Ripcon stepped into the warehouse. It was dark, dingy, and had an odour that he couldn't recall. Although he could tell it was human, he was sure the smell here hadn't been found in space. He was here after receiving a note from an unknown source to meet him, stating they wanted his help. With a traitor amongst Galvanax's crew - one he was sure was Madame Odius - he had agreed to the meet, hoping to catch her out.

"Who would want to meet me on this worthless planet?" Ripcon asked himself. He stopped at the edge of the container, looked up and down, but saw no one worthy of his time.

"Ripcon!" a voice shouted.

"Who's that?" Ripcon turned. His head rose and his eyes widened slightly as he found his exit blocked by a large body. They were shrouded in darkness, and he could see them for who they were when they stepped forward. "You? You're the worthless defender who escaped the ship. Why did you summon me?" he drew his sword.

"I want to destroy the Rangers," Morthil said.

"Why would you want to do that?" Ripcon demanded.

Morthil shrugged. "I have my reasons," he said. "I need you to create a distraction so I can find Rootcore. Help me, and you can personally hand Galvanax the Ninja Steel."

Ripcon studied Morthil closely. With his help, he may finally get his revenge on the Red Ranger, give his champion what he desires most, and get one over on the traitor Madame Odius. "It's a deal," he confirmed, reaching out to shake hands with Morthil. "But you can't tell anyone. There are traitors everywhere."

He disappeared.

Madame Odius laughed as she stepped out of the shadows. "Traitors? I'm hurt. I think he's talking about me," she said, sarcastically.

"Fooling him was almost too easy," said Morthil.

~X~

Calvin and Aidan grunted with effort as they lifted the display stand and carried it out into the quad. They set it down near the main doors just as Nym and Brody arrived, they were chatting about the talent show the school was hosting, and whether or not they were going to enter. Nym wasn't, but Brody had decided to sing a song his father taught him. He had wanted Aidan to sing alongside him, but for some reason he had refused.

"I don't understand why he won't join me," said Brody. He sounded miserable. He'd been trying his hardest to not let himself think it was because of Kali and Aidan's familiar bond, especially since she had admitted to considering offering herself in place of the ninja stars when Aidan had been poisoned, but he couldn't help it when Aidan blew off things he used to enjoy as a child.

"I think it's more to do with Aidan having a musical career," said Nym. "That's part of the reason that I'm not joining this evening. It's not fair to other participants if a musician with an agent joins a talent contest."

Brody sighed. "I know," he agreed. "But, he's my brother. I want, at least one thing I can do with him that reminds us of a time when everyone was… good, you know?"

Nym nodded. "You want me to have a chat with him?" she asked.

"If you think it will work," said Brody. "I just don't want him to think I've run to you and complained."

"You didn't," said Nym, smiling and shaking her head. "I offered."

Calvin looked up from the sign. "I hear Presto Change-O is making an appearance tonight," he said. "You guys doing anything?"

Nym shook her head.

"Same for me," said Aidan. "I'm going to have fun watching."

"Brody's gonna sing," said Nym.

Calvin pursed his lips. "Why am I not surprised that you're both singers and guitarists?" he asked.

"Must be a brother thing," said Nym.

Calvin pointed at her and nodded. "That's what I was thinking," he said, laughing.

"Well, I better go practice," said Brody. "I'm not sure I remember all the words." He shuffled past the trio and disappeared into the school.

Nym looked back at Calvin.

"I'm gonna go find Hayley," said Calvin, catching the look in her eye. "See you both later."

Aidan watched as Calvin disappeared and turned to Nym. "Alright. What is it?" he asked.

"Why aren't you singing with Brody in the talent show?" Nym asked, "And don't say it's because you just want to watch."

Aidan sighed.

"Brody is miserable," said Nym, before Aidan had a chance. "He's trying his best to hold onto the life he had before he was kidnapped, and yes, I know, he needs to learn to accommodate more, but he lost everything back then."

"And I didn't?"

Nym shook her head. "I'm not saying that," she defended. "But, he was kidnapped and taken to space, you were taken to the Mystic Realm and adopted into a family that would do anything for you. What if the situation were reversed, Aidan, how would you feel?"

"I would know that he tried to look for me," said Aidan. "Which we did. Kali scoured the whole Earth. From the Human Realm to the farthest regions of the Mystic One. We couldn't access space, the only person who had access to it was Cam, and his Dragon Force Vehicle couldn't reach the end of our solar system, much less enter another."

Nym nodded. She knew all this. Kali had never given up her search for Brody, even when things seemed impossible. She never gave up because of Aidan.

"But you can't for certain say that you would feel that way," said Nym. "You were never in that situation."

Aidan sighed. He knew what she meant, and he was bitter at Brody for not accepting Kali straight off the bat. The woman had done so much for him over the years, and while she wasn't his biological mum, or Nick his biological father, he still loved them both dearly. They treated him like he was their own. Hell, Kali didn't even want children and still, she had adopted him.

"I do remember when I learned Kali was pregnant with the twins," said Aidan. "I felt that when she had her children, she wouldn't want me anymore."

"I remember you saying," said Nym. "Didn't you say that they reassured you about being an awesome big brother?"

Aidan nodded.

"Well, think of that but from Brody's point of view," said Nym. "He's made it home after ten years away, he's expecting his big brother to be there waiting for him, except he finds that his brother has two new little sisters and a new little brother. He must be feeling pretty left out, huh?"

Aidan sighed. He hadn't thought of it like that. If he could feel abandoned when Kali was just pregnant then Brody could most definitely feel abandoned after learning his big brother had three new siblings.

"Okay, fine," said Aidan. "I'll talk to him. But I'm not promising to join the contest."

"It's one song," said Nym. "Just one. To show Brody that you still remember your life before it all changed."

Aidan was silent. He stared at Nym as she stared right back. "You're annoying, you know that?" he asked.

"Yep," Nym grinned. "But you love me."

"Sometimes I wonder why." He slung an arm around her shoulder and led her into the school.

~X~

Later that same day, Nym leaned against her locker and watched as Preston demonstrated his new trick using his top hat. He held it in the palm of his hand, swirled the black and white-tipped wand around the rim, and lifted it into the air. He bobbed his hand beneath it, causing it to bounce in mid-air.

"What do you think?" Preston asked as he dropped the hat back into his palm.

"I think you're all set for tonight," said Nym. "Are you going to pull a bunny from in there?"

Preston laughed. Despite already telling Nym the name of his rabbit - Rue, if anyone's keeping track - she still insisted on referring to it as a bunny.

In a way, he found it cute. The last time he had presented Rue to her, Nym had cooed over him for an hour, even refusing to give him back and carrying him in her arms the entire way to Rootcore. The only reason she gave him back then was because Nick was playing with Fireheart outside the tree, and the large dragon had taken a keen interest in the small creature.

"Yes, Rue will be my final act," said Preston.

"Can I play with him after your set?"

Preston smiled and shrugged. "Sure. I don't see why not," he said. "Meet me backstage and you can have him while I clean up."

"Yes!"

Her excitement was exhilarating. "Have you ever thought of asking Kali for a pet?" he asked.

"Its not ideal to have a pet at Rootcore," said Nym. "You saw how Fireheart responded to Rue. We were lucky that Nick was there. Their bond rivals mine and Aidan's, but if Nick hadn't been there, I'm not sure I could've stopped Fireheart from trying to eat Rue."

"That would've been bad."

"Very bad."

Their communicators bleeped. Preston glanced around and quickly tucked his hat under his arm while Nym opened her comms link. There was no video call, just a three-word message on the screen.

"We need to find the others," said Nym.

Preston tossed his hat back into his locker, closed the door, and followed her out of the school. They passed Victor and Monty on the way out.

"Did you hear Victor wanted to bring a bull into the school?" Preston asked.

"It didn't go down a treat," said Nym. "But, bullfighting? Does he even know how to do that?"

Preston shook his head.

"Then why -?"

"Because he will do anything to get a trophy."

Nym rolled her eyes. She'd never met anyone as foolishly ignorant as Victor Vincent, and still, she found herself questioning her feelings for him. Did she only have them because he was the first boy outside of Aidan who had shown her attention?

~X~

Morthil watched as Aidan headed for a nearby tree. The other Rangers were heading towards the city, where Ripcon had started his distraction. The plan was simple - Ripcon distracted the Rangers, destroying as much as he possibly could in the process while he infiltrated Rootcore, incapacitated whoever was present, including the Hellhound; he checked the toxin in his blaster, making sure that it was set to the correct strength. Kali Briar's Hellhound was stronger than any had been throughout the years, he would need his wits about him to take her down.

Once Aidan had disappeared, Morthil approached the tree. He could remember pieces of his life in the Mystic Realm, most of it was limited to the Woodland Realm and the Devine's, but others were training exercises he had undergone at the Mystic Academy, the praise from his teachers at a job well done, gaining a partner in Circe, he felt a twinge of sympathy for her, she hadn't done anything wrong to deserve her fate, but sometimes he wished she had agreed to help Odius, it could've saved her a lot of pain and suffering.

His reasoning for helping Odius was insignificant, to say the least. At least, he knew Kali Briar wouldn't have cared for them. She had sent him to the Woodland Realm for an assignment and that's where he had stayed. He had sent countless correspondence to Rootcore, asking what he was expected to do now that his assignment was over, but he never heard anything back. Circe had even told him that the Hellhound received over a thousand correspondents from different defenders, all asking for the same thing. She had probably read the letter but not replied. But as the weeks turned to months, he was starting to lose hope.

Then had come a small sliver of hope when she had called on him and Circe, issuing them orders to rescue whoever was in trouble on the outskirts of Summer Cove. It was there he had met Hayley and Calvin, and a strange alien named Mick. He and Circe had done the job splendidly, or so he guessed, Kali thanked Circe once they had returned to Rootcore and then they were back in the Woodland Realm.

Surely the Hellhound should've seen his insubordination coming? Especially after months of ignoring him?

But, even now, there was a small bubble inside of him that told him what he was doing was wrong. The Hellhound was an extremely busy person, she had more than just defenders to attend to. She had the whole of the Mystic Realm relying on her, looking to her for support and protection. One letter amongst thousands wasn't going to catch her attention.

He forced aside the bubble of hope and rested a hand against the tree trunk. One of his lessons during his days at the academy was getting around the Mystic Realm outside of walking or broomsticks, and that was using the trees. The trees being a passage between dimensions and realms was always something that had flabbergasted him. It always seemed like an easy way to an ambush.

Focusing his attention, Morthil grinned as his hand fell through the bark. He could feel the roots and wood twisting around his fingers and palm as it passed through; he fell forward, stumbling out of the foliage and feeling the air around him become duller. The magic was strong here, he must've been close to the centre of the realm. Which also meant, Rootcore was nearby.

~X~

Nym winced as Ripcon's sword clashed against her own. She and Brody had split from the others, leaving them to deal with the basher and kudabots alone. They weren't that far away, but Ripcon was the bigger deal at the moment, and with Aidan at Rootcore fusing his gold energy with their new Ninja star the team needed all their focus on stopping the biggest threat.

At first, Brody had been annoyed that Nym had followed him. He felt that Ripcon was his responsibility, especially since he had been the thorn in his side whilst on the Warrior Dome, but time and time again, whenever he was fighting Ripcon, one of the others would intervene. Their excuse was always the same -"We're a team. Therefore we fight together"- he couldn't see it in the beginning, but after his last fight with Ripcon he understood why they were hell-bent on teamwork.

"I've been looking forward to this," said Ripcon, twirling around his staff and blocking Brody's attack. He threw up his arm, leaving Brody open for an attack, and kicked him in the stomach.

Brody grunted and fell back.

"Hey!" Nym shouted, dashing forward. She flipped sideways, avoiding Ripcon's swing and pressing her palms against the ground, swinging her foot at Ripcon's feet. He jumped backwards to avoid the collision and then proceeded to stomp forward. Nym pushed up and rushed aside, rolling her sword over in her hands as Ripcon followed her.

With Ripcon's back turned Brody rushed forward and kicked off from the ground. He raised his sword above his head and dragged the blade down his nemesis' spine.

Ripcon arched his back as Nym jabbed forward with her sword, striking in his chest. He howled and stumbled back, hand over his chest. "Meddlesome witch!" he seethed. "Stay out of this."

"Nope," said Nym with a slight shake of her head.

Ripcon turned his attention to Brody. "Hiding behind your friends, huh?" he taunted. "Coward as always, rat bait."

"I'm not afraid of you, Ripcon!" Brody said, angrily.

Ripcon scoffed, head tilting toward Nym. "Coulda fooled me," he said. "But, it matters not. Whoever you hide behind will suffer the same fate as you, and sooner or later I will destroy you."

Hand tightening around his sword, Brody rushed forward, blinding and swinging his blade in various half circles but not hitting anyone.

"Brody, stop!" Nym called. She watched as Brody fought back and forth with Ripcon, her path soon becoming blocked by Basherbots, effectively cutting her off from her friend.

Brody jumped up and flipped backwards, avoiding Ripcon's sword multiple times. He raised his blade to block another attack but was left stunned as Ripcon ripped it from his hand. "My sword!" he called, ducking desperately.

Ripcon laughed and kicked Brody's feet out from under him, forcing him onto the ground. "I got you now, Rat Bait," he said, raising his sword. He swung down, clasing against a second blade that appeared above Brody. "Hey, that's not your sword!"

"No, it's mine!" Nym shouted, withdrawing her arm.

"Thanks, Nym!" Brody breathed. He tore Nym's sword from the wall and rushed at Ripcon again.

Nym ducked under a swinging Basherbot and wedged her footing in his groin, giving her the advantage she needed to push up and flip out of their circle. She landed a fair distance away and held up her hands. "How about a little magic?" she asked. "Rhewi!" the basherbots froze in place, the only thing left moving were their eyes. "Battle Morpher, bow mode!"

The arrows cut through the basherbots, destroying them instantly.

"Nym, a little help?" Hayley called.

Checking on Brody quickly, Nym run off to help her friend.

~X~

The Prism spun abnormally fast. A lot faster, Kali noted than it usually did when creating Ninja Stars. She wondered if it was due to fusing all six powers into one star; the power already gleaning off the prism was intoxicating, the Hellhound was restless around it and part of her was, too. Whatever ranger had this star was going to have a target on their back, more of a target than the others, at least. With power came a lot of responsibility, and even more so was the consequence of being seen as the biggest threat.

She and her many teammates had all been thorns in the side of the villains they had fought, but she had been the biggest threat because of her heritage and Hellhound abilities. It was why most of the big bads she had fought had wanted to eliminate her before her friends. Take out the biggest threat, and the rest would fall easily.

"It's time to add the gold energy," said Mick. He turned to Aidan. "Just be careful. It comes out very fast."

Aidan pulled back his arm and threw his star into the depths of the prism. It glowed gold and started to spin again.

"Hopefully, the gold energy combines with the Fusion Star," said Mick.

After a few seconds, the Prism spat out the Gold Power Star, and Aidan set it on the round table, turning to Mick. "That's got to be good news, right?" he asked.

"It was in the same amount of time as the others," said Mick, nodding.

"Huh, guys?" Kali called, nodding toward the Prism.

Aidan and Mick turned. The latter lifted his arms to protect his face, as Aidan caught the spinning ninja star that came flying out."

"Nice catch," said Redbot.

"Did it work?" Kali asked. She was smiling, as she knew from the power it was radiating, it had fused.

Mick nodded. "All six power star energies merged perfectly!" he grinned.

"Get it to the others," said Kali, nodding at Aidan. "Ripcon is proving difficult, and it seems Brody doesn't need the team's help anymore."

Aidan sighed and took off.

Kali glanced at Mick. "Well done," she praised.

Mick beamed, a dull blush rising in his cheeks. He had never been praised before for his hard work. People from his home planet just assumed he worked with junk metal, and on Galvanax's ship, he was just expected to work and create things for the show, and then clean up afterwards. To have someone proud of his accomplishment wasn't something he was used to. He liked it.

The Dragon's mouth opened. Kali looked up, half expecting Aidan to walk in - his Gold Power Star lay on the table, after all. But her brow furrowed as she saw Morthil. It wasn't strange to see Morthil at Rootcore, but of all the times she had met with him at the elemental academy, he had asked how to get here. It was one of the reasons that she couldn't bring herself to fully trust him or his story of how he had escaped Galvanax's ship.

"What are you doing here?" Kali asked. She motioned for Mick and Redbot to cover the Ninja Steel.

"I thought it was time to come home," said Morthil. "I got a clean bill of health from the healers. So… here I am."

Kali furrowed her brow. According to the Elemental Healers, Morthil had a long recovery ahead of him. He wasn't confined to a bed, but he wasn't to leave the Elemental Academy grounds, and if he did, she would have been informed. Like when he had left to fight the Toxitea monster just last week. Aidan's recalling of the fight was just confirming what the Elemental Academy had already told her.

"That's great, Morthil, but your home base is within the Woodland Realm," said Kali. "You're in the wrong place."

Morthil's smile dropped and he reached behind his back for something. Kali saw the notion, and jumped the banister, separating her from Mick, Redbot, and Morthil. She reached for her wand at the same time, but before she could draw it, take aim, and utter a single word she was hit in the chest with something. She hit the ground, her breathing coming in short panicked gasps. Her body twisted and turned as it felt like poison flooded her whole system, running the length of her body in her veins.

The Hellhound howled and scratched at the walls of the soul. Whatever was happening to her was affecting her animal spirit, too.

"What did you do?" Redbot asked. He moved towards Kali but was hit in the back by something and fell forward on his face. His hardware shutting down.

Mick turned to stare at Morthil. He had a blaster hanging at his waist, and holding a small remote control that seemed to be the thing that was controlling Redbot. "What do you want?" he asked.

"What everyone wants," said Morthil. He turned his blaster onto Mick, turned the dial down, and fired. He had used the most dangerous toxin on the Hellhound. If he had used it on Mick, he was sure it would kill him.

"Hey, Mum, I think I left my -" Aidan broke off as he took in the scene. Morthil had his back to him, Mick and Redbot were unconscious on the floor, and his mother convulsed as she tried to force herself into a sitting position.

Aidan met Kali's gaze.

"Run!" Kali wheezed.

Morthil turned, pointed his blaster at Aidan, and fired.

~X~

With Brody still using her sword, Nym had conjured a new one using magic. She was using it to take out the Basherbots alongside Preston, Calvin, and Hayley. Aidan had already sent the Fusion Star, it lay on the floor nearby, Ripcon having knocked it from Brody's hands the second he caught hold of it. She was desperately trying to fight her way through the throng of foot soldiers to get it back to her friend, or even use it herself. It didn't matter who used it, it was compatible with them all, but Ripcon was Brody's problem. It was only fitting that he use it to take him out.

"Brody! Catch!" Nym shouted, managing to grab the star. She threw it as hard as she could at her friend.

Brody responded holding his sword. The star slotted into place and as Brody swung the blade around, tearing the metal down Ripcon's middle, he spun the star and it electrified him with a significant amount of power. One that he could feel before it encompassed him, alighting his nerves from head to toe.

"You're time is up!" Brody said, pointing the sword at Ripcon.

"Give it your best shot!" Ripcon hissed. He unsheathed a second sword, rolling it over in his free hand and crossing the blade across the second one.

Brody held both his own and Nym's sword into the air. The two blades glowed their respective colours, as he crossed one over behind his head, and held the other upside down at the hilt. "Ninja Fusion!" he echoed.

"Double sword doom strike!" Ripcon started, electrical current flowing between his sword swords, and swarming all around him.

The two attacks collided between the two warriors. A balloon of dust blew up between them, too, blanketing the whole area.

Nym stumbled as the basherbots she had been fighting disappeared, along with the ones her friends had been defending against, too.

"Brody?" Hayley called.

Inside the smoke, the four of them saw six different coloured lights, each other representing their ranger colours - Blue, Gold, White, and Yellow seemed stuck in the ground, while Red and Pink were still in the air. They all combined and struck down, and seconds later Brody stumbled out of the smoke cloud, to his friend's delight and relief.

The cloud disappeared and Ripcon was nowhere to be seen.

"You did it," said Nym, checking the area. "You destroyed him."

"Epic!" Brody breathed.

~X~

Curious as to why Aidan hadn't joined them in battle. The plan had been, once he fused his powers to the fusion star, he would meet them at the plaza, but the star had appeared, Aidan had not. The other Rangers, led by Nym, returned to Rootcore. What they found was not to be expected. Mick and Redbot were being checked over two people they didn't recognise, and former Mystic Force Rangers sat around the round table, monitoring something in the crystal ball.

"What's going on?" Nym asked, approaching Chip and Xander. She glanced into the ball, a gasp escaping her as she found Kali, Nick, and Aidan in battle with Morthil. "Where are they?" she asked.

"The fight's almost over," said Chip. "Best if you stay here until they return."

But Nym shook her head. "Where are they!" she pressed.

"Just north of the Woodland Realm," said Vida. She had just walked out of the library with Eithne, the two carrying books between them. What they were looking for, Nym didn't care for, all she knew to do now was to get out into the Mystic Realm and help her best friend.

Chip turned to his wife. "Why did you tell her that?" he asked, as Nym left along with the others. "They'll just get in the way."

"For the same reasons Kali would've told me if it was you," said Vida. "Aidan may be her best friend, but she loves him. Probably not the way I love you, but love nonetheless."

"Besides, a dragon may be able to help in this situation," said Xander. "Kali shouldn't be out there."

"Xander is right," said Eithne. "Nym may be able to support Kali's lack of an animal spirit right now. The Hellhound needs time to heal, but as you all know, my daughter is stubborn."

The others chuckled.

"Look, they're arriving now," said Vida, catching sight of Nym and the others in the crystal ball. She watched as the minute Nym stepped into the battle arena, she shifted and blasted Morthil with a plasma blast.

The swirl of white and pink collided with the rogue defender and knocked back into a great oak tree. It cracked under his weight, and a large branch crashed down on him from above.

"He's down," said Chip.

"Way to go, Nym," said Vida. "The kids growing up fast."

~X~

Kali ran a hand over her face and up through her hair. Her mother had just prodded her with needles, drawn as much blood as she could, and tested her for residual energy left by the toxin in Morthil's blaster. The rogue in question had been taken to the SPD Academy by Xander and would be questioned to the fullest extent of the Mystic Realm law. Xander had promised Kali an update and he would stay in contact with her every step of the way, but there was only one thing bothering Kali.

"Why didn't I see it?" Kali asked, breaking the silence that had fallen in Rootcore. Hayley had arrived to check on Redbot, she had brought Ethan James, former Blue Dino Ranger with her, and Cam had just arrived to help her fix what she couldn't in Redbots circuity.

Eithne and Claire, while running tests on Kali's blood samples, to see what Morthil had used on her and, hopefully, create an antidote to stop anyone else from using it on her, were also keeping an eye on Mick. He had already taken their strongest healing potion, the one they had created for the Hellhound, and it had had no effect on him. The conclusion was that his alien DNA made it impossible for the potion to pinpoint the exact cause of his injuries.

Claire was working on something new, but for the time being he had been told to take it easy.

"We didn't want to see it," said Nick, taking a lighter healing potion. His cuts and bruises cleared up in seconds. He crossed the room and sat beside his wife, taking the washcloth from her and dabbing it into a bowl of water. He pressed it to a particularly nasty cut on her forehead, one that didn't seem to be healing with any potion.

Kali hissed and tried to pull away, but Nick's hand on her wrist stopped her. "No. Why didn't I see it?" she asked, tears in her eyes. "I'm the Hellhound, for crying out loud! I'm supposed to defend this realm from intruders, and I failed."

"Mum," Aidan started, heading in her direction. "Morthil was a defender. None of us wanted to believe he could be a traitor. It's not your fault."

"You got hurt," said Kali, quickly turning to him.

"I'm fine," said Aidan, holding up his arms. He, too, had taken a healing potion and the scars had disappeared immediately.

"Mick and Redbot got hurt," Kali continued. "Who else would've gotten hurt if Nym had not taken him out with a plasma blast?"

Vida nudged the young dragon. "You're getting good at those," she said.

Nym smiled. "Thanks," she murmured.

Kali tried to offer her a smile, but when she found she couldn't, she looked away. She was more than proud of Nym for getting a handle on her dragon powers in such a short amount of time, and she was not in doubt that being with Aidan had something to do with it, but at the same time, she shouldn't have had to do it. Kali was the Hellhound, she was the one in charge of keeping the Mystic Realm safe, keeping the Rangers safe, and today she had failed.

She should've trusted her gut more when it came to Morthil. She had wanted to believe he was good, that he was on her side. She couldn't fathom why he would turn on her, on his home. Had the Devine's got to him before sending him into space? Had Galvanax managed to convert him during his short stay? An even worse thought crossed her mind, did Morthil have anything to do with Circe's disappearance/death?

"You were caught off guard," said Vida. "No one blames you."

"I blame me," Kali said. "I have the power to detect deception. Old me would've detected it within a fraction of Morthil returning home, old me wouldn't have fallen for it for so long!"

"Old you didn't have as much responsibility as the new you," said Ethine. "Old you was seventeen years of age, the only thing you had to worry about was stopping the Master and choosing either Nick or Xander. The new you is very different to the old you. You're responsible for souls in the afterlife, you're responsible for souls still living, and more importantly, you're a mother to four wonderful children."

"Nine," said Nick.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Six of them aren't ours," said Nick. "One is through adoption, but not a biological child of ours. But, in total, we have nine kids."

Kali glanced at the team, a small smile on her face as she watched the truth sink in. They were as much her kids as Aidan was. They had become part of her family the day they became Rangers.

"Okay, nine," said Eithne. "But, the one thing you are not, oh sweet child of mine, is omnipotent. You do not have an unlimited supply of power. The Hellhound is a deity, yes, but even it has its limits. Morthil was considered family, he was trained at your school and was a friend, which is what makes the betrayal all the worse. But, it does not make it your fault. Do you hear me?"

Kali stared at her mother and then nodded.