Author's notes – thank you for sticking with me and making it to the final part of "Nyctophobia"! It's all been building towards this almighty fight to save the world! While part eleven was very action-heavy, in part twelve, I leaned more into the slow, bleak helplessness that really defines cosmic horror. Things are gonna get bad before they get better, but isn't that how it always works?

On with the show! I hope you enjoy!

Part Twelve

Chapter One

Today

Tick. Tick. Tic-tock.

I rubbed my tired eyes, pushed the books away and glanced to the clock on the wall behind me, before sweeping my gaze around the Youth Centre.

Tick. Tick. Tic-tock.

It was a cold June morning. Six days ago, we defeated She Who Destroys Heroes in Africa, but it had been too late to stop her from accomplishing whatever she'd been trying to achieve. Everyone had been on edge ever since. Scattered and nervous, none of us had been able to focus, waiting for the next attack at any minute. At least the older Rangers had a study week to prepare for their exams, but I couldn't concentrate on much of anything, so I came to the Youth Centre this morning with a pile of homework. I was the only person here, though. The place was empty and cavernous. It was quiet except for the sounds of Ernie cleaning up behind the counter, and the clock on the wall.

Tick. Tick. Tic-tock.

We'd had rough weeks as Rangers before. But this was different. We weren't just expecting trouble. It was like we were waiting for the world to end.

The second hand of the clock caught my attention. The sound was irregular and distracting. Every so often, a tick was off by half a second.

Tick. Tick. Tic-tock.

Every fourth second was wrong.

I heard footsteps on the tiled floor as Jason stepped into the building. He saw me and smiled, and I beckoned him over.

"Hey," I said. "Is it time?"

Jason checked the clock as he sat down. "No, still half an hour," he said. "I haven't seen you in a few days, man. I wondered where you were."

I gestured to the books in front of me. "Just trying to make sense of quadratic equations," I said. "I think they're winning though."

"The one thing I don't miss about high school," Jason said. "Trying to ace subjects I had no interest in. Do you need any help?"

"No, it's not like that," I replied. "With everything going on lately, my grades are starting to slip, right? Even my parents have noticed. And that's not even talking about the Shadow King's last minion, loose on Earth for the last week. If this thing breaks free, then he finishes what he started all those years ago and the world ends, right? Meanwhile, the best we've managed to do all year is stall him." I tapped the books on the table. "And this? Definitely not helping my stress level."

"Wasn't Scott tutoring you?" Jason asked.

"He was," I said. "But I felt stupid asking him to explain the same things over and over again, so I told him I didn't need his help anymore. I didn't want him to give up on me. Good decision, right?"

"Maybe. You don't sound convinced."

"Look, it's nothing," I said. "This is just school stuff. I don't want to talk about it," and I looked to the clock. "I know it's not time, but do you want to just get there early?"

"We might as well," Jason said. But he frowned as I stowed my books into my backpack, filing the conversation away for future reference. "Let's get out of here. Trading algebra for the Shadow King, though? I'm not sure you're coming out ahead."

Despite myself, I laughed.

"We actually found it," Trini said to Kim, as they made their way down the hill. "I thought it might not be here."

The Yellow and Pink Rangers had got up early that morning to go for a hike in the empty scrubland to the west of the city. Houses, farms and even roads were few and far between, this far from civilisation. But as they crossed a low of row hills and a windswept, desolate plain opened up before them, the most curious sight greeted them. A single metal gate, held in place by a rusty steel frame, stood in the middle of the field. It wasn't connected to any kind of fence, and a passerby could've easily stepped around it. Yet a battered, weather-beaten sign hung from the metal frame saying, 'Please Shut The Gate'.

"I wonder who built it?" Kim said, as the girls walked closer to investigate. "There's no fence. There's not even any ruins. The nearest farmhouse is miles away."

"I don't even think this is private land."

"How'd you hear about this anyway?"

"I keep my ear to the ground in terms of odd things," Trini replied. "I heard about the forgotten gate through the uni hiking cub, and thought we'd better check it out."

"Wait, the uni has a hiking club?" Kim repeated. "Why is this new information?"

"It hasn't been around long, and I guess we've been distracted lately," Trini replied. "By, well, take your pick. Hang on."

Only a few metres from the mysterious gate, Trini dropped her pack onto the ground and pulled out a camera, taking photos of the gate from multiple angles.

"New camera?" asked Kim.

The Yellow Ranger nodded. "It takes photos digitally and uploads them to the Command Centre's databanks, so I don't have to wait for them to develop. It's very useful."

Kimberly smiled knowingly. "Cranston design?"

"Patent pending."

Kim laughed, about to reply when the wind picked up, rippling the grass, shaking the nearby scraggly trees and causing the gate to creak and groan against the frame. Even as the wind died down and the trees fell still, the gate continued to groan, banging against the latch keeping it closed.

"Here's a thought," Kim began. "Let's not open that gate?"

"Agreed."

Kim glanced to her communicator. "Oh hey, it's time," she said. "We should go."

Trini stashed the camera into her backpack. "Wasn't a very long hike," she said, nodding to the trail as it cut through the field and disappeared around a hill. "I guess the horizon will have to wait for next week."

"If it's still there," Kim added.

Trini frowned, and the girls reached for their communicators and disappeared from the field in flashes of yellow and pink.

"Billy, you there?" Scott asked, and rang the doorbell of the Cranston family home. "It's time! We need to get going."

There was no response. Scott frowned and glanced to the driveway. Mr Cranston worked Saturday mornings, so it made sense his car wasn't there, but Billy's car was parked by the street. Where was he? Feeling uneasy, Scott reached for the door, expecting it to be locked.

The door swung open.

With his Ranger instincts kicking in, Scott crept inside. Wary of danger, he stayed as quiet as he could, sweeping his gaze around the empty living room. But stepping into the kitchen, Scott froze.

The kitchen counter was covered in pieces of glass. Wait, no. Scott corrected himself. They were prisms, dozens of them, scattered across the bench. Maybe Billy was having a 'eureka' moment? Even then, he was never this disorganised. Less afraid but still confused, Scott made his way towards the garage. Catching sight of Billy at his workbench in the garage lab, Scott smiled with relief.

"There you are," Scott said. "I couldn't find you, I was freaking out," and he stepped into the garage. "I thought something awful had happened."

Scott froze. The whiteboard along the wall of the garage was covered in numbers, symbols and equations. None of it was neat or organised. The writing was rushed, smudged and frantic. In a couple of places, Billy had followed the equations off the board and onto the wall. Worryingly, the bench beneath the white board was covered in more prisms. Whatever Billy was doing, he must've raided half the labs on campus for supplies. As Scott gazed around the room, he also spotted dozens of torches, light bulbs, laser pointers, and even a couple of candles. Scott pulled out one of the stools opposite the older Ranger and sat down.

"Billy," he said. Billy's eyes were distant and unfocussed. "It's okay. What's going on?"

"I'd thought it was a story," Billy replied softly. "A technician who lacks precognition or any genuine psychic ability, yet still knows their craft so well that they know the problem before it occurs. The sound of a cog that's about to break. The feel of machinery before it malfunctions. Maybe it's a side effect of perceiving the world for so long with our Ranger senses? But I could feel it, this morning. Something was wrong with the world."

"What are you talking about?"

Billy gave Scott one of the torches, while he held up a circular prism. "Shine the light," he replied.

Scott shined the torch through the prism, expecting to see the light on the wall behind in rainbow colours. But he almost dropped the torch in alarm.

Instead of the full spectrum, the only thing emerging from the prism was shadow. A beam of darkness. Not trusting his eyes, Scott waved his free hand through the shadow, and shivered at the cold as his hand passed through.

"Billy, that's… I mean, that's… that's impossible."

"I've already telephoned a number of my colleagues in universities across Australia," Billy continued, "and woke up several overseas. Whatever's happening is localised, but we have to assume it's going to spread. I doubt I'm the only one to notice."

"It's the Shadow King," Scott realised. "His power is growing."

"Something bad is coming," Billy nodded. "Something unlike anything we've faced before. And Scott, I don't have the answers for this."

Scott glanced up to the clock. "C'mon, it's time," he said. "We should go."

"Affirmative," Billy nodded. "Let me lock the house." But as he stepped out of the garage, the shadows around Scott grew darker. Shivering not just because of the winter morning, Scott followed after his team-mate.

To be continued.