Jayden's persistence. But it didn't matter. He'd put a stop to the Shiba clan, and then his team would follow. He'd save the little princess for last, force her to watch as he dispatched all her friends, and then offer her the same deal he was about to offer Dayu - return to the Netherworld with him, or be destroyed.

"It's the end of the line, Red Ranger." Xandred flexed his fist, a swirling ball of black energy igniting in the palm.

Jayden braced for impact. He could feel the darkness radiating from the energy ball from where he stood, and he knew it was enough to knock him unconscious, even obliterate him. But at least he would go down fighting, just like his father had.

"No!"

Jayden gasped as Rune collided with the side of him, knocking him out of the path of the energy ball and taking the hit herself. He watched as she absorbed the attack into her chest, rendering herself to her knees. Her eyes closed as her jaw clenched against the pain. There was a split second where everything seemed to stop - the wind, the sea, even time.

Then Rune took a shuddering breath and her body keeled over in the sand.

"RUNE!" Mike yelled. He was at her side within a second. Hands grabbing at her shirt collar, fingers pressing against her throat, searching desperately for a pulse. His body relaxed when he found it, but she still hadn't responded to his call.

Emily joined Mike, then Mia, Kevin, and Antonio.

"Is she okay?" Mia asked. "What happened to her?"

Antonio looked around at Jayden. He raced to his friend, grabbing his shoulders, and forcing him away from Xandred. He couldn't see his face, but his body language was enough to tell him that he wasn't finished with the Master any more than Xandred was finished with them.

"Rune needs us," said Antonio, forcing Jayden back toward the others. "She just took a hit to protect you. Don't let it mean nothing by getting yourself killed."

Jayden struggled momentarily and then relaxed, allowing Antonio to pull him away. He looked down at Rune, unconscious in Mike's arms and surrounded by the others. She looked dead, but the steady rise and fall of her chest told them all otherwise.

He should've guessed she would try and stop him. She always did.

"This isn't over!" Xandred bellowed.

"It is now."

Kevin, Antonio, and Jayden looked around as a single solitary figure appeared alongside them. She wore nothing more than her civilian clothes, her brunette hair fluttering in the breeze as her gaze locked with Xandred.

Unlike the others, he did not look surprised to see her, only angrier.

"This doesn't concern you, Hellhound," Xandred sneered.

"You'll find that it does," said Kali. "Now either take your motley crew back to the Netherworld and live to fight another day or watch as I pick them off one by one and leave you as defenceless as you are against the sealing symbol."

Xandred's lip pulled back, baring his teeth in agitation and anger. "She will be mine, one day," he swore. "You cannot keep her from me forever."

"Watch me."

The crevice behind Xandred, Octoroo, and Dayu glowed red and the three slithered through it. The second they had gone a mass of giant Moogers appeared, towering over the beach.

"Oh great," Antonio whined.

"Go home," said Kali.

Jayden turned to her. He had no recognition of who she was, but he knew she had to be powerful to make Xandred retreat with just her words. But that didn't change the fact that he and the others had sworn an oath to protect the city and destroying giant Moogers came under that promise.

"I'll deal with the Moogers," said Kali, meeting Jayden's gaze from over her shoulder. She snapped open her Mystic Morpher, punching in the three-digit code that would summon her Hellhound spirit to the surface and transform it into her titan form.

Still, Jayden hesitated.

A faint smile crossed Kali's lips and, as her ranger suit appeared on her body followed by a mystic symbol above her, she tilted her head. "This isn't up for debate." She indicated toward Rune.

"Take her home."