Joel rested in the forest, his head going into a spiral as he took shaky breaths. Everything felt weak as he leaned against a tree, listening to the darkness as it whispered softly through the air. It was rather hard to ignore, so he could see how the others fell so easily. A faint smile crossed his face as soft shouts filled the air, marking that the others discovered his disappearance. He gave a shaky laugh before the darkness closed in, forcing a weak noise to escape him. Pain drowned out his senses as he curled into a ball, the darkness swallowing him up quickly.

~

"Joel!?"

Sage looked panicked as the two Ranger Bases searched for the blonde leader. Between the reports from Almia and what happened with their friends, everyone was worried about Joel now. Lapis gulped as they spread out quite thinly to search for the Fall City Base Leader. A shout filled the air, alerting them.

"We got something!"

"What?!"

"You'll need to come here!"

"Where are you!?"

A scream answered, so everyone headed that way. Upon discovering the scene, they were met by a pile of unconscious rangers. Sage was frozen as Lapis ran to Aria, who was shaking.

"Aria? Aria!" He glanced at the green haired male as he shuddered.

"What... what happened-" Scarlet gulped as she checked the other Rangers.

"Not a mark on any of them... yet they are giving no response." Aria practically shook herself awake as Sage ran over.

"No- no- no- no-" The Ringtown Base Leader pulled her into a hug as Lapis looked around.

"I'm scared-" Scarlet gulped.

"C'mon! Let's pull out!"

~

Aria wouldn't let go of Sage for a while, leaving the others to try and calm her down so he could get up. He honestly didn't mind, since his legs hadn't stopped shaking since they got back. He held her close, listening to her soft whispers of panic. Something spooked these guys. But what? He couldn't figure it out. He stayed quiet until Wintown sent back up.

"Still no sign of him?"

"Nothing. We thought we found something, but something struck before we could find out what." Chris was silent as Freddy not only freed Sage from Aria's vice grip, but also calmed her down enough to get more than panic as an answer.

"It... I-" She shuddered as Lapis gave her a water bottle and draped a blanket over her shoulder. "It was just- There- I-" Freddy sat down beside her.

"Easy. You guys found something. What did you find?" She took a second to steady herself before she trembled.

"H-his glasses were by the tree... but- he wasn't there-" Sage was frozen in place as she gulped. "I-it doesn't make sense-" Scarlet was by her side, comforting the Fall City Ranger before Chris spoke.

"Then we need to get some backup." They looked at him as he hummed. "Someone needs to reach out to the Ranger Union."

"We don't need that level of back up yet-"

"No. But someone there will understand a code word, which will get us the right backup." Sage paused as Scarlet nodded.

"Right. I'll make the call. I know what you mean by code word." She allowed Freddy to take Aria before going over to the Operator, who was connecting with the Union. The others were silent as she spoke to the mic.

"Voicemail, Voicemail, Ringtown to Union, over."

"Union to Ringtown, over. This is Seafoam."

"Oh, just the person I need. This is Scarlet speaking. Can you relay a message to Dijon for me?"

"Of course. What's the message?" She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Tell him... that there's another. He'll understand."

"Copy that."