Greetings one and all, and welcome to the beginning of what I hope will be an enjoyable new series for you all. While this has pretty much the same plot and story of my last Power Rangers Fanfic, I made a few changes and have brought it back anew! This is merely the first of the two-part opening to this series and although Kimberly doesn't have much of a role-if not, just a cameo-in this part, it's only because this half focuses on the rangers and the villains. Don't worry, she WILL and IS a main part to this story and she'll shine in the next half. A big shout out and thanks to GoldDragonNinja for helping me come up with the name for this fanfic and some of the material you will see in it. So now, without further ado, let the adventure BEGIN!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of Power Rangers or Super Sentai whatsoever

Chapter 1: The Warriors of Hope Part 1

"Ah, what a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and everyone's smiling...yep, just another beautiful day here in Westport. And it'd be even better...if I WASN'T ABOUT TO BE LATE FOR MY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL," exclaimed fifteen year old, Mason Rutthers, as he ran through the busy morning streets of the city of Westport. The boy stood at average height one would expect for a boy midway into his teens. He had rather fair-skinned with short-somewhat messy-dark-brown hair and black eyes. His attire included a red t-shirt, jeans and a pair of black kicks.

Today was a rather important day for Mason, today would be his first day attending Westport High since he moved here almost a week ago. Tough he had to admit it, he was a bit nervous about starting his sophomore year at a new school. The curse of being the new face among so many people; people who have already formed their own cliques and groups. Looking at it that way, who wouldn't be nervous?! But Mason thought that he should at least give it a try, maybe something good might come out of this new school. In a way, this could be the dawn of a new adventure!

With that mindset in his head, Mason was more than pumped for school and raring to go. Yet that would be a bit difficult, seeing as how there was no possible way he wasn't going to be late!

"Of all the days for my stupid alarm clock not to work, it had to be today," he cried out in clear frustration, as he found himself nearly barreling into a man and his little daughter. Giving them both a quick apology, he then continued on towards the school.

Well, he was about to go, but found himself skidding to a halt almost as soon as he started. A single thought suddenly found itself into his mind, where exactly is the school, anyway? From the moment he burst from his home, not once did he even think about where exactly he was going, the only thing he was thinking was that he had to get there before he was late. And now he was paying the price, and now he'd be lucky to even make it to the school at all!

"Okay, let me see if I remember this," he started, as he began to think. "I left home and came this way, then I turned a corner and when that way. But they were working on construction and I had to go left, but then I turned right on that corner. But then I had to that way, and then the there was," he continued on and on to himself, trying desperately to retrace his steps. Finally, and to no avail, he came to a simple conclusion, he was completely lost. "Okay Mason, let's take a look at the situation, you're late for your first day of school, you're completely lost in a city you just moved to, your Mom's going to kill you and...you forgot to eat any breakfast," he groaned sadly, rubbing his growling stomach. "Alright then, standing here all depressed won't do anything, so...I just have to keep going forward!" Saying that, Mason then took of once again, however, this the moment he took his first step, he found himself colliding with something and falling flat on his butt.

"Ow, okay that really hurt," he heard someone say. Hearing the voice, he immediately realized what had happened; he had just knocked someone down. Looking over, he saw that the person was a professionally-dressed woman. She had fair-skinned and long brown hair. Picking himself up, he then held out his hand to help her up, which she-thankfully-took.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry! Are you okay," he asked her as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"Yeah don't worry, I'm okay," she informed him, flashing him a kind smile. "But try to be careful next time, you really could've hurt yourself."

"Yes Ma'am, sorry," he apologized, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Just as he was about to say something else, he remembered about his situation with school and realized that he had to go. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll be careful next time, see ya." With that, he gave her a quick smile, turned and was off running again.

"Kids these days, they're so full of energy. Listen to yourself Kimberly, you're starting to sound like your mother," she chuckled to herself, as she watched the boy heading off. She suddenly noticed a strange warm sensation emitting from within her bag. Opening it she then pulled out a small silver tray and opened it slightly, peering inside. And when she saw what she saw, she nearly dropped the tray out of sheer shock. Taking a look inside again to be sure what she saw was real, she then turned back in the direction Mason ran off to. "That boy, could he be..."

-Westport High-

With only minutes before class was about to start, the school of Westport High was literally teeming with life and energy. Everywhere one looked; from the open courtyard at the front of the school, to the inside of the school, to the football field behind the school, there were students all around. Each trying to enjoy their last minutes of free-time before their school day had to begin.

"Come on, Brandon, class'll be starting soon," a boy asked, as he stood in front of a soccer net on a football field behind the school. The person he was talking to was another teenage boy who stood opposite to him at the center of the field. This boy was a little taller than the average height of one in his age group. Though he was slim, the hint of muscles on his lightly tanned skin was obvious beneath his dark-green T-shirt. He had short black hair along with olive-black eyes and along with his green shirt, he also wore long blue jeans and black sneakers.

"Aww come on Nick, just one more go. I really need to work on this kick," Brandon pleaded, giving the boy a looking like that of a begging puppy. Not being able to hold his decision while looking at him, Nick ultimately gave in.

"Fine, just hurry up then," he sighed. At this, Brandon smiled grinned happily, as he lined up the soccer ball in front of him, ensuring that it was aligned directly with its target. Once he was sure it was on target, he then took a few steps back and closed his eyes. Taking in a few deep breaths, he then focused his mind on the task at hand, as he then felt everything in his mind click. Opening his eyes, he then rushed forth and swung his foot at the ball, sending it swirling towards Nick. Poor Nick could only let out a mere grunt as the ball connected with his gut, however this only caused a reaction of sheer joy from Brandon; jumping with sheer joy as he accomplished his technique.

Elsewhere, within an empty classroom inside of the school, a girl sat at one of the desks with us laptop out in front of her, her fingers going to work on the keys before her. The girl had long, curly brown hair; which went well with her equally brown eyes and light-brown skin tone. She was currently clad in a gray sweatshirt which covered both her slim frame and the yellow shirt she was wearing underneath. Along with that, she also wore short khaki capris with light-blue sneakers.

As her fingers typed at the keys, she would occasionally write something in a small notepad she had placed on her right. She would also take several quick glances behind her, looking back at the door to make sure no one could see her.

"Oh my God, this is so cute," she sighed in complete adoration, as she scrolled down the page she had currently pulled up on the screen. The page was that of a fashion website, and she was going through each article of clothing the site had to offer. And as for the notes she was taking, they weren't actual notes, but were merely quick sketches of different apparels of clothing she had drawn.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she thought she heard the door opening. Not even looking back, she then clicked on another tab opening a new page; this one with various complex math problems, and almost all of them had her correct answers in place. Turning around, she saw-much to her relief-that no one was either entering the room or near the door. "Honestly Rocky, you're going to give yourself a heart attack," she said to herself, as she let out a sigh of relief. She then turned back around and continued on with her business.

Meanwhile, sitting atop one of the small tables in the courtyard, another girl was busy at work on her own personal work. Unlike the one in the classroom, this girl had no electronic device at all and was merely going to work on a notebook she rested on top of her knees. This girl had long cherry-blonde hair which stopped at her shoulders and blue eyes to go with it. Along with her light hair, she had a light complexion to her skin-tone. She had a fairly petite build to her, though it could be seen that she was still growing. She wore a black shirt over a white undershirt along with brown shorts and white and pink converse.

"Hmm, let's see. Maybe I should have the hero come in riding on a dragon made of ice, or maybe I could even have his rival to be the long lost son of the villain," she contemplated amongst herself. Taking a look at what she had written so far her story, she began rethinking certain points within the tale. She wanted to make sure that this story would be the best that it could possibly be. Chuckling to herself, she thought of how she always thought like this with every story she had written.

Taking a quick look up from her writings, she noticed an all too familiar expensive black car pulling up in front of the school's gates. "Oh great, the prince of Westport is here. Easy Alena, pay him no mind" she practically cursed to herself as she went back to her stories.

Once the car had come to a stop, a middle-aged man in a fine tailored suit exited the driver's side and made his way over to the back seats of the car and opened the right hand side. With the door opened for them, the passenger then moved out of the car. The person was a teenage boy with short dirty-blonde hair and green eyes. He had a fair skin tone to himself and was dressed rather nicely being dressed in a dark blue button down shirt and having a rather well made black jacket over it. He also wore long maroon pants and black shoes.

"Thank you, Alfred," the boy said to the man as he gave the boy a rather gracious bow upon him exiting the vehicle.

"Your thanks are too generous, Master Charles," the man said, as he closed the door back.

"Alfred, why do I have to keep attending this school, it's degrading," Charles exclaimed as he looked forward at the school with utter disdain.

"Young Master, your parents feel that attending this school will help you to develop in your social skills. They are only thinking about-."

"Yes yes, I know, they're only thinking about me, I've heard that too many times. If they really do care about me, then they sure do have a funny way of showing it..," he cut the man off; none to politely a hint of pain and vulnerability present in his voice. Suddenly, the sound of a bell began chiming throughout the school grounds, as the students all began to move towards their homerooms. "I'm heading off now, Alfred. Be back here to pick me up when school's over," he informed the man, turning away and departing towards the school.

"Of course sir," Alfred replied, giving him a slight bow in return. As Charles entered the building and was lost out of his sight, a look of pure displeasure overcame his face, as he made his way back to the driver's side. "Young Master, when will let go of the darkness in your heart," he mulled over to himself as he got inside and departed from the school.

After around five minutes had now passed since the bell first rung throughout the school, the once empty and abandoned classrooms were now being filled with life as well. The students came flocking into the rooms and would either go to their desks and waited for the teacher to arrive, or would go straight to conversing with their friends. However, for one tenth grade Biology class, the students had no such wait, as their teacher-who made it his habit-was already seated at his desk, ready to start the class once the final bell rung. And once the bell had come, class was immediately in session.

"Alright, good morning class. I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend of having fun under the sun," the elderly man started. "Because now it's time for us to get back to some real fun. Today we're going to be going over the wondrous world of DNA!" Though it was clear he was full of excitement about teaching this subject, the same could not be said for his class, as almost all of them let out groans of pure irritation. Though he seemed to be oblivious to their mood, as his attitude never wavered for a second. "Okay then class, take out your books and turn to pa-."

"I'M HERE! SORRY I"M LATE," a boy shouted breathlessly, as he burst through the doors and practically flew into the classroom. Upon his rather boisterous entrance, all eyes in the room turned to him, as they watched him lean onto the wall and began panting rather hard.

"Uuum, excuse me dear boy, but...who are you and why have you interrupted my class?"

"W..water..water," was all he managed to say, as he continued panting, leaving the teacher in a state of utter confusion.

"I think he's saying he wants some water, Mr. Hendrix," Alena called out to the teacher as she pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and threw it to the boy, which he caught and proceeded to chug down. After drinking the entire bottle down in less than a minute, he then wiped his mouth with his arm and stood straight.

"Thanks, I needed that," he thanked her, giving her a grateful smile, which she happily returned. Seeing that the class's attention was starting to be drawn away from the actual class itself, then loudly cleared his throat; gaining this mysterious boy's attention.

"Young man, I will only ask one more time. Now, who are you and why shouldn't I call security here and have them throw you out," he asked, rather sternly, as he watched the boy's eyes jump a little in surprise at the sudden threat.

"Oh, sorry about that, sir," he apologized as he then began to straighten himself out. "My name's Mason Rutthers, the principal told me he told you about me, right?" Giving him a rather suspicious look, as he obviously didn't trust this boy yet, then took a look at his attendance roster and looked for the boy's name.

"Rutthers, Mason," he asked him once more, to which he nodded. "Ah yes, there you are! So sorry about that my boy, but next time please try to come in on time from now on," hr informed him, his personality becoming much softer and kinder. "Anyway Mason, welcome to Biology! Now, please take any available seat and join in on the fun!"

"Uuum...thank you sir," he replied, trying to not let his unease at the teacher's sudden enthusiasm slip through. Looking around, he looked for a good seat and found an empty one next to the girl who had given him the water. "Is this seat taken," he asked, kindly.

"Nope, just the air," she joked, earning a chuckle out of him as he then took his seat.

"Thanks for the water by the way. If it wasn't for you, I might've died."

"You're welcome...though I hardly think you would've actually died though," she replied, as she then offered him her hand. "My names Alena by the way, Alena Dwight. Nice to meet you, Mason." Taking her hand, Mason then shook it and smiled at her as the two then tuned back into the teacher's lecture on the wonders of DNA. Needless to say, the two weren't the least bit excited by this, though like everyone else; they kept quiet and took notes as the school day went on.

Yes, except for a little morning excitement in their daily routine, the lives of the students of Westport High were going down the same road they'd always been going down, as today seemed like any other day. However, little did they know, today would be nothing of the sort...

-Shadow Plane-

Just as the light exists within the world, there also exists darkness as well. However, the darkness and evil that people may see within their daily lives is but a small fraction of the true terror held within the darkness. For you see, what many do not know is that hidden away from our own world, there exists a separate world. A world completely unlike our own, a world of absolute darkness and despair, a world inhabited by the souls of those eternally trapped in the darkness; this world is known as the Shadow Plane.

Long ago, the gateway between our world and the Shadow Plane was always open, allowing the creatures of their world; the Phantoms, to travel back and forth between both worlds and wreak havoc upon humanity anytime they desired. However, this gateway was sealed away long ago and the Phantoms were forever imprisoned within their world, unable to escape. For generations, that seal has contained both the Phantoms as well as the darkness of their world. However, overtime the seal has been growing weaker and weaker, and the Phantoms have been waiting for that day to come; the day when they can escape their prison and enact their revenge. Unfortunately for Earth, that day is today.

Standing atop one of the many mountains within the Shadow Plane. A strange humanoid creature looked out at the seemingly endless dark sky above it. Its face was like that of a bird-like god one would see in ancient Egyptian lore, and it was completely covered in greenish-white feathers. Everywhere that is, except for its sharp talons on its feet that is. The creature merely stood there, not even a single feather rippled over its body. Suddenly, the creature felt something unusual, as it then looked up the dark sky; almost as if it were trying to clarify something.

"I see, so my senses were correct. The sacred day has finally come," the creature shouted with obvious joy, as it then sprouted wings from its back and propelled itself off of the mountain and into the distance. It flew over miles upon miles over jagged purplish-black mountains and equally jagged terrain. Finally, it arrived at its destination; a giant castle that rested practically in the center of this dark and depressing world. The castle was massive in size, probably around the size of ten football fields in terms of length, and was only slightly shorter than the tallest of the mountains. In terms of appearance, it looked like an ancient castle one would have expected to see from medieval times. Only this castle was made completely of stone from head to toe, and it appeared to have deteriorated a great deal overtime, as it had several holes in it here and there.

Flying into the castle, it twisted and turned through various corners before it finally came to a stop inside of a strange circular room. As it landed, its wings then retracted back into its back as it then looked around at the shadows surrounding him.

"My comrades, you sense it too, do you not," it asked; its voice ringing with sheer glee, earning several low chuckles from the shadows.

"Yes Julian we sensed it too...," grunted a rather deep voice, as its owner stepped out from within the shadows. The voice belonged to another humanoid, however unlike the bird, this one was in the form of a humanoid Jaguar. Its body was covered in brownish-orange fur; except for its arms and legs which were encased in a somewhat strange tight black armor, and its claws appeared to be sharpened to the point that they were like blades.

"The seal's finally broken, Vinos. You should be roaring with joy," called another creature on the opposite side of the room. This creature's appearance resembled that of something along the line of a dragon-human hybrid. As it had near blood-red scales covering its entire body, as well as dark green eyes that seemed to glow with pure animosity, making just looking at him a little scary. A pair of demonic looking red wings was also present behind his back, and although he didn't wear any armor like Vinos, with his knife-like claws and talons, he didn't really look like he needed any.

"Salas you bastard! Don't make me kill you where you stand," Vinos threatened, immediately closing the distance between them.

"Ha, think you can, little kitten?"

"You wanna go at it again," Vinos threatened, taking out something that looked like a giant iron claw.

"You read my mind," Salas said, pulling out his own weapon, a large black sword that looked like it was made from a dragon itself! Just then, as they were about to strike each other, they were suddenly blown back by a powerful blast of purple energy.

"Both of you, calm down this instant," shouted a rather stern feminine voice. This new found voice belonged to the newest occupant of this room. Unlike the other two, this monster had a much slimmer and sleeker appearance to them, as her body was built like a human woman's. She wore a tight set of armor that was light purple in color, and had a small streak of white going down its center. There was also the design of what appeared to be a snake on the upper half of her armor that covered her chest. Her face looked exactly like a human female's did; and she had long black hair that flowed down her like a waterfall. However her black eyes were cold and held no sense of warmth in them.

"Misa, why do you always have to ruin the fun," Salas said, as his blade disappeared in a flash of fire.

"Hmph, you didn't have to butt in, you know," Vinos grumbled, returning his claw to its holder.

"Both of you should show some dignity, you're in the presence of his majesty after all," she scolded them, as she then made her way to the center of the room and kneeled down on one knee in front of the being seated in the strange rock-like throne before her. "Lord Daricus, I apologize for their childish behavior.

"It is alright Misa, do not scold your fellow generals. After all, today is a glorious day," they said to her as the leaned onto their throne. The being sitting in front of them was dark gold and blue and even though it was sitting, it was obvious that it dwarfed the others by at least a foot. Its entire body-minus the hands and its head-was covered in a disturbing blue armor. The armor had what looked like a skull right under its neck, as well as a spiked horn on its right shoulder. As for this creature's face, it was an almost sickening pale shade of gray and had strange almost vein-like streaks running down it's completely golden eyes. Resting atop the creature's head was a dim-golden crown that contained a pale blue gem in its center, just above its forehead. All in all, the creature was truly a terrifying thing to behold, but as for the four that stood in front of it, they showed no such fear, only respect and obedience.

"Indeed it is, sire. The mystical seal those wretched warriors placed on us all those years ago has finally been lifted. Now we will be able to travel to the human world once more."

"Excellent, then let us enjoy our day of revival by basking ourselves within a symphony of human screams. All of you, go forth and gather an army of our Shrouds and prepare to have them disembark to the human world. Let us greet the current humans above" he ordered them as all four bowed to him and turn to exit the room to fulfill their order. "The day we have awaited for for three thousand years has finally come. Now is the time for us to strike back at the humans who locked us away, now is the time for us to take back the world that they stole from us. Now is the time for the humans to remember what true despair is."