The sky had darkened, and the ground rumbled all the way across Panorama City. Between California's predisposition towards earthquakes, and the constant Nighlock attacks, tremors were nothing new to most people, but this was so much more that everyone in the city could tell something big was happening. As the sky turned black though, there was not one person in town wasn't terrified.

Over at his house in the woods, Kieran was chopping wood, when the sky turned black. He looked up, and his heart beat faster. He had seen this once before. Even though he had not been involved in the battle, his family being in a support role to the Noble Families, he remembered the last time Xandred had invaded the land of the living. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled the Shiba House. There was no answer. He tried again, but again found he got no answer.

"Shit, that can't be good." He muttered. He put down his axe, and ran into the house. Opening an ottoman he had in the corner, and throwing open a dust-covered blanket, he grabbed the family katana. He ran to his jeep, and put it in the back, while he gunned the engine, heading for the Shiba House. He could only hope he was wrong, but if this was happening, he wanted to be there to help in whatever way he could.

Over at Central High School, the kids couldn't really do much other than treat it as an earthquake and duck and cover. Clambering under their desks, Vicky screwed her eyes shut and covered her ears, trying to shut it all out. She hated this, the whole scene was terrifying. Earthquakes were bad enough, but the sky, combined with something of an odd aura in the air, completely petrified her, freezing her to the spot. She hoped that she could shut it out, that she could will it to not be happening.

Under another desk, Mal had grabbed Melanie, keeping her as calm as he could. She was already not having a great time since coming back to the school, and she could do with as little extra stress as possible. He noticed Vicky, and could see that she was freaking out badly.

"Spike!" He called across. He nodded his head in Vicky's direction, at which Spike scrambled over, despite the teachers' protests that he stay in cover.

Vicky felt warm arms wrapping around her, and suddenly, even though it was still happening, even though she still couldn't will herself to open her eyes, she felt a little stronger, a little safer. It felt good.

At the site of the battle though, the Rangers were still frozen to the spot, awaiting what was to come. Even Serrator couldn't move to complete his plan as he stood, dumbfounded by this move. The dark stone obelisk cracked open, and the red glow became brighter, before exploding, showering rocks in all directions. There, standing where it had once been, was Master Xandred.

The Rangers didn't even flinch as the rocks flew past them, unable to believe what they had seen. Xandred had made the ultimate in unexpected moves, coming to the human realm. He stood before them, and as soon as he arrived, he started to dry out, a large section on the left side of his chest turning grey and cracking up.

"Serrator!" He screamed, powering up his blade. He launched a power blast in Serrator's direction, knocking him several feet into a boulder, smashing into it. He dropped the Harmonium under the force of his blast. "No one deceives me and lives! I will destroy you!"

Serrator was already badly injured from his battle, and knew that staying to battle Xandred, even weakening as he dried out, was folly. Seeing that his opportunity had passed, he took to his heal and bounded away as quickly as he could. Mike pointed to Xandred, whose entire right arm was also grey and cracking. His right leg started to go the same way.

"Guys, do you see that?" Mike called out. "He's drying out! I've never seen any Nighlock dry out that quickly!"

"Do you realize what this means?" Kevin asked. "We don't need to beat him! We only need to keep him here long enough and he'll destroy himself!"

Xandred turned slowly towards them, as though only just noticing them. He smiled as he saw them.

"Red Ranger, I owe your family a great deal!" He growled. He broke into a run towards them, at which the Rangers brought up their weapons, letting out a battle cry as they headed towards him. Mike was the first to get to him, but as he brought up his Spin Sword, Xandred moved so quickly, he never even saw it coming. He never saw anything, everything went black.

Kieran arrived at the Shiba House, finding that it was empty, but the map was open, and the energy readings were going insane. He called it up, and tried to make sense of it all. He punched in a few commands, but he couldn't fathom how it actually worked.

"Come on guys, what's going on?" He asked. Just then, he finally managed to pick up a live feed. His mouth opened wide in horror as he saw him. "Oh god, no!"

Mia was hacked down harshly by Xandred as he grabbed Emily around the throat.

Ji unleashed his attack with the Shark Sabre, but Xandred barely flinched as it struck home. Continuing to strangle Emily, causing her to fade fast, and de-morph, he sent a power wave his way that blasted Ji into the cliff, also taking him out the fight.

Jayden got up from where he had been thrown earlier, seeing to his panic that Kevin and Antonio were the only ones left in the fight. Both of Xandred's legs and most of the left side of his chest and left arm had now dried out, but he was still taking care of them. He took Kevin down with his katana, before grabbing Antonio, and throwing him into the cliff so hard that he ended up de-morphing and lying, barely moving.

Jayden unleashed a volley with the Bullzooka, but it didn't seem to faze him much at all. Jayden abandoned it, reverting to his Spin Sword, launching to the attack with everything he had.

He had fought Xandred once before, albeit briefly, when Kenzo had stolen Urumasa. He hadn't had much of a chance to gauge his strength, Xandred was forced to flee too early, but now he had his chance.

His father, his father had fallen to Xandred when he was only six years old. Now, Jayden had a chance to finish what he started, to end his threat for good.

He managed to score a couple of shots, chipping pieces of the drying out flesh from Xandred as the fight continued. Unfortunately, Xandred was even deadlier than the legends made him out to be. Xandred finally scored a few more blows, one of which snapped Jayden's Spin Sword clean in two, before sending him spiralling to the ground, powering down. Jayden struggled in pain, looking up at Xandred. He was now mostly dried up, but even in this state, he was so powerful, he had taken out his whole team.

"Your father did this to me!" He growled. "Now I get revenge!"

Jayden was blasted, without even the protection of the Ranger suit, and ended up lying, charred, bleeding and unconscious several feet away. Xandred finally turned his attention to Dayu, who was only just recovering. He held up a hand, at which the Harmonium flew to his hand. He went over to her, grabbed her, and thrust the Harmonium into her hands.

"You cannot find your loved one like this." He told her. "I cannot defeat Serrator like this. Come with me, where we may both regain the strength we need."

Dayu reluctantly agreed. The battle had taken a lot out of everyone involved, and she had no choice but to follow him. With that, they both disappeared, leaving the broken, defeated forms of the Rangers behind. As soon as he disappeared, the sky returned to normal.

Back at the Shiba House, Kieran saw the end of the battle, and couldn't believe what he had witnessed. The Rangers were all down. Running to his jeep, he leapt in, and gunned the engine, heading out for the cliffs.

At Central High School, the kids were starting to slowly come out of hiding under their desks.

They were all slowly trying to gather their bearings, while the teachers tried to get things back under control. Vicky was still curled up on a ball on the floor though, unable to bring herself to open her eyes.

"Vicky." She heard a soft, comforting voice. "Vicky, it's alright, it's safe."

She felt the arms around her shaking her, and squeezing her gently. She couldn't help smiling. She felt herself growing a little warm and her heart swelled. She felt safe in his arms. She loved the feeling, she was protected. Cody was...

As she opened her eyes, and looked aside, she realised it was Spike. Of course it was Spike, they were at school. Cody went to Western; there was no way that he was there with her. He would have been at his own school when this whole thing started.

"Um Spike." She managed to finally say as her stomach gave a sickening lurch.

"It's over." He told her with a smile. "We're all fine."

He helped her up, steadying her as she seemed to find it hard to stand up straight. She rested against a desk as Spike looked to her.

"Are you...are you alright?" He asked her. Vicky didn't know how to answer that. Her heart was still going a hundred miles an hour, and she still felt a tingle from where he had held her, but there was something else going on too. Now, her gut was twisting up, and giving her a sense of discomfort. She knew that she had felt something for Spike before, but she was with Cody. At least...she kind of was. They weren't really going out so much, but they had agreed to go to the dance together. It was going to be their first date.

"Um...I guess I'm just a little shaken." She told him. "I'll...I'll be fine."

Spike left her reluctantly, as he went to see that Mal and Melanie were alright. Jimmy burst into the room, and ran over, hugging his sister.

"Vicky, are you alright?" He asked her. "That was all so freaky! I've never seen anything like that!"

"Me either." She answered a little weakly. She still couldn't help what she was feeling. She knew that she shouldn't have felt what she did when Spike held her. It should be Cody that made her feel that way. Cody was...damn it, why was it she couldn't actually think about how Cody made her feel? Why was it so hard to just figure out?

"Attention students, this is your principal speaking." The announce system burst into life. "You are all to report immediately to your homes. Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day. All staff, report to the faculty lounge for an immediate meeting."

"I guess they figured there wouldn't be much work done today." Mal suggested. "I guess we all go home."

"Alright then." Mal stated. "You don't need to tell me twice."

"Um...would you mind walking me?" Melanie asked him. "I'm still a little shaky."

"I guess." Mal said with a shrug. "It is on the way."

With that, they left. Jimmy looked to Spike.

"How about you?" He asked. "Want to come with us?"

Spike's cell phone interrupted them though. As he answered it, he shook his head.

"Alright Uncle Bulk." He stated. "I'll be there."

He hung up and looked to them.

"Uncle Bulk was called by the school. He's coming to pick me up." He told them. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

"See you." Cody reiterated as he and his sister left. Spike watched them go, and couldn't help the feeling that Vicky was still a little quiet. Still, he knew she had been afraid, and she was going home to her family. He figured that she would be alright. With that, he just gathered up his things and headed out to the front to wait on his uncle.

Kieran arrived at the battle site, skidding to a halt. He leapt out of his jeep, running over to where the Rangers were only just starting to come around. Ji was already checking on Jayden, ignoring his own injuries. Seeing Kieran, he was grateful that their friend had come to check on them.

"Kieran!" He called out, waving him over. Kieran just came to Jayden's side, seeing what Ji was so worried about. "He's barely breathing!"

"What happened?" Mike groaned. "Did anyone see that buffalo stampede coming?"

"Xandred..." Kevin muttered. "He totally stomped us! He barely broke a sweat!"

"Kevin, we can't worry about that right now!" Mia told him as she sprinted over to where Ji and Kieran had Jayden.

"Can't worry?" Kevin asked incredulously as he got to his feet. "What do you...JAYDEN!"

As soon as he saw the others gathered around, he ran to help. Ji just looked to them, his eyes full of concern for his son.

"We have to help him!" He told them.

"Kieran, we have equipment at the house." Mia told him. "We need to get him there."

"I'll get the SUV." Kevin told them as Ji and Kieran grabbed Jayden and picked him up. They loaded him into the back of Kieran's jeep and sped off for the house. The others could only wait on Kevin getting back with the SUV, but they were all thinking the same thing. They had no idea what the future held for any of them, but they knew one thing. None of them wanted to face Xandred again.

Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, Xandred was feeling the full effects of his decision to go to the human realm. The Red Ranger's seal caused him to dry out quickly. By the time he got back, he was almost completely dried out. His pain was immense, and even ladling Sanzu water over him wasn't working quickly enough. In the end, Dayu and Octoroo had no choice but to tip him overboard. Only soaking him in the river would revive him completely.

They tipped him over the side of his junk, and watched him slowly sink to the bottom of the river. They were both also carrying injuries from their battles, but the effects of the Sanzu were already healing them.

"Master Xandred paid a heavy price for that battle." Octoroo commented. "Who knows how long he's going to have to be down there?"

"Now without him, there's nothing to stop Serrator." Dayu reminded him. "We need..."

"You need to remember that." Serrator stated as he arrived on the deck. Both Dayu and Octoroo rounded on him, but he just laughed. "You are no match for me now, and you know it. I may have lost this opportunity, but as usual, even when I am inconvenienced, I find a way to come out better off than I began. With Xandred in Limbo, there is no one in my way!"

"You back-stabbing..."

"Careful what you say Octoroo. As of this moment, only my generosity is keeping you alive." He warned him. He then looked to Dayu. "Glad to see you brought your Harmonium with you. Now, I only need one thing. All I need is Dekker. Everything is falling into place."

At the Shiba House, the other Rangers arrived, and headed straight through to Jayden and Antonio's room, finding Ji tending to him, having set up what almost seemed like a miniature hospital. He was understandably distraught. As he was trying to prepare a syringe, he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. Mia grabbed his wrist, and took it from him gently. She knew first aid, but nowhere near Ji's level. However, she knew he was in no state to administer it himself.

"Just show me what to do." She whispered.

"The others..."

"We're sore, but we'll be fine for now." Emily told him. "First rule of triage, deal with the most serious cases first."

The others all looked around at her. She just shrugged.

"I spent half my childhood in a hospital remember?" She reminded them. "You pick up a few things."

"Draw three cc's." Ji sighed. Mia did as she was told, holding up the needle. "Tap it until there are no bubbles."

She continued to do as she was told, while the others all watched on hopefully. Ji exposed Jayden's elbow, and placed his finger on it.

"Just here." He told her. "Slide it in gently, then inject."

Mia was nervous, she had never administered medication by injection, but as she did so, Ji was watching her. She pulled the needle clear, and mopped the area with a cotton ball. Ji just smiled. "Thank you."

"How is he?" Kevin asked.

"It's too early to tell." Ji told them. "He isn't in a good way. His vitals are weak. His injuries are extensive..."

His voice was cracking as he told them. Emily put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. They all knew how much Ji cared for Jayden. Seeing him like this, Emily could only think of the way her parents looked when they were watching Serena getting worse.

"He's stable for now." Mia told them. "We should deal with the rest of you. Ji, you're next."

"Me?" He asked. "But..."

She just placed a hand on his side, and he jerked painfully.

"I saw the way you were moving earlier." She told him. "Those ribs might be broken."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Emily assured him. "Please, you're no good to him if you're hurt."

"Thank you." He told her. With that, he left with Mia, so she could check on him. The others all had some experience with first aid, and despite their pain, had relatively minor injuries by comparison. They all went to get checked out. Mike paused for a second, grabbing Emily's hand.

"I know it can't be easy seeing him this way." He told her. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine." She assured him. "Go and get checked out. I can go once you're done."

As he left, Emily looked to Jayden sadly, seeing him lying lifelessly on the bed. She wanted to be there for him, and she wished there was more that she could do. Sadness overwhelmed her, and tears started to run down her face. She had only seen two people that looked like this before. One was Serena when she was at her weakest, when doctors no longer even made estimates how long she had left. The other was Stephen, as he lay on their couch, waiting for some of Ji's friends to come and take his body away. She could only hold his hand tightly, and sat quietly with him, praying for a miracle.