Angel Grove was a beautiful place, but it wasn't where Conner wanted to be. It was home, yes, but not a real home. It wasn't someplace he could see himself settling down in, perhaps starting a family, and spending the rest of his life. No, there was only one place that was truly home: Reefside. Reefside was where his friends were at, and Reefside is where he would stay.

Conner threw the last box into the back of his jeep and brushed the sweat away from his brow. It'd take him days to properly pack and now that he was finished… there was only one last thing on his schedule to do: let everyone know he was coming home. Slamming the trunk door shut, he jumped into the front seat, and whipped out his cell phone. He punched in a quick number and off he went.

"Kira Ford speaking." The voluptuous blond spoke as Conner grinned. Ah, just the girl he was looking for!

"Yo, Kira, it's Conner. What's up, babe?" He spoke and pulled out into the street. Reefside was a 4 hour drive from Angel Grove.

"Conner? Hey, so good to hear from you! It's been… eesh… 5 years already? How are you doing! Where you living?" Kira answered excitedly and he could almost seeing her smile. It was a face and feeling that Conner had missed for many years.

"Well… I was living in Angel Grove." Conner returned as he pulled onto the highway. "But I'm currently in the process of moving, actually."

"Angel Grove? Isn't that where your Soccer Academy is at?" She asked and then gasped. "But you're moving? Why are you moving? Where? Why are you leaving your Soccer Academy?"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down there, babe! The Soccer Academy has been passed down to one of my protégés, and as far as where I'm going? I'm currently on the highway towards Reefside… Home's been calling out to me for some time now."

"Coming back to Reefside, huh? When you left, you were excited to finally get out of here. I can't believe you actually miss this place." Kira laughed and it sent a chill down Conner's spine. He had to force himself to divert his attention to the road less he run off the edge of it. "It'll be good to see you again… Doctor O is still teaching at Reefside High along with Principle Randall. You've missed a lot the years you've been gone, Conner."

"Babe, I'm looking forward to hearing about it when I get there. Are Ethan and Trent still in Reefside? I thought Trent was getting ready to pack up and head to New York to begin work with D.C Comics?" Conner asked when a car drove by, blaring his horn. "Yeah, fuck you too, asshole!" Conner shouted and flipped off the driver.

"Road Rage again? You weren't exactly the safest of drivers." She laughed as Conner blushed. All the times he had to zoom off from school to get to the Base? Damn right he probably ran a few cars off the ride during his time… "Trent came back about a year ago. He said the Big Apple just wasn't his place. Still works for D.C though… He's part of their art department. He's working on the new Green Lantern series along with Geoff Johns. And Ethan's still here as well… He got a job with the School District as their Technical Repairman. He makes some pretty good money…"

"Oh? Doesn't surprise me any… I hear you're still working on your musical gig, eh? Bought your newest C.D that just came out…" Conner added as he glanced over his shoulder. Another person came zooming passed and this time Conner was flipped off. "Christ people… I'm doing the damned Speed Limit…"

"Oh? I didn't think you liked my style of Music… Don't tell me you bought it just for sentimental value?" She growled and Conner rolled his eyes. Same old Kira; always accusing him of doing something wrong.

"No babe, not at all. I actually enjoy listening to you sing. Hell, I own all your other C.D's as well. Look, I'll see you when I get to Reefside, alright? The people on the road are looking at me funny and it's kind of creeping me out. Can you do me a favor though? Let everyone know I'm coming home, okay?" Conner asked and flipped off another person who was glaring at him.

"Not a problem. Drive safe, Conner…" And with that, Conner hung up.

Pocketing his cell phone again, Conner settled back into his seat and was off… With only the road and Reefside ahead of him, a smile on his face… every passing second brought anxiousness and a feeling of nostalgia. Reefside, California: Conner McKnight was coming home…

XXXXXX

Tommy sighed lightly as he bounced down the stairs drying his wet hair with a towel. He whistled a random tune as he tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper and headed for the kitchen. For many years now he'd been living in this cabin as a part time Archeologist and in the morning a teacher at Reefside. After Mesogog's defeat, life returned to normal, something he thoroughly enjoyed. There were no more crazy monsters to battle, or all powerful beings to defeat to save the world. It was just him, the stones, and life. That was all he needed.

He reached for the refrigerator door when he heard a few taps at his door. Immediately, he peeked around the corner and frowned. Not many people knew where he lived… so it was unusual that he was getting any visitors. Sighing, he walked to the door, expecting it to be Randall, and opened it.

Kira, Ethan and Trent awaited him on the other side.

"Hey Doct-"

Trent hadn't even finished his sentence when Tommy shot the door, leaned against it and began to whimper. "You don't exist… You don't exist! You're just a figment of my imagination! Yes… yes, that's all you are." Tommy spoke and slowly began to open the door again.

"Bad time?" Ethan added as Tommy shut the door again and whimpered harder.

"Oh god, they're still there. Go away figments… You don't exist!" He cried and heard another knock.

"Ha ha, very funny Doctor O. Now open the door, would you?" Trent growled and pounded on it.

Resigning to his inevitable fate, Tommy finally opened the door, stepped aside and waved them in. He knew the three all too well: no way in hell they were going to leave without him hearing what they had to say. Being a former Power Ranger, they were incredibly persistent… almost to the point of annoyance. Still, he couldn't be to angry: these were students after all.

"Whenever you guys show up, something always ends up blowing up or getting destroyed. Now what do you want?" He asked and smoothed out his hair. It was still glistening from the water, but he'd let it air dry for now.

"We figured you'd like to know that Conner's moving back to Reefside." Kira spoke excitedly with a grin, rubbing her hands together.

"…so the three of you get together, come over to my house, make my life miserable just to tell me that Conner is coming back home? You do realize that you could have just… called me?" Tommy said pointedly and frowned. "You came over here for more than just that…"

"Well… he said to meet us all here. I guess he wanted the gang together." Kira said and shrugged. "Besides… it's been a few years since we've been together in this house anyway. After Mesogog's defeat, we kind of went our own separate ways." Kira shrugged innocently and plopped down onto the couch. "Come on Doctor O, lighten up a bit, yes? We haven't seen each other in the better part of 5 years."

Tommy rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose so. So when's Conner due here?" He asked and headed to the kitchen. All of them were old enough to drink now…

His question was answered when they heard another car pull up. Tommy walked to the window and peered outside to see Conner headed towards the door. The boy had changed indeed. Compared to his high school days, he'd put on quite a bit of muscle and oddly seemed to have grown an inch or two. He was dressed in the typical red wife beater and black slacks with a pair of sunglasses. His fiery red hair was slicked back and he looked almost like a wannabe rock star.

Tommy opened the door the moment Conner knocked.

"Hey, hey! Doctor O!" Conner grinned. "Good to see you again!"

"Same, I guess. Come inside." Tommy spoke and moved back to the refrigerator.

The moment Conner walked in, Kira and the others rushed him at the door. He let out a cry of surprise and shielded himself as they all jumped on him. Kira hugged, Ethan pat his shoulder and Trent ruffled his hair. Tommy? He just rolled his eyes and lined up the beers; two extra for him. He had a feeling he was going to need them…

XXXXXX

The darkness of the Shadow Realm stirred violently suddenly and the evil souls took notice immediately. The pale, almost zombie like expressions were twisted in confusion as the darkness began to gather in a wispy orb. Dark Rita, almost gazing at the darkness with hunger in her eyes, reached out for it wantonly, clawing desperately at the air to grab it but failed each time. The metallic claws of Lord Zedd soon joined the fray. His metal mask had long since been discarded and beneath it were twisted withered lips, rotten, razor sharp teeth and a forked tongue as he seemed to touch the darkness… but passed harmlessly through.

"Your hatred has summoned me…" The Darkness spoke suddenly and for a moment all the hungry beasts paused, watching the wispy darkness with stupid curiosity. "Even as corrupted, undead souls, you struggle to return to the realm of the living, desperate to seek revenge again a force you cannot comprehend or defeat!" It cried and unleashed a shockwave that forced all of the hungry souls backwards.

But more were tempted by this new dark power. The Dark Specter, once the great Monarch of Evil, stumbled blindly towards the energy, clawing at the air to get to it. Behind him came Master Vile, his already skeletal face shattered and broken. Hungry like the rest of them Vile let out a guttural moan and clawed at the darkness in a futile effort to claim it.

"Look at you… All of you are so pathetic…" The Darkness hissed as the once villains continued to claw madly at the darkness. "…None of you deserve the power you wielded… and you Dark Specter, the Monarch of Evil, are the worst of them all…"

Dark Specter roared loudly before reaching out once more. This time, when its clawed hand touched the darkness, dark purple bolts of energy ripped through its body, exciting a undead howl from the spirit. Suddenly all the power was ripped cleanly from its body and absorbed into the shadow. All that remained of the Dark Specter… was a withering husk that fell into ash.

The shadow began to take a shape now, at first growing something akin to legs and then arms. As the hungry spirits again reached out to the shadows, they began to be absorbed as well. Dark lightning burst from their bodies, snapping across the Dark Form as its body became more and more pronounced with each bit of energy it absorbed. Then, with a mighty cry and an eruption of energy, Rita, Zedd, all of the nearby souls were torn apart as an ominous looking figure hung in the air.

He was a twisted looking beast that seemed almost draconic in look. Twisted black-red horns curled out from the top of his head and seemed to wind their way around his elvish-like ears. His eyes were slit and gleaming a eerie purple-black with a red ring circling the pupil. Its face was elongated like a dragon with many rows of razor sharp teeth that dripped with toxic, acidic saliva. The creature's body was covered in evil armour with pauldrons that were heads of dragons, a chest piece with several layers that ultimately formed the shape of a dragon's head and gauntlets that fit tightly to his razor sharp claws. Spikes protruded from the knuckles of his hands and from the sides of his silver-black greaves and plate leggings. But the most distinguishing feature was the 6 wings, 3 one each side, that kept him afloat. Patches of membrane appeared to been ripped and burned away and the skeletal features of it were pronounced throughout. Clutched tightly in his right hand was a massive broadsword that was shaped like the tooth of a dragon. The crosspiece melded with the tooth, becoming one in the same, but took the shape of wings as they extended towards the pommel. The tooth had a slight curve that became slightly more pronounced towards the tip and was marred with dried blood and saliva.

"Infershia Archdemon Emperor Saizo."

Saizo let out a long slow breath that turned into a spiteful snarl as his eyes flicked upwards. "Zordon." He whispered threateningly and clenched his clawed fists.

Zordon was dressed silver robes and had the same withered face as before. His body was alive with holy energy that curled around him brilliant white tendrils. But his silver-blue eyes were still managed to strike fear in the undead souls that looked upon him. All… except Saizo.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you returned, Saizo, and I will stop you here and now before you do any damage to the Surface World." Zordon warned as he summoned an all too familiar reconstituted Sword of Darkness. Only in his hands could the sword be used to its true potential…

"If it hadn't been for you, I would have completely revived Infershia and taken control of the surface. Then, I was weak Zordon… But now you can't defeat me, old man." Saizo returned as his blade. "I shall show you my true power… and the full might of the Harudaafang!"

Harudaafang, the Sword of Might: one of the four legendary swords with the others being the Sword of Power, the Sword of Light and the Sword of Darkness. Harudaafang, once a symbol of justice and good… corrupted by the evil touch of Saizo.

Zordon met Saizo's charge and attacked first with a sweep slash that Saizo easily avoided. Harudaafang dropped, nearly claiming the Old Sages shoulder, but Zordon twisted away and slashed upwards from downtown. But even as the blade slashed across his armour, Saizo seemed unphased by the attack. Wide eyed, Zordon took a few cautious steps back and began to circle his foe. Saizo mimicked Zordon's steps before he came to a sudden stop and charged. Forced on the defensive, Zordon somehow managed to parry the lightning quick slashes and stabs of his foe before Saizo finished with a vicious punch. Zordon felt his entire chest cavity shift and cave in slightly as all breath left him. Staggering backwards from the blow, he feebly blocked the next blow but a second knocked the sword of his hands and a second punch put the Old Sage into one of the many rocky crevices.

"I had a chance to kill you centuries ago and I will not make the same mistake twice." Saizo snarled as his six wings snapped out and then curled. Dark purple-black energy began to gather in the shape of a growing sphere. "Infershia Menacing Ball!" The last bit of unholy energy came together and with an outward slash of his wings, the ball hurled towards Zordon.

Time around Zordon slowed to an agonizing crawl as he looked up at the ball of brimming energy. "My Power Rangers… F-Forgive me… I could not… stop him." He thought as the Sword of Darkness shattered once more in hands and the holy energy finally left his body. Then, with a hell-shaking explosion, blue and white flames ripped through the Shadow Realm and Zordon's scream was heard for thousands of miles, if you can even judge hell by miles, around.

Even as the flames raced towards Saizo, the mighty dragon turned and faded away…

XXXXXX

A/N: - That stands for Author's Note(s) by the way. For those of you who are both Power Ranger and Super Sentai fans, you'll recognize some… things. This is another attempt and writing, so I hope you enjoy it. I haven't been able to complete a story in years and it's been dragging me down, so I decided to return to my roots! I hope you enjoy!