True danger often dwells in darkness. From the monsters feared as children, watching silently through the closet door cracked open, to a malfunction in your car's brakes, waiting until the only thing between you and a pile of scrap metal is a push on a device that'll fail when you need it the most.

By that same logic, one of the Multiverse's most dangerous threats sat patiently in the mind of a seventeen-year-old boy. A smile on its aetherial face because it knew that soon enough fate would allow it the chance to unleash itself and enact its ambitions.

Jace frowned as he walked out his front door and into the street. Why did it always seem like school started on the best day of the summer?

He was dressed in a red checkered shirt and trap shorts. He'd let his dark hair grow out and he'd shaved the left half off. He looked less like a Red Ranger and more kid trying to sneak into a punk show.

After a short walk to the high school, he entered the building and moved to the commons to rendezvous with his long-time best friend, fresh from his vacation to the Wind Ninja Academy. He spotted Rylan sitting with a girl that Jace didn't recognize. Rylan himself had tanned quite a bit and was dressed in a blue button-up and some khakis. The girl was wearing a yellow and white t-shirt that contrasted against her fairish tawny skin. Her almond eyes followed Rylan's gaze as it connected with Jace's.

"You look kinda like the DJ they hired for prom last year. That Skrillix wannabe." Rylan said with a grin as Jace sat down next to him at the round table.

"Bro don't even go there, you look like you're cosplaying ," Jace shot back.

"Maybe it's because they're both Blue Rangers," The girl suddenly spoke.

Jace froze, feeling like he'd just been slapped in the back of the head with a math book. He then looked at Rylan, who didn't even seem remotely affected by such a blatant outing of his Ranger status.

Then he realized that must mean she's some extension of the Ranger family.

"So you went to the Anti-Verse right?" She asked Jace.

"Y-yeah," He said, first feeling nervous. Then getting lost in that sinking feeling he got every time he thought of the battle against Kaidio, his first actual kill, and his intense final confrontation against Lucius; where he was almost killed...

"So who are you exactly?" Jace asked, trying to escape the phantom of the scenes that flashed in his mind.

"Lisa Park," She said with a smile. Then after a few seconds of silence, she frowned, "Y'know… Like Adam Park… He was in the Anti-Verse too."

"Yeah, dude don't you remember?" Rylan with a half sarcastic, half cocky tone, "Old friend of both our dad's and former Ranger as well. Not that the two of those things aren't practically synonymous,"

Jace couldn't help but notice how much more confident Rylan seemed. He'd always struggled with anxiety and while it still seemed present it was almost shadowed by this his stature and swagger. It almost seemed like he was trying to win the conversation. And Jace didn't know how to feel about that.

"Oh yeah," Jace said, "I remember him. He was pretty low-key. He was apart of the rescue party that saved all of the kidnapped Rangers."

"Probably because my mom was there with him," Lisa said, "He can't have a heroic sacrifice while she's right there. She'd kick his ass."

Jace laughed, thinking back to Tanya's fiery tone as she said, We have to save your dad...again. He could just as easily imagine that she'd have grabbed Adam by the scruff of his Ranger suit and scolding him.

"Speaking of that," Lisa said, "I heard what happened to your dad's Master Morpher...that sucks." She spoke briefly, avoiding as many details as she could for Jace's benefit.

Not that he still didn't wince thinking about it.

"Yeah, well maybe it was time for him to retire," Jace said with a shrug, "Can't be a hero forever."

"He's still just as much a hero now," Rylan replied, looking almost offended by Jace's disrespect towards Tommy Oliver. "Hasn't he been working with J.J and Wes on some Ranger stuff? Like official Ranger stuff with the Silver Guardians?"

"Yeah, something like that," Jace said, "But I don't know a whole lot about it, both of them are gone for weeks at a time."

"Doesn't mean you can't ask when they're home," Rylan suggested.

Jace just glanced down at his phone, "He's busy…" He knew that was a transparent excuse, but he couldn't say what was really rattling around his head. It seems like Dad only has time for J.J.

"Well anyway, thanks again. Hopefully, when the world is in grave danger next week or whenever, you'll be there to keep him safe again," She said and stood up.

"Yeah for real," Jace said, "I'm so glad the summer was uneventful but maybe something can happen so I can skip English."

Lisa just laughed and walked off. Leaving Rylan with a shrewd expression on his face. "Don't jinx us."

"Calm down," Jace said and stood up. "We saved the multiverse. Anything that wants to show up can. I'm sure we got this."

"I just don't want to have that affecting my GPA so close to the end of our high school careers," Rylan muttered despite the fact Jace had both stopped listening and walked away.

There wasn't much Glyx wouldn't do for a quick buck. Mass murder, assassination, tax evasion, every crime was just another dollar sign in his eyes. So when the leader of his small guild came to the ship and asked him to rampage around a highly-populated area he didn't even think twice before downing the rest his ale and standing up.

Glyx was in his zone.

His wiry metal dreads swung around from side to side across his green helmet as he swung his ax into the hood of an oncoming car.

The man fell out of the freshly demolished car and screamed at the sight of Glyx.

Glyx didn't take offense to the fear instead it brought him great honor. He was a generation 3 Verox soldier, his green-plated body was a bizarre and complicated relationship between man and machine. He was built to strike fear into organic life-forms.

Glyx absorbed as much of the pandemonium as he could; he knew it would be short-lived.

"Nice Predator cosplay!" Jace Oliver exclaimed as he rushed to the scene, " care if I take a picture?"

Glyx would have smiled if his lips hadn't been replaced with a cold metal grill. When hearing of the Ranger's exploits he imagined them to be fearsome warriors, not children.

He pulled his two-bladed curved ax downwards, but a figure slipped between the two and intercepted.

Rylan's katana sparked when the ax was halted mid-swing by it.

"Good one," Jace said and summoned his blade, the red and gold saber Saba had transformed into when his father passed the weapon on. "But check out this," Jace said and cut into the Verox's chest piece with a powerful swing.

Glyx then extended two blades from his gauntlet and swung them into Jace. The Ranger flew backward as sparks escaped from his armor.

"You're lucky I skipped Calculus for this," Jace muttered. "Otherwise I'd be less patient with you."

"I have lunch right now," Rylan replied. "So I'm a little pissed."

"What did you say earlier? Don't jinx it." Jace said, grinning under his helmet. "Maybe you jinxed it."

"Of course…" the Blue Ranger replied.

Suddenly a second teleportation beam shot the ground and Jace nearly froze at the sight of the arrival.

The Dragon smiled at Jace in a warm and almost sincere way. Before summoning her red and silver armor.

Meanwhile, Glyx took his cue and charged right towards Rylan.

Jace parried both blades with Saba about as efficiently as he could. Meaning he was hit about every three swings.

"Why don't you show me what you demonstrated against Lucius?" She asked him.

Jace shivered as he remembered how helplessly the rage had overwhelmed him.

"No…" he muttered.

"Oh don't tell me you're going soft," she said and swung her swords into his exposed chest.

Jace recoiled back but the Dragon persisted. "What's wrong? Scared of what your old man left you?"

"What do you mean?" Jace asked. "What would you know about my dad?"

"I mean your real dad."

"Real dad..." Jace echoed and paused to look at The Dragon.

She returned the gesture, even lowering her blades.

"Oh, don't tell me," she said. "They haven't told you?"

"Told me what…?" Jace asked then shook his head. He kicked her back and raised Saba, shooting a beam that threw her to the ground.

But the Dragon laughed from the gutter, "That's precious…" she then jumped up to her feet and approached Jace. "If you wanna hear the story of your real father meet me here at ." She whispered before teleporting away.

Glyx looked back at the Blue Ranger, then down at his own damaged armor. "Well I guess I better go too," he muttered and teleported away.

Rylan then approached Jace, who was still blankly staring towards the spot where the Dragon had once been standing.

"That was weird," Rylan said.

"Yeah…" Jace replied, "You're telling me."

Trox sat in peaceful meditation. Or at the very least he tried to. But every time he closed his eyes and silence settled over his mind, thoughts drifted to the surface.

Astrid… a girl he'd wrongfully caught feelings for…

At least she was gone now. With the Praetor destroyed she'd left as well. But the bitter feelings remained, especially every time he thought about how she leaned against Jace on the journey home.

Still… he was the Guardian of the three Energems he had taken from Sentai 6, and while he only had two on the planet with him he still needed to take his duty seriously.

And a part of that duty was being as calm and emotionless as he could. He needed to be a blank canvas that the Energems could speak to if needed.

He forced his eyes closed, trying to remember the words of his mentor. Your body is but a vessel that the Energems carry their will through. He tried to welcome himself to that feeling again, as he had before he'd become over-encumbered with hundreds of other emotions.

Then he felt something. He winced and fell onto his back. He felt something akin to a hot knife stabbing through his skull. He stood up despite the feeling, rubbing the back of his blue-haired head. The feeling had been unmistakable, an Energem screamed through the void.

Trox walked out of the empty Oliver residence and slipped his crocs on before stepping out into the summer heat. Something was coming, he wasn't sure what, other than it was an Energem. It called for him unlike any of the others had.

It demanded him.

His feet carried him out of the city and to a small woodlot right across the highway that would melt into Mainstreet. He still didn't know what he was doing, or what he was looking for, but he knew that the Energem would make all of it clear.

Then it all became abundantly clear, as a streak of fire broke through the atmosphere and shot down to the ground below.

Trox remained unmoving, just watching patiently.

The large chunk of metal punched into the ground several feet from his body. The ground shook and several spots around the new crater had actually caught fire.

But Trox was only interested in investigating the soccer ball-sized orb.

He approached it, taking in as many details as he could. He couldn't figure out what species had created the object. It didn't seem ornate enough to be Eltarian or Triforian, but also seemed too advanced to be much else.

The fact that something of that size hadn't just burned up in the atmosphere was an astonishing feat in itself.

Then he felt it again, the head-splitting pain that traveled to the core of his skull. He put his hand to the object, forgetting it was probably hot enough to melt his flesh.

Yet it was cool to the touch and began to hum in his presence.

A small opening on the orb snapped open, and a navy colored crystal popped out.

Trox felt his insides turn to mush. It couldn't be… He examined if as carefully as he could.

It was… despite all of the legends he'd been fed by his teachers. It hadn't been destroyed, hadn't been erased by time.

The Dark Energem was right in front of him.

And it called to him.

Before Trox could even decide for himself the Energem sailed through the inches of air between him and it, fitting snugly into his hand.

The power flooded his body with fiery energy, and he screamed as if he were being torn apart.

After practicality, the same first-day speech from all of his teachers Jace was surprised to find himself back at 's door, a place he hadn't been since freshman year.

He stepped inside, where the short-haired, athletically built man sat at his desk.

"I didn't know you taught Earth-Space Science," Jace said.

"Bet you didn't know I worked for NASADA either," said.

"Weird flex," Jace muttered, "But cool I guess."

He then noticed the blue polo shirt had on, and he remembered what Lisa had said about him and Rylan both being blue rangers. Then he noticed the Silver Guardian coffee cup.

Was everyone in Angel Grove a Power Ranger at some point?

"Hey, fancy seeing you here," Lisa said as she stepped into the slowly filling classroom. Beside her was Rylan, again.

"Lisa's new here," Rylan explained, "She just moved from Stone Canyon. So I've been showing her around. Of course, it helps that I also have this class."

"It's almost like you're the only Earth-Space Science class I have this year," interjected, then just smiled to himself, "Don't mind me, keeping talking guys." Just then the bell rang and exclaimed, "Just kidding. You guys are on my time now. And they don't pay me enough for you to waste it."

After his brief, if not enjoyable lecture where he spent more time rambling about NASADA, Star Wars, and his love for mechanical engineering, then anything related to the class; the end bell rang and everyone rushed to get out of the school as fast as possible. Jace ditched Rylan and Lisa despite the invite to chill for a bit. He had something in the back of his head, and now that he didn't have school to distract his thoughts he couldn't help but let it linger to the forefront.

He stepped into the living room, where his father and J.J sat together drinking coffee and discussing Ranger politics.

"Wes sent the Silver Guardians to investigate the crash, but they didn't find anything," J.J said.

Tommy Oliver sipped his drink thoughtfully before responding, "Isn't it weird nobody noticed something before it landed? We have so many satellites…"

"You think it was cloaked?" Anara, the pink-haired alien that worked with J.J asked.

"Well I think whoever launched it into space in the first place didn't want anyone to find it," Tommy replied.

Jace looked at the two intruders in his house. He'd been hoping they wouldn't be around. After the battle with the Praetor, they had temporarily stayed with the Olivers. They were separated from their timeline, so his parents had taken them in. But it didn't take long for Wes Collins to come knocking and offer them employment with his Silver Guardians who were expanding their influence. Since then they made enough money to afford their apartment in Silver Hills. But they continued to show up almost daily.

"Hey Jace," Tommy said and smiled at his son, "How was school?"

Jace shrugged, "It was alright."

"Do you want to talk to your dad?" J.J asked, seeming to detect the gnawing feeling in Jace's stomach.

"It's okay," Jace said, "Where's Mom?"

"In the garage," Tommy breathed.

Jace nodded and avoided his father's gaze as he stepped past him and into his mom's workshop in the garage.

Throughout Jace's childhood, he'd only known a handful of his mother's technological contributions, mostly computer programs she'd developed for Microsoft and Samsung. He'd been blissfully unaware of her more life-altering work.

He found her sitting at her metal Workshop, her long and delicate fingers working tirelessly to mend some wires together. Jace examined the rest of her Workshop, his eyes igniting with interest as he caught sight of the silver pistol.

"Don't touch it!" she snapped as soon as his finger twitched.

Jace flitched then smiled, "I didn't even realize you saw me come in."

"Didn't need to," she said with a smirk.

"So when do I get to try that baby out?" Jace asked.

"Who said it was for you?" Then Hayley shook her head. "Anyway, what did you come to talk to me about?"

Jace stared blankly at his mother for a few moments as if he tried to figure out the best way to ask, "Um… outside of my secret, evil, half brother, there aren't any other big secrets in our family is there?"

Hayley turned to face Jace, and he wished that she hadn't…

Because for the faintest moment Jace saw something in his mother's eyes. A hidden pain suddenly flashed forward.

Before fading back into the void.

"That's a weird thing to suddenly be suspicious of," his mother observed with an analytical gaze. "Care to explain why?"

Jace's cheeks flushed red and he lowered his head. Why would some random villain even know that kind of thing? Wouldn't it be more likely she was just messing with his head?

"I don't know."

Why wouldn't they have told him already? They'd already come clean about Lucius...

But what if they weren't sure he was ready? What if they were waiting for the perfect time…

"I guess I'm just giving you the chance now… just in case."

"Relax," Hayley said with a warm smile, "You know that there couldn't be some big secret with Chelsea around."

Jace laughed, "That's a good point." His mother stood up and hugged him tightly. "Sorry, mom… I trust you guys. It's just that finding out your life is a superhero movie kinda makes you wonder what tropes are real life."

"Well you don't have to worry about any twist villains," His mother said.

Jace smiled and turned around, "Thanks for the talk."

"You too," Hayley responded.

But as Jace went back to his room and sat down the feeling persisted.

Maybe he could afford to hear her out. After all, if it was a lie it wouldn't matter what she said. And if he suspected it was true he could always ask his parents. At that point, they'd have to tell him if it was true.

He'd know if they were lying.

The Dragon sat at the street corner. It was a quarter till four, but she hadn't moved yet.

Her mentor had often said that one would be surprised what a little bit of patience can get in life.

The sound of footsteps caught her ears, and she turned to see a boy with a half-shaved head and a red checkered shirt. She didn't need to see the morpher to know who it was, but he flashed it regardless.

"What do you have to tell me?" He asked, avoiding her eyes and looking slightly past her.

She grinned devilishly, "Let's start at the beginning. I'm sure you've heard the story of your father being taken by Rita Repulsa and brainwashed to be her warrior, and I'm sure you know that it ends with the Power Rangers destroying the Sword of Darkness and freeing him from her spell. But maybe I can shed some new light on things… a little twist in perspective. In my world that never happened, Tommy Oliver stayed at Rita's side until Lord Zedd arrived and offered him something else, a chance to become one of the strongest Rangers to ever walk the Earth. From that moment on Tommy, Oliver was gone, and Drakkon took his place.

That man. Drakkon. Is your real father."

When Jace wasn't home that morning Hayley knew something was wrong.

"Relax," J.J said from the table across from Tommy. "He hasn't been gone that long. Maybe he got a little too messed up and crashed at someone's house."

Hayley eyed J.J and felt weirdly proud that Jace hadn't inherited his father's oblivious lack of tact like J.J had.

"Not that that wouldn't be a problem either…" he muttered.

Tommy patted his son from another timeline on the back. "If the school calls in an hour to tell us he didn't show up to first period I'll go look for him." He said to Hayley. "But I wouldn't worry too hard. He can take care of himself."

"You say that," Hayley muttered, "But the first monster attack in months randomly happened yesterday and you expect me to act like things aren't serious," Hayley said then sighed. She couldn't help but feel worried, because she had a sinking feeling her conversation with Jace might be the catalyst to something much bigger...

Jace leaned against the wall of the abandoned warehouse as he took the last swig of his stolen vodka.

He knew she was telling the truth, her eye's carried so pain as she retold the story of Lord Drakkon.

Lord Drakkon… the evil Tommy Oliver from another world. He had tied the two separate realities together in 2004 and for a brief moment pretended to be the Tommy Oliver of this world.

In was then that it happened, according to the records Maria had uncovered, Lord Drakkon had seduced a woman from the other world.

His mother.

"I gave her a chance to tell me!" He screamed before throwing the bottle at the concert wall across the room. The bottle shattered as Jace's head swam and he threw up next to himself.

"Rough night?"

Jace frowned, "How the hell did you find me?"

Trox stepped into view, looking a little worse for the wear. Deep circles hung under his eyes, and his face was even more colorless then usual.

"I tracked your Energem," he said with a thin smile. "I'm here to get it back."

Jace laughed, "That again? You caught me off guard once." He stood up and leaned right into Trox's face. "I could kick your ass any time dude."

Trox pushed Jace away, causing the drunken teen to fall back and smash his head against the wall.

His body screamed, but he was too intoxicated for it to fully register.

"I'm giving you a fair chance to just hand it over," Trox said.

"Fat chance," Jace said and stumbled back to his feet, ignoring the hot blood that ran down the nape of his neck. "You forget who's the Ranger here," Jace spat and morphed.

Trox just smiled, and the object in his hand began to glow intensely through his closed fist.

"Oh shit…" Jace muttered at the navy colored knight with a curved helm inspired visor. He raised his sword and swung it at Jace, who dodged as it cut into the concrete and threw dust around the room.

He didn't know if Trox counted as a Ranger, but he knew he was screwed either way.

Maria, The Dragon, was in full armor as she approached the figure slumped in his elaborate "throne".

The extremely handsome, and extremely hungover warlord raised his chiseled face. "What do you have to report, Dragon?"

Revlin Revuelto was the result of her world's Master Vile realizing that he was without a competent heir. As a result, he had D.N.A extracted from his only surviving child, Rito, and heavily modified with various other species. And more importantly with his own D.N.A cranked up to 70%.

Unfortunately Master Vile had neglected the fact that it took him several thousand years to mature into the sophisticated warlord he was.

"I have located two of the Energems on Earth," The Dragon said. "Just as a third materialized."

Revlin raised his goblet from the night prior swallowed the remaining warm, stale, wine. "Great," he muttered, "When can I expect them?"

The Dragon smiled under her helmet. "I don't believe it'll be long before the first Energem reaches your grasp."

"Wonderful," the proclaimed Prince of Evil said and threw himself off his throne and stumbled into a balanced stance. In a flash of black fire, he transformed into his monstrous form. Black leathery wings escaped from the back of his leather long coat and he rubbed one of his long sharp fingers over his pale skull-like face. He then muttered "I hope this headache subsides before my next meeting…" and walked off.

"From the lap of one warlord to the next," Scorpio said as he appeared in the room.

"You say that like you're any different," The Dragon replied.

"My alliance falls with you, Dragon," Scorpio said with a faint smile. "A fierce and powerful warrior. But where exactly does yours fall?"

The Dragon lowered her head, as the words of Revlin echoed in her head, The United Alliance has offered the aid your master requested. Oh, don't give me that look… you can't expect them to blindly offer their support to our most infamous rat…

She shook her head. Her loyalties weren't with any person. They were solely with an idea.

And that was something that would never betray her…

A/N: So here's the start of my next story. I decided that I wanted to use this section to explain some of the behind the scene details and other thoughts I have about each chapter. First off Glyx is taken from the Kyuranger monster Gyabler, Trox's armor is taken from Kamen Rider Wing Knight, and Revlin's monster form is taken from Agent X from the Dekaranger/ Magiranger movie.