Epic 0: War of Legends

"Life is full of adventure. There's no such thing as a clear pathway." -Guy Laliberte

As shadows ascended into another cool night, what appeared to be an adult human man skulked through an alleyway. He was a tall, built man with a heavy glare in his blue eyes. His gaze shifted across his vision; he knew he was being followed.

"Show yourself." He commanded, standing straight and tall.

"Didn't think you'd sense me so soon." The air behind the figure began to shimmer, and a man stepped out of nowhere. He had dark spiked hair and deep brown eyes. He wore a grin on his handsome face and his arms were crossed. This man wore a green leather jacket over a black and white shirt, blue jeans, and combat boots. "But then again, I wasn't trying to hide." With that, the man sprinted forward to attack.

The first man raised his arms in defense and easily blocked all advancing attacks. He spun around his attacker and kicked him in the back.

"You've made a mistake, human," Blue eyes warned, his voice growing more and more animalistic. The figure put his hands together, ignited a sphere of purple and black energy, and tossed it forth. In the knick of time, the fighter in green turned invisible once more to safely avoid it.

Reappearing, he raised a Power Morpher with gold accents and announced four words: "Dino Thunder, Power Up!" In a flash of purple lights, the Black Dino Thunder Power Ranger sprinted forth with his Brachio Staff and dug the blade into the figure's side. The figure hissed and jumped away as if he had been hit with a vat of toxic waste, his skin burned from the metal's jagged entrance.

"A Power Ranger…"

"Perceptive." Tommy sarcastically remarked before raising his Master Morpher once more. "It's Morphin' Time! Zeo Ranger 5: Red!" Now Zeo 5, Tommy summoned his sword and let it glow red.

"Zeo Power Slash!"

The force of the attack sent the monster into a wall, creating a crater. Tommy jumped through the air, announcing, "Tiger Zord! White Ranger Power!"

Now MMPR White, Tommy summoned Saba and struck the man over and over. Finally, he announced, "Dragon Zord!" And became MMPR Green, wielding the Dragon Dagger.

The Veteran Ranger wielded his weapon and easily fought off the man.

"I will kill you!" The Creature threatened blasting Tommy with a wave of darkness.

"How about this?" Tommy created a green orb of energy with his Dagger, blocking the darkness. The force made his helmet disappear as he slashed the attack apart and redirected the energy back onto the attacker. The energy collided with the Creature and made him lose his human form. A grotesque figure fell to its knees. It was all black and looked as if its skin was melted away by acid and its skeleton, which was just as black, was slightly visible.

"A storm is coming to Earth…" The Creature moaned in its dying breath. "Earth will not survive…" With that, the Creature disintegrated into dust.

"And I'll be there to protect the planet." Tommy confidently stated. However, something caught his attention; a new figure stood on a building above watching him.

"You!" Tommy whispered in shock, before feeling an overwhelming pain wash over him which plunged him into unconsciousness.

Snide was finally gone and the Dino Charge Rangers were able to live peacefully… for a short time. Almost immediately after Snide's fall, a new enemy reared its ugly head and the Dino Charge Rangers, which numbered at 11 members, had to respond. After a few battles, they learned that the grunts they fought were called "Maligs." The Maligs wore blue armor with sharp swords that were strong enough to block the Dino Spike. Needless to say, the Dino Rangers were pushed to their limits with each encounter.

It was in their third encounter that the Rangers learned they were being attacked by the "Erebian Empire."

In a newly evacuated city, the newest team of Rangers was not doing so well.

"Argh!" Tyler cried out in pain, being tossed into a car door. Up and down the streets, Maligs swarmed the spanish boy's team. Riley and Chase were disarmed and struck repeatedly by the Maligs' swords. Shelby was pummeled to the ground and Koda tried to defend her, but he was quickly tossed over head. Even Ivan, the well-trained knight, was no match for the Foot Soldiers' sword techniques. He too fell at their hands.

"Are you guys okay?" Tyler grunted out.

"Barely hanging on." Chase replied helping Shelby and Riley to their feet.

"We must formulate a new plan, Sir Tyler." Ivan suggested.

"They strong. Too strong." Koda pointed out in worry.

"It's okay, Koda. We can beat them… together!"

The five core Rangers raised their Morphers. "Dino Steel, Armor On!"

Despite his sentiment, Tyler's morale was slowly declining; it didn't help that in the partially destroyed city lay all their Megazords in pieces on the ground. Over in Amber Beach, Kendall informed them that their Zords would repair themselves overtime, but it was still a haunting sight.

To make matters worse, Erebian ships descended from the sky. These ships looked rather similar to Armada Ships, but these were shaded a dark cyan. Bright yellow laser beams rained down from above, causing the entire street to explode. This forced the Rangers to retreat.

The six managed to make it to a mountain side where they watched the Empire decimate the rest of the empty city.

"No…" Shelby whispered falling to her knees, grief overcoming her. Tyler bent down to her and whispered, "We'll be alright. Everything will be fine… we're still here… we're still fighting."

This seemed to work, as Shelby looked at him and nodded. Tyler smiled, practically feeling the grateful eyes behind Shelby's helmet.

Blue, bullet-sized energy beams struck a few trees around them, alerting the team to a the presence of more Maligs.

"Let's go!" Chase called, leading everyone into a forest to hopefully find some cover. They found refuge in a cave and all briefly took of their helmets to breathe easily.

"They're everywhere…" Riley whispered in weariness. "Endless."

"We must not lose morale, Prince Riley." Ivan encouraged. The others smiled a bit at Ivan's honorifics when regarding Riley. Seeing the Green Ranger's farm reminded the Knight of a kingdom, which led to the title of "Prince," much to Riley's dismay.

This lightheartedness only lasted a few seconds as the Maligs had found them hiding. The Rangers sprinted out of the cave and fought off the Foot Soldiers with as much force as possible. It was getting more tiring and tiring by the second.

"Look! More here!" Koda warned pointing to the squadron in the distance. The Maligs lined up and charged their swords with energy.

"Goodbye, Rangers," One maliciously said as it and the rest of its counterparts unleashed a barrage of slash waves. However, the end didn't come to the Dino Rangers; instead, a flash of red jumped in front and sliced the attacks apart. At first, the team thought Tyler had stepped up, but who they saw wasn't Tyler.

The person who saved them was Jason Scott, the Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.

"You guys okay?" He asked raising his Power Sword in front of him.

"More or less," Tyler thankfully nodded.

"Good. This Empire's a lot stronger than anything Earth's ever faced before. You're not doing this alone."

A few Maligs tried to get the drop on Jason, but a surge of raging fires destroyed them. Jared Gordon, Legend Red, ran up to Jason.

"It's almost ready, we just need to meet up with them," Jared informed.

Jason looked at the six Dino Charge Rangers and said, "We're in this together. Follow us."

"Right!" They nodded. Unfortunately, they were all blocked by an onslaught of Maligs.

"Wonderful," Jared muttered raising his Legend Sword.

"Dino Morpher Blast!" Beams colored Violet, Gray, Cyan, Silver, and Navy Blue rained down on the Maligs as the remaining Dino Charge Rangers ran into the fray.

"Shadow Saber!" From behind the trees, Anubis Cruger, Shadow Ranger, sprinted forth and cleared a path. Following him was Cat Ranger, Lauren the Red Samurai Ranger, Sentinel Knight, Mike the Magna Defender, Mystic Force White, Wolf Warrior, the Jungle Fury Spirit Rangers, Blue Sentaurion, and Julianna Sanchez the Violet Legend Ranger. These auxiliary Rangers formed a wall around the other Rangers and fought of the Maligs.

"Leave this to us!" Cruger told Jason.

Mike said, "Just finish this fight." He then proceeded to slice apart more Maligs.

"Thanks! Let's go, Rangers!" Jason instructed.

The two Veterans and the Dino Charge Rangers sprinted away and were being followed. However, Jarrod and Camille, in their Animal Spirit Armor Forms, jumped down from the tree tops and unleashed their animal spirits, covering the escape of the others.

"Good luck, Power Rangers." Cruger whispered before refocusing on the battle at hand.

"They're coming!" Andros, the Red Space Ranger, called out as he dropped from his Galaxy Glider. Jason had led the newest Rangers to a series of mountain plateaus where they planned on leading the Empire away from the cities. It was there they would do a final showdown.

"Are you guys ready to fight?" Jared asked the Dino Charge Rangers.

"Always." Tyler nodded.

"There!" Oliver Kyle, Cyber Fusion Red, called out. All around them, Erebian ships appeared and dropped thousands of Maligs.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Jason called out with his team and the four Zeo Rangers.

"Shift into Turbo!" Justin and the Robot Rangers called.

"Let's Rocket!"

"Go Galactic!"

"Lightspeed Rescue!"

"Titanium Power!"

"Time For Time Force!"

"Quantum Power!"

"Wild Access!"

"Ninja Storm-"

"Thunder Storm-"

"Samurai Storm-"

"- Ranger Form!"

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"

"SPD Emergency!"

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

"Overdrive, Accelerate!"

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!"

"RPM, Get in Gear!"

"Go Go Samurai!"

"Go Go Megaforce!"

"Biomerge, Spirit Legend!"

"Transcode: Fusion Fall!"

"Energize! Unleash the Power!"

A symphony of energy and lights erupted from the 150+ Rangers as they all morphed together. Standing tall with their weapons at the ready, they dashed forth in all directions to fight off the evil Empire.

The Maligs in the front lines summoned silver, high tech cannons and fired cyan energy beams from them. The lasers hit a few Rangers, but they were able to get back up. The Mystic Force, Samurai, and Megaforce Rangers stepped up front.

"Mystic Shield!"

"Symbol Power: Protect!"

"Defenstorm Card!"

"Defenstone Card!"

"Defenstream Card!"

"Activate!"

The mixture of magic, symbol power, and power cards created a large shield that blocked the incoming attacks.

"Galaxy Glider!" The six Space Rangers flew overhead and fired from above with their sidearms. The Jungle Fury Rangers sent forth incarnations of their animal spirits and mauled a group of Maligs to pieces. The Ninja Storm Rangers, with Aisha Campbell who was using her Mighty Morphin Ninja Powers, ninja streaked through more Maligs, destroying them.

The Overdrive Rangers ran alongside the Wild Force Rangers as they took on hundreds of Foot Soldiers. All around, laser beams, elemental attacks, and varying methods of long range attacks littered the battlefield. A large explosion alerted the Rangers to the arrival of the Empire's mecha suits: 10 foot tall mechanical humanoid robots that were stolen from an unknown alien world.

Lightspeed Rescue and Cyber Fusion were the ones who tried to dispatch them first, but were easily tossed aside. Both teams would've been destroyed if the Time Force team didn't step in with their V-Weapons. The Legend Rangers proved to be the powerhouses of the Ranger Army. They used their mastery over the elements to destroy Maligs and Mecha suits in droves.

TJ and Cassie, still in the air with their team, called out, "Here come more Mech suits!"

"Ashley, look out!" Carlos, the Black Space Ranger, called out to his friend. However, the Yellow Ranger was shot out of the air and landed on her back. She quickly got up and summoned her Star Slinger to fight back. Enraged, Andros jumped down with his Spiral Saber and backed her up.

The four Zeo Rangers also jumped in to help Andros and Ashley fight off more Maligs.

"Look!" Rocky, Zeo Blue, pointed into the air. It was another surprise from the Empire. Maligs flying on what appeared to be Gliders, kind of similar to the Green Goblin, flew at the remaining Space Rangers and attacked. The four wove around the newcomers, trying to take out as many as possible.

Daggeron, Mystic Force Gold, raised his Lamp Blaster and fired a single shot into the air. This shot exploded, sending hundreds of golden spheres in all directions, destroying quite a few Glider Maligs.

A Mecha Suit raised its arms and pummeled the Overdrive team off their feet.

However, the RPM rangers super sped in front and struck it with their weapons. RPM Gold and Silver both flew in from the air and froze the suit with their Cloud Hatchets. They then proceeded to freezing a whole squad of Mecha Suits.

This left it open for the Galaxy Rangers to use the Lights of Orion and stampede through the statues, destroying them.

Jason and Tyler stood back to back, taking down any Malig that came their way. Jason sliced one in half and Tyler stepped off of his predecessor's shoulder and slammed the ground with his Smasher, sending a shock wave into over ten Maligs.

"Nice one, Rookie." Jason complimented.

Nearby, Billy and Shelby were working to use a downed Empire ship to their advantage. The two were using Billy's gadgets to try and hack into the system. Outside the ship, Kimberly and Ivan were defending the entrance.

"If we can cross this here…" Shelby whispered in focus, working her magic on the circuit boards.

"Affirmative." Billy nodded placing the finishing touches on the machine. "We did it."

"Great!" Shelby exclaimed.

Kim and Ivan were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but Trini and Riley stepped in to help.

"Power Daggers!"

"Raptor Claw!" The two drove through the Maligs and destroyed them.

"It's great to see you again, Trini." Kim took her friend's hands.

"I feel the same about you guys too, Kim. But this isn't the time." Trini sorrowfully replied.

"You're right."

Chase and Zack finally stepped in, blasting more enemies away with the Para-Chopper and Power Axe Cannon respectively. "Watch it!" Zack pointed forward as Maligs sent wave after wave at them.

Koda stepped in with his shield and raised a barrier. "I… protect friends!" He blocked the attacks long enough for Ivan to fly around and slash the Maligs to shreds.

A Mech Suit flew at the two Ranger teams, but the Dino Thunder Rangers used Super Dino Mode to destroy it.

"We're good!" Connor called back to the other Dino Rangers.

"Now, Shelby!" Billy told his Triceratops successor.

"Got it!" Shelby pressed a button a controller, which made the downed ship fly into the air. It stopped in between the rest of the ships and began to spin in place quickly, becoming a blur. Lasers fired in all directions destroying the surrounding ships.

The Rangers cheered, but still fought to destroy the remaining attackers. However, the battle took a turn for the worse; hundreds more ships descended from above followed by a much larger ship.

Suddenly, Armada Bruisers appeared on the ground alongside the Maligs. However, these Bruisers wore black armor and were much more powerful than their blue counterparts.

Easily, these newcomers walked through all incoming attacks. Theo, Jungle Fury Blue, and Trip, Time Force Green, double teamed a black Bruiser, but it blocked their attacks and struck them over and over. The SPD Rangers lined up with their blasters and took one down, but two more got the drop on them and beat them to the ground. It was like this all over the battlefield; the Rangers were being taken down, but still remained morphed up, by these powerful warriors.

Salvation came in the form of Orion, Megaforce Silver. A large wormhole opened up in the battlefield and he came running through with ten other teams of Rangers behind him. The Aquitian, Prism, Supersonic, Blitz, Lightning, Jetstream, Battalion, Beast Brigade, Speedstar, and Bio Rangers followed Orion into battle to even to odds.

For hours, the Rangers fought off wave after wave, not giving up for a single moment.

It was near the end of the battle Jared Gordon called out, "Battlizers, now!"

Every Ranger with a Battlizer or an enhanced mode utilized it and began to destroy more soldiers in droves. All around, enhanced Rangers used their new weapons together to take out more and more attackers. Jason watched this happen and summoned the Dragonzord Power Coin.

"I don't know where you are, Tommy… but this is for you, man." He squeezed the coin, summoned the Dragon shield and leapt back into battle. At the same time, Zack wielded Saba while Trent used his old science teacher's Brachiostaff.

As the moon began to rise above the horizon, a final Empire ship descended from above. No one could see its detail as it was dark, but it gave off a menacing feeling. All the Maligs and Bruisers were called away at this ship's arrival.

A massive, cylindrical cannon appeared on its underside and charged up. The beam fired and hit the Earth, as well as the Rangers. Mysteriously, the Rangers felt no initial pain. Suddenly, the Earth Power Rangers began to feel a bit slower.

"What's happening?!" Jake Holling, Megaforce Black, demanded.

Andros explained, "That beam… it's poisoning the Earth… and it's somehow affecting our connection to the Morphing Grid!"

Billy pulled out a small hologram projecting device. He scanned the area and informed, "The laser beam's infecting our links to the grid! It's like a virus and it's gonna give the Empire access to it if we don't do something!"

~Meanwhile~

In the forests, the auxiliary Rangers and Warriors were finishing off the last of the Maligs.

"We've got to get over there." Jules pointed.

"Right." Cruger nodded. "Follow me, everyone."

~Back to Action~

The hundreds of smaller ships open fired on the Rangers, intent on taking them out. However, the Mystic Spell Shield, Symbol Power, and Power Cards were used once more to block the assaults.

Seeing the different powers fuse together, Jason got an idea. He called everyone together and stated, "We use all our powers and put them together!"

"Will that really work?" Clara Jane, Cyber Fusion Yellow, asked.

Tyler replied, "Have a little faith. If we're all together, we can do it."

Jason nodded and said, "Let's do it, everyone!"

A chorus of "right" and "let's go" rang out from the Rangers. They focused their purest Ranger powers, which made everyone glow a bright golden light. Together, all the Rangers flew up into the air. Their gathered powers blocked every laser beam shot at them. From below, the Auxiliary Rangers watched this happen.

Wolf Warrior addressed the other Auxiliaries, "We must stand with them to defend this world."

Nodding in agreement, the group glowed gold themselves to add onto the power of the main Rangers.

"Ready… fire!" Jason commanded. All at once, a golden wave of energy, much akin to Zordon's Z-Wave, swept the entire atmosphere and exosphere, eliminating all the ships and destroying the Erebian Empire's attack force…

~Later On~

Tyler's eyes opened, and he found himself lying on his back. His body was aching all over and his head was spinning. It was early morning and the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, but not quite. The sky was a still a light shade of blue while the clouds were painted a nice, cream orange.

He struggled to pull himself into a seated position and found his friends were beginning to wake up. Koda was helping Shelby to her feet while Chase was holding onto Riley who claimed he was okay, and looked rather irritated. Ivan was on one knee, trying to pull himself up but seemed he didn't have the strength to do so.

All around them, every other Ranger team was demorphed and regaining consciousness. Some were helping others up while others were struggling to get up themselves.

"We're alive…" Shelby breathed in relief. "All of us…"

"Did we really win?" Riley asked with a small tinge of hope in his voice.

Noah Ryder, Legend Blue, walked up to the newest team and nodded. "Yep." Next to him was Summer Landsdown, RPM Yellow, who was clutching her left arm. She nodded in confirmation, her eyes wavering in exhaustion.

"It came with a price." Mack Hartford, Overdrive Red, informed, limping his way over.

"What kind of price?" Tyler asked in worry.

Grunting, the Rangers turned to see Antonio Garcia and Mike, Samurai Gold and Green, supporting each other as they walked over.

"Our powers." Mike explained, "We can't use them."

"What?" Chase asked in disbelief.

Antonio continued, "That last attack, combined with the Morphing Grid Virus, but a huge strain on the Grid itself."

Summer stepped forward, "It's what my friend Doctor K refers to as 'Grid Overload.' The Morphing Grid was compromised and this planet was poisoned. The Grid locked itself down from everyone across the Universe to protect itself. Our powers are now being used to heal the Earth from the Grid Virus' damage, too."

"It cannot be true," Ivan whispered, fishing his Dino Chargers out of his pocket. He gasped when he saw that they all turned into colorless stone.

"It's true…" Riley whispered in defeat.

Tyler took a moment then sighed, "I guess it works out for the best then."

Everyone there, including a few closeby Rangers, looked at him, intently.

"We did our job; we protected the Earth and no one died doing it. We really did it."

This sentiment made all the nearby Rangers smile; the newest Red Ranger was right. They did their jobs once more and were able to return to peaceful lives.

"We did." Mack nodded.

"You're right." Noah grinned. "We did, didn't we?"

"It's a new day." Tyler trailed off as all the Rangers who fought in the battle looked off into the horizon upon the newly rising sun, which indeed promised a bright future.

~Meanwhile~

In a strange dimension, a figure wrapped in shadows sat in a meditative position. He was accompanied by a woman who was also concealed in shadows.

"Well played, Oracle… but that driving force was only a small fraction of the Erebian Empire." The woman known as Oracle looked at her companion with worried, green eyes.

"I've played my cards right, and now, in a short period of time, Evil will prevail over the entire Universe."

A/N: This is just a prologue. The actual story will start next week! I couldn't resist, I had to start the story now! Please review your thoughts! Please please please! Also, I put a few references, easter eggs, and plot points in this chapter. I wonder if you can find them!

Again, please review! A few sentences at a minimum! I really wanna hear your thoughts on this anniversary season!

I also created the Skyward Force Wiki Page! The link is on my profile.

Those Alien Ranger Teams will have Wiki Profiles. Just give me some time! :D

Later Days and Write On!