Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, they belong to Disney (aka the Mouse and co.) What I do own are Ahriman, Kymera, Nemesis, Mistress Medusa, Cladius, Antoinette, and the Evi-sevs. If you want to talk to me, email me at ericpaladin@hotmail.com .

The Shadowed Future
By David Knight

Three years have passed.

It has been three years since the death of Zordon of Eltar. Three years since Ahriman killed his own father after setting him free from his prison.

Three years since Ahriman attacked the earth and conquered it along with the entire solar system. He built his seat of power, the Azure Castle, on the moon. From there he ruled the Shadow Consortium, ordering them to follow his commands throughout the universe. To keep control of their territories, to bring Ahriman's message across the universe... and to fight against those that have decided to declare war against them.

The Galactic Council of Worlds.

* * *

Supreme Councilor Demitria looked out from her window in her home on Eltar. For nearly three years she had been the leader of the Council, though it had not been her wish. Rather, it was something she had been forced into, but there was no other choice. She was the most experienced and wisest Councilor alive now. The rest were dead.

_Zordon... what must you think of the universe now, wherever you are?_ Demitria sighed. She remembered the day three years ago when Zordon died. She had felt it. So had every decent Adept throughout the universe.

When the current Council at the time had heard of it, there was shock and disbelief but also a wish to take action. An action that Demitria did not like when she learned of it. It had been kept from her along with several others, to keep the voting on the matter in favor of the ones who wished for this to happen.

The plan that the Council wanted to execute was to send five Ranger Teams to the Earth with a contingent of military forces; to go to Earth and attack, guns blazing, against the evil that had to be there; the evil that had killed Zordon. It was to be a holy jihad in retribution for Zordon's death. That was the official line.

Unofficially, it was a way for several members of the Council to legally justify the extermination of every living being on the planet. With Zordon dead, there was no reason to consider its people worth saving. To many worlds, humans from Earth were simply backwater savages not even worth the time they would need to be educated and taught better about the universe. This way, they could eliminate all obstacles and quickly claim the uninhabited world as their own.

But what was the reason for such a thing?  It was to get at the vast magical energy that was within the planet itself. There was so much in the Earth that it would empower the Council for eons. People would do anything for it.

Demitria closed her eyes as she remembered that day two years and six months ago when she barged into the Council with her friend Trey of Triforia, hoping to stop this insanity... only to be the guest at a massacre.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this!" Demitria exclaimed as she came into the main council room, her shout drawing much attention. Right behind her was Trey.

"Demitria, we were just waiting for you to..." the Supreme Councilor Mertak started to say before Demitria cut him off.

"You have given orders to the military forces we sent to wipe out the human race! For what purpose?" Demitria demanded.

"Why shouldn't they be wiped out?" Councilor Nemia sneered, standing haughtily at her place on the main council. "All they do is ruin their own species. They have no idea of what power that world holds. Power that could be used for the betterment of the universe."

"So genocide is now part of the way of the Light?" Trey snapped.

"You don't know your place in the grand scheme of things, young Prince." Councilor Darkonda, a member of the Mephistian race, spoke. Both Trey and Demitria knew that there was something wrong with him, something dark, but they could never prove it.

"For that matter we have no idea if there are any living creatures left. Only the pockets of evil and the cancerous evil that murdered the great Zordon," the supreme councilor said, his tone unidentifiable as sadness or joy. The High Councilor had never gotten along with Zordon, but Demitria had no idea how he would take his death. "The council has already voted. Regardless of whatever vote you might have made, this decision is final. Once our five Ranger teams eliminate this evil, the military will wipe out all the evil from the planet and cleanse it for our own kind to live there and use its power."

"You cannot in good conscience do this!" Demitria exclaimed.

"My judgment is final and absolute," Mertak declared.

Suddenly a flash of darkness appeared in the center of the chamber and when it had faded the council all gasped... it was dismembered bodies of Rangers.

To be more precise, the thirty members of the five Ranger teams that had been sent to Earth.

"I'd like to appeal that verdict."

The council all looked to the source of that voice and everyone had no idea who this being was.

Everyone except Demitria, who fell to her knees in shock, "... May the Power help us all..."

Trey saw the dismembered bodies of his fellow Rangers and was about to rush at the being, and would have if not for Demitria speaking to him in his mind. -Trey! Do not attack him!-

-But...-

-By all that is sane in the universe Trey, if you don't wish to return home in a coffin do absolutely nothing toward that man!!!- Demitria commanded.

Trey froze in his place, in disbelief at Demitira's tone and words, _She's speaking to me normally ... and she's so afraid... who is this man?_

"Who... who are you?" Mertak asked.

The being just smiled at him and the council, "You have the nerve to call me a cancerous evil when you yourselves are tainted by the Darkness in your hearts. You who are the real cancers to the way of the Light. At least half of the people I see in this room don't even have the right to live."

"Who are you to judge anything?" Nemia spat, "You are interrupting a very important..."

"Be silent and appear before me," the being commanded and Nemia appeared before him in an instant, floating in mid-air.  "Councilor Nemia of Anduras. May I list your sins? You are personally responsible for the deaths of a million innocents on the planet of Hathor by selling them into the slavery of the now terminated Machine Empire leader Prince Gasket, you are responsible for selling secrets to Dark Specter which cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers..." An amused smile appeared on his face. "And you happened to kill your own parents to assume their wealth so you could maneuver yourself into your place of power."

The look on Nemia's face was absolute disbelief, and in her mind she wanted to know how he could have found that out. The council itself was in an uproar. There were those who felt disgusted by this news, Demitria and Trey among them. But there were those who wondered how this being had learned all of this information... and wondered what else he knew about, or who he knew about.

"I have many talents. Finding out information that no one wants to have brought out into the open happens to be one of them," the being told her. "Now then... what should be your punishment?" He thought about it for a while and looked at her. "You want to know how you are going to die?" Nemia shook her head. "Too bad." He waved his hand to the right and everyone reacted in shock and horror at what they had just seen.

In one motion he had just flayed all of Nemia's skin from her body, killing her instantly.

Everyone was sickened, even Darkonda, who had done many terrible things in his life but kept them from ever being known. Mertak just looked at the man in the middle of the room and asked, "... what are you?"

"I am the Whirlwind of Change... the Black Wind of Chaos... I am Ahriman."

Many of the council started to run for the exit while others just stood frozen, Demitria and Trey among them. So was Mertak.

Darkonda was not.

"You don't think you are escaping my divine judgment do you?" Ahriman smiled a sinister smile as he raised his right hand, which began to glow black, "You will be made to repent for your sins and you shall repent for all of eternity... as my servants!"

From his hand the energy traveled across the room and Demitria thought that it was the end for her... but it wasn't. For all those who ran, the energy struck them, and they howled out in pain and agony as they felt their energy being drained into nothing and fell to the ground almost lifeless. Ahriman took their power into his own, feeling his own strength growing. But still the smile did not leave his face. Instead he suddenly spoke and what he said struck fear into everyone.

"Now the fun begins."

Darkonda started to get up but felt strange. He started to scratch his hand but then the skin started to rot and fall apart. When it was gone, what he saw was a slime-encrusted hand. "What... what's happening to me? No... no... NO!!!"

The same was happening to all of the others that had been hit by the blast. They were all losing their normal appearance, and becoming something new. Something terrible.  Demonic beasts and creatures that Demitria herself had only seen once and had believed to have been wiped out from the face of the universe. "Evi-sevs..."

Ahriman looked up at Mertak as he walked over his first few completed Evi-sevs and they were a sight to be feared. Six feet tall, covered in slime to show their newborn status but underneath that slime were green scales stronger than most metals. Claws that could rip through titanium, fanged teeth that emerged outside of the mouth, small eyes narrowed and looking very hungry. Ahriman pointed to Mertak and two male councilors next to him. "Those three and only those three are your dinner... now feast."

Mertak didn't even have time to scream, nor did the two councilors next to him before the four Evi-sevs pounced on them with inhuman speed, knocking them off their pedestals and into the shadows.

Demitria thought that was a good thing, as she didn't need to see Mertak and those other two men being eaten alive. The rest of the Council felt the same way.

Ahriman smiled as he looked upon the sight and saw that the rest of his Evi-sevs were done. He looked upon the sight of the great council. Once a membership of fifty, now cut down to only seventeen members, twenty-nine now his Evi-sevs and four people just plain dead. He looked toward Demitria, "Congratulations, Demitria."

"... Wh... what?" The Inquarian woman blinked in shock.

"Now that I have eliminated the cancer from your Council, perhaps under your leadership they might actually 'do' some good." Ahriman smirked.

"Cancer... just what you are!" Trey roared, "What do you think you have done?"

"It's simple, Prince Trey of Triforia," Ahriman explained, "I'm beginning my legacy."

_What must Zordon think of him now?_ Demitria asked.

"In case you all have been wondering who was the one that killed Zordon of Eltar... wonder no longer. I am the one that killed him," Ahriman said proudly, "May he burn in hell for all of eternity for what he had done."

".... YOU?! YOU WERE THE ONE TO KILL HIM! THE MAN THAT I LOVED!!!" Demitria roared, her own outrage surprising everyone including herself, but she was beyond anger, beyond caution. "HOW COULD YOU?! HOW COULD YOU KILL YOUR OWN FATHER!!!"

What was left of the council was in an uproar as everyone was speaking about this. That this man, this Ahriman was Zordon's son?! It was unbelievable.

Ahriman, however, didn't care what they said. He just looked Demitria in the eyes. "Zordon of Eltar was a fool. He was a man who would have left behind a Legacy that would have brought nothing but a never-ending yearly cycle of death and destruction! He was a worthless father that allowed his fake wife to do whatever she wanted to me, including murdering my own one true love! But most of all.... he sided with the UAE to betray me and sealed me in a dimensional hell for fifty millennia! You ask me how could I have killed him... the question should be 'how could I not have killed him?'"

Demitria just stood there, taking all of that before Ahriman spoke again. "The UAE by the way is no more. I have eliminated most of it, and taken what was left to form my own organization. The Shadow Consortium. Earth and its solar system are now under our domain as are all former UAE territories. Any attempt by this council to invade any of them will be considered an act of war... and I will retaliate against you with deadly force. This is your one and only warning. My advice to you is that before you decide to declare war against me, you had better be sure you can kill me. Because I promise you, if we go to war... I will show you no mercy." Before anyone could say anything else, Ahriman brought his hand down and he and his Evi-sevs were gone in a flash of darkness.

* * *

Demitria knew that Ahriman's threat was not an empty one. Had they resisted then, they would have been wiped out. They had to wait. They had to build up their forces, and not just Rangers, for Demitria knew that it would not be enough. Her first act as Supreme Chancellor had been to fully reactivate the Military Forces of the Council. For many generations the fleet had been a former shell of its great glory as Rangers were proving to be more useful in the style of combat that Dark Specter and the United Alliance of Evil -- the UAE -- employed.

But Ahriman was not Dark Specter and his Shadow Consortium was not the UAE.

Different enemies required different tactics and the revitalization of the military forces seemingly brought a booming success through out the economy of the worlds. Enlistment was at five hundred percent of normal and continuing to grow. All of these were volunteers, not drafted men and women. These were people who had been rejected from the Ranger Academies because they were not of the 'high standard' that the Council wanted of their Rangers.

That high standard was something Demitria was trying to eliminate. She was not going to give up on the Rangers. She had once been a Ranger herself, a White Ranger, and she had seen her teammates not be conventional like many of the Council's teams had been. It was high time for new blood to be added to the Ranger Corps.

Her doorbell went off and she said, "Enter." King Trey of Triforia walked into her chambers. Demitria felt a bit of sorrow for her friend, his late father, killed by the Varox. It was also their last kill as, before anyone could place blame on Ahriman for having hiring the Varox, it was discovered that the Shadow Consortium had annihilated the Varox homeworld shortly before the assassination of King Triton. The true culprit was Triforian lord Tamtast, who was swiftly put to Triforian justice and executed on worldwide broadcast for his treachery.

"The council meeting is about to start." The newly made King of Triforia spoke.

"I know..." Demitria breathed.

"Are you thinking of Zordon... or the Earth?"

"I wonder if there is anyone at all left alive on that world," Demitria muttered. "We can't even go near that system. Not unless we want to face the majority of Ahriman's forces."

"We know the power the planet itself holds... but is that all he's really interested in, Demitria?" Trey asked.

"So you have thought the same thing that I have these last two years?" Demitria sighed. "I do believe that Ahriman has more in mind for the planet than just its magic... but what that something is I have not a clue." Deciding to put that matter aside for the moment, she walked with Trey to meet with the Council. Today they would be discussing matters of state... and the status of the war they had now finally put themselves in with the Shadow Consortium. After nearly three years of preparing, they believed that they were ready.

Demitria only prayed that they weren't just fooling themselves.

* * *

The Planet Earth

Once very lush and green, now more than half had been scorched and burned. All of the major cities were nothing more than rubble. Life was not conducted as it had been three years ago. There were no real nations any more. Only the conquered and the conquerors.

But there were those who fought back against the aliens that had taken over their world. Resistance cells formed all over the globe to fight against the aliens and their awesome powers and weapons. The successful ones were able to reverse engineer the technology that they could take, use it for their own, and share it with other cells. A man who kept in the shadows had gathered them, calling himself Mentor. He had given many people a chance to stay alive and free.

The most successful groups came from Southern California. Commander Robert Stanton led all of the cells in the area. One of them stood out among the others: the Wild Bunch, a group of five childhood friends that had all survived the attack of their hometown and remained alive to become part of the resistance.

This is where we look now.

* * *

Underground in a secret bunker once belonging to the United States Government, Commander Robert Stanton sat at his desk awaiting the arrival of his best team. What made him feel somewhat uncomfortable was that they were merely children, forced by these horrific circumstances into this war for survival that the human race had found themselves in for the last three years.

They weren't soldiers, not originally anyway. They had joined the resistance when they were all fourteen, only freshmen in high school yet they were among the first to join and they had successfully completed every mission that they had accepted. Still, they, along with all people, deserved a chance to live their lives in peace.

_Wishing for simpler times won't bring them back..._ Stanton let out a sigh, _We have to fight to gain our world back. Perhaps with this mission, we can bring that goal one step closer to reality._

There was a knock on the door and Stanton knew they had arrived. "Enter," he replied and stood up as the door opened. Five teenagers all dressed in plain white outfits entered and stood in a row facing him. He looked at them, starting from the right, and saw the team medic Kimberly Hart, a petite brunette who had been able to pick up on first aid and medical procedure very quickly. In this war a medic was always needed. When she was not on missions, Stanton often found her helping the doctors and surgeons in the Medical Ward.

Next was William Cranston. The brown haired teen was one of the brightest people that Stanton had ever had the honor of meeting. He could hack his way through just about any computer system and was capable of designing new equipment from old ideas and spare parts.

Commander Stanton looked next at Trini Kwan, who was the second best fighter in the squad and was also an expert markswoman. The young Japanese girl had shown her skill with throwing daggers at targets from great distances as well as using a gun to shoot at similar targets.

Then there was Zachary Taylor, an African American teenager who had lost his parents during the Day of Darkness three years ago. Of the five, he along with Cranston had definitely lost their parents on that day; the other three did not know if any of their families were still alive. Zack spoke from his heart often and did occasionally make a few jokes. Stanton believed that even in war, there had to be some laughter in order to live. He was second in command of the group.

Finally, there was the commander of the unit, who had been the leader of these five even before this horrible war. He was the best fighter among them as well as an expert leader and tactician. The one Stanton was facing now saluted him. "Lt. Jason Lee Scott and the Wild Bunch reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease. All of you," Stanton said and motioned for them to sit down on the chairs that were behind them. "Let's begin the briefing." Picking up a remote, he pressed a button and the lights went out while a viewscreen appeared. An image of a large factory within the desert appeared on the screen. "Intelligence reports received from our scouts and information from Mentor point to this factory in Grid Area Epsilon Sector 03. We have identified Droids coming in and out of the factory so we know that it belongs to the enemy. But the most important detail is that we believe there is a high probability that they are constructing some sort of weapon in the factory."

Stanton shut the monitor off and reactivated the lights in the room. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find the weapon, download the schematics for it, and return with it. If you cannot take it then you must destroy it when you destroy the factory."

Jason looked at his team for a moment as if looking for their approval. After a few moments he looked back to Stanton. "We accept the mission."

"Very well. Go to the Armory where you will be given what will be needed for this mission. The hover jeep will be prepped by the time you reach there. That is all." The rest of the team got up. But before they left Stanton spoke once more. "And people... good hunting."

"Thank you sir," Jason said. He and the others left the room. Only when the door closed did Stanton let out a sigh and allow himself to sink into his chair. It was times like this that he asked himself why a merciful and benevolent God would allow this to happen to His children, making him have to send kids who had not even graduated high school into battle... and possibly to their deaths.

He just didn't know.

* * *

Five minutes later, all five members of the Wild Bunch had suited themselves up in full body armor. It would handle any crude weapon fired at them or used against them. However, blaster bolts would cut right through them. They knew how serious the mission was, especially with Droids involved.

The Droids looked like a cross between the metal T-800 from the movie the Terminator that Jason had once seen and someone wearing a full body suit that covered everything except their golden skull shaped heads. They had killed many Resistance members until the creation of the EMP weapons. That had been a very lucky break for the humans.

After loading up on EMP hand weapons, assault rifles, and explosives, the five of them went to the hover jeep assigned to them, the HJ-02. Vehicles with wheels were now a thing of the past thanks to the weapons that the invaders had been sending down to attack them. The Resistance got lucky with its raids every so often, acquiring alien technology that could be reverse engineered and used by all of the Resistance cells world wide, thanks to Mentor's ability to contact them all.

The five teenagers kept silent for the most part when they boarded the hover jeep, feeling a superstitious fear of jinxing the mission. They just wanted to keep it simple, quick and get it over.

Once they were in, Jason turned on the ignition and said, "Let's get started." With that they drove off, hoping that this mission would be easy.

* * *

One hour later, the mission was well underway and it was anything but easy.

"Billy, haven't you got it yet?!" Jason screamed as he took on one of the Droids in hand to hand combat, punching it right between the eyes with his Force Gauntlets, yet another weapon developed by reverse engineering the enemy's technology, in this case the Droids' own gauntleted hands, which were in fact strength amplifiers. It explained why they were able to tear through titanium with relative ease. He and Trini were the only ones on the team who used Force Gauntlets as they were the only two members who had the fighting skill to go head to head with a Droid and stay alive... the ones who didn't were armed with blasters.

"Not yet! I still need time to finish hacking through the firewalls!" Billy shouted from the terminal where he stood, his laptop connected.

"Hurry up, Billy!" Trini shouted. "These Droids are starting to pile up!" A Droid came at her from the left but she used her Mantis style to fight back, her Force Gauntlet going right through its chest. However, she didn't notice the Droid coming up behind her with a laser gun aimed at her head.

Kimberly did, however, and blasted it with her EMP gun. Once Trini was finished with the Droid she had been fighting she turned around and saw the downed Droid. "Thanks, Kim!"

"Any time. I mean, I can't heal a laser blast to the head," Kimberly replied with some slight humor.

"Come on, you metallic freaks! You want some of the Zack-man?" Zack snapped as he fired at the Droids at the far end, trying to keep them from reaching any closer to their position. "Just try it and you'll end up like your buddies!"

"I got it!" Billy exclaimed as his skills broke through the firewall leading to the weapon they had been searching for. "Turning on the lights in the area... now!"

When the lights came on, the weapon could be seen... and all five teens let their guard down for a moment to stare at it in awe.

It was a black metallic machine, designed to look like a knight straight out of the Middle Ages, or at least beginning to. Parts of the armor were around the sides of the loading bay by its feet. But what really shook them up was the fact that this machine was over sixty stories tall... at least.

"There is no way its going to fit on the jeep..." Zack muttered in disbelief.

"Zack!" Kim shouted getting his attention as she fired at a Droid that had been coming at them, knocking it offline. While they had been surprised, the Droids had kept coming and their moment of carelessness might get them killed now.

Jason saw it was time to change tactics as he decided to grab one of the disabled Droids' laser rifles. Once he had it, he started blasting at every Droid in sight. Trini followed his lead as well. The odds were becoming more or less even again when Jason called out, "Billy, you got the plans downloaded into your laptop?"

Billy looked at his system and when the meter turned green he yelled out, "Affirmative!"

"Zack! We need some breathing room to get out of here!" Jason ordered.

"Got it!" Zack retorted as he dropped his gun and went for the high explosive on his vest. He threw it and screamed, "Hit the dirt!"

Jason and Trini ran toward the others and jumped down to the ground just before the explosive hit the area where the Droids were.

When it went off, the explosion took out the ground beneath them and the Droids started to fall, and it also made it impossible for the Droids to get to the five human teenagers.

"Alright, everyone through the back now!" Jason ordered and everyone rushed toward the back entrance, which was how they had gotten into the factory to begin with. Once outside they didn't stop running until they had gotten to their hover jeep and piled into it. Jason fired it up and they were moving across the desert area for about a minute when he pulled out a black stick with a red button on the top. "Game over," he said, pressing the button. They saw the factory explode in a blaze of glory.  "Mission complete."

"Alright!" Kimberly squealed and everyone let out their own joyous cries at getting the job done. Jason just smiled as he kept his foot on the petal and drove the hover jeep back on course to base.

It was time to go home, and hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about anything coming up from behind them.

* * *

Unfortunately for the five of them, they would not be that fortunate or that lucky, for their actions did not go unnoticed.

"WHAT?!!!" A high pitched female voice boomed at the subordinate that gave her the news. "What do you mean it's been destroyed?!"

"The factory working on the Hyper Mechanoid Battle System was destroyed, as was the existing prototype. We..."

SLASH!!!

Everyone of the bridge crew looked in fear at the being, who had just put her massive gauntlet right through that subordinate's head. "Load the Drop Fighters with Evi-sevs from the Cages, start launching them out to those coordinates, and then take the Vengeance there as well. Understood!" No one dared to disobey her. "I'm going to personally enjoy showing those fools what it means to cross Nemesis!"

* * *

"Alright! Now we really socked it to those freaking alien scum bags!" Zack hollered. "Think we might be able to get some down time once we bring in this data?"

"Assuming it's anything good," Jason said as he kept his eyes on what was in front of him.

"Are you kidding? I mean think of the size of that thing! So large that we had to destroy it when we realized we couldn't take it back with us," Kim replied. "It had to be really important, and Nemesis isn't going to be getting anywhere now with it gone."

"Billy, you made a copy of that, outside of your computer?" Jason asked.

"Affirmative."

"Zack, hold on to that for me until we get back to base, okay?"

"No problem. But look, Jase, I think for once we really got it made in the clear." Zack smirked as he took the disk from Billy.

"And why is it nearly every time you say that, things go wrong?!" Trini snapped. "We have company, people!"

Jason looked in the rear view mirror while the others looked up and saw the ships heading for them. "Drop Fighters. Ten of them."

"But that means there must be fifty Evi-sevs with them!" Kim gasped. "If they get us out in the open we won't be able to cut them down fast enough before they kill us!"

"No one is dying today, Kimberly!" Jason swore. "Now strap yourselves in and hold on!" Once he knew they were strapped in, he floored the accelerator and the hover ship was going over 200 mph, trying to outrun the Drop Fighters, but they were still coming after them. "Trini!"

"On it!" Trini returned as she hit the panel to the left of her. A rocket launcher pod came out from its compact compartment, its systems right at her fingertips.

"There's only four rockets in there, Jase! Even if she gets four bull eyes..." Zack started to say.

"I know, I know!" Jason snapped. "We'll still have thirty Evi-sevs to worry about, but it's better than dealing with fifty any day!"

Trini took aim and worked with her targeting system, firing off her first rocket. It made direct contact with its target. "Yes!"

"One down and nine to go!" Kim cheered.

"Let's just hope we can get out of here," Zack muttered.

"Any chance to call for reinforcements?" Billy asked.

"Not without compromising base location. Scramble code won't reach this far out and open frequency is sure to get people killed. We're on our own," Jason said grimly.

"That's two," Trini announced as she went for her next shot. She locked on target and fired, only this time it clipped one of the wings of the Drop Fighter. A lucky break for them, this crippled ship crashed into two other Drop Fighters, taking them out with a massive explosion.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Zack exclaimed when he saw that the unbelievable had just happened. "I knew it! I just knew Lady Luck is on our side!"

"Zack, I am going to kill you if we survive this!" Jason shouted.

"Huh?" Zack blinked, turning to look at Jason. "Why?" Jason didn't answer, just flooring the accelerator even further down. "Hey! What are you..." and that's when Zack saw it. "Um... Trini..."

"Not now, Zack. I'm about to take my last shot..."

"I know... which is why you should fire it off at her!!!"

Billy, Trini and Kimberly all turned around to see who was quickly coming up in front of them, not moving but feeling themselves growing pale.

It was Nemesis.

* * *

_These are the wretches that have caused our forces so much annoyance... bah. They are just pathetic weaklings that need to be stamped out of existence like the little rodents that they are._ Nemesis smirked as she saw that the driver was intent on ramming her while the one with command of the projectile weapon they had was aiming it now at her.

Underneath her faceplate, her fleshless lips curved into a delicious smile. _I am sooooooooo going to enjoy this slaughter._ She chuckled as she saw the rocket fired off at her.

She just let it hit her.

* * *

The explosion that they saw from the rocket hitting Nemesis was incredible and they actually thought they had done it.

"Did we do it... did we actually kill that monster?" Kim dared to hope.

"I don't know but that had to have at least knocked her out," Jason assumed. "Time for us to get..." Just then the hover jeep was stopped by what might have been considered an unmovable object. Had they not all been strapped in, they would have been sent flying and died on impact.

"Leaving so soon?" a sinister female voice sneered through the smoke.

All five of them felt fear growing within them, even Jason. "There's no way..."

Nemesis came from the smoke, her awesome form looming, all of them feeling even more terror building up within them as they saw it. Her voice was haughty and cruel. "But you can't go yet. We've only just met. After all..." She dug her claws into the hover jeep and, to their disbelief, lifted it over her head.

"This can't be happening!" Kim exclaimed.

"This party is only getting started!" Nemesis screamed as she threw the hover jeep forward through the air to collide with a rock face and then fall to the ground, with dislodged boulders crashing down on it. "Awww... I hope you aren't dead yet... I've only started to have my fun... hahahahahhaha!"

* * *

On the moon within the Azure Castle, Ahriman was resting on his throne... or rather the throne that had once been the throne of the Emperor of Eltar.

_Now those were times that I would have loved to have been a part of,_ Ahriman mused as he remembered the stories and texts chronicling the history of the great Eltarian Dynasty. He loved reading those stories when he was a child growing up and would some times spend hours just reading a single book on the Dynasty.

His father had not even been born during the time of the Eltarian Dynasty, an empire that stretched throughout all of the cosmos, uniting all people together under one leadership, under one banner, under one supreme ruler. Eltar had been the seat of power for all beings then, even more so than it was today for the forces of Light, and Emperor Caspian was the most formidable ruler that there had ever been. He stopped great evils from being formed, brought order to the worlds that had none. Even worlds that were peaceful he brought under his dominion, for it was his dream to unite all peoples so that when the greatest of all threats occurred, their existence would be assured.

There were those who had thought of Caspian as a madman for believing in this unseen enemy, and conspired to kill him. To do so, they arranged for an Eltarian woman named Hemina to enter his household as a concubine. When she was with him one night, she used all of her charms to lower Caspian's guard for the slightest of moments. It was at the height of their tryst that she thrust a dagger through his heart and killed him.

The men who conspired in this plot thought that they would become the rulers of the Dynasty, and they did, but they ruled corruptly, bringing forth the Royals and Nobles to rule the worlds and make overlords... but the people rebelled. Civil unrest became open revolution, bribery to politicians soon lead to absolute corruption. The great Dynasty was being killed from the inside... and that is when the evil force that Emperor Caspian had believed imminent had arrived, a century after his murder.

The Dynasty of Darkness. The group that would eventually evolve one day into the UAE. The Dynasty was ruled by a being that had no true name. All anyone called him... was Diablos.

The foolish Eltarians who had murdered Caspian thought that they would succeed in defeating Diablos... but they were sorely mistaken as Eltar was the first to be attacked and fell within a day. This was all because the traitorous leaders had become weak and lax and had forgotten to continue to develop their warriors and their weapons.

With Eltar in ruins, the rest of the Eltarian Dynasty ran in circles like a headless chicken, which in a sense it was. The rest of the universe fell to the Dynasty and Diablos became the ruler of all beings within five years.

Thus would begin the Thousand Years of Darkness in which the Dynasty ruled over all with an iron fist until the First Order of Meledan came into existence. At the cost of their own lives, they killed Diablos. Three thousand years of war would occur, and it would lead to the formation of two new governments. The Galactic Council for the forces of Light, and the United Alliance of Evil for the forces of Darkness.

_And now I have replaced the UAE with my Shadow Consortium. I only hope to be as wise as Emperor Caspian was. Many people still think of him as a madman when he was in fact doing what had to be done for the sake of survival._ Ahriman shook his head as he remembered how he had come about obtaining the Emperor's throne. Incredibly, the Eltarian Museum had auctioned it off. It was bought by a man who wanted only to burn the throne and do something totally degrading over the ashes. His family were political activists and his ancestors were connected in some unknown way to the ones who had betrayed the Emperor.

Ahriman thought he was doing the universe a favor when he slaughtered all seven hundred members of the family with only his sword, and burned their homes to the ground. No one dared to disrespect his childhood idol. An idol that his father couldn't understand... _He was always a weak willed non-interference pacifist at heart. He didn't have the stomach to take the direct approach. I have no such weaknesses._ Out of great respect for the Emperor, he would have his throne be that of the ruler he respected most.

_How long will it take for the forces of Light to wake up and obliterate their pathetic Council, and create something... purer? Something worthy of that power?_ Ahriman smiled thoughtfully until he was interrupted by one of the monitors in his chambers.

"Alert. Alert. Potential Ranger discovered," spoke the computerized voice that only spoke when Ahriman was the only one in this room. Getting up out of his throne, he walked towards the monitor system. "Prism, detail the Potential now."

"Processing." As the computer spoke an image of Jason appeared on the left hand corner. "Located. One Jason Lee Scott. Age 17. Potential first Red Ranger of Earth and temporary replacement Gold Ranger for Trey of Triforia in the Zordon timeline."

The smile that formed on Ahriman's face when he heard Jason's name couldn't have been wider. "At last. I have been looking for him almost as long as I have been on this world. Prism, where is he now?"

"Executing Location Sequence. Processing... ... ... Location determined. Stand by for visual," Prism announced.

Ahriman got his visual... and for the first time in a long while he was furious at what he saw. "What in the Inferno is she doing!!!" he roared, his fists clenched as he saw the damage done. He could only see Jason's head but his computer sensors were telling him that he was still alive; he was just crawling out of a wrecked hover jeep with several boulders scattered over it.  Ahriman watched as he saw Nemesis walking down toward the wreckage, like a predator ready to kill.

_That bloodthirsty sadistic witch!_ Ahriman growled as his anger grew. _I gave her precise instructions, I had her memorize the Potentials' faces, along with all of the rest of my court, and commanded her to have me contacted at once when any of them were located, so that I could make the decision about what to do... I didn't say take your own initiative!_

He forced himself to calm down, knowing he needed to keep a level head if he was going to make this situation work. Ahriman did not allow his anger to get the better of him, but when he gave an order he expected it to be followed to the letter.

And Nemesis had decided to be the first to try to ignore one of those orders.

_She's going to get a very rude awakening..._ Ahriman vowed. _The question is how do I work this situation. How can I..._ A smile formed on Ahriman's lips as he came up with the perfect answer. "This is going to work very well..." He waved his hand over the monitors to make them disappear before closing his eyes to utter a spell of transiting.

A new figure soon materialized within the throne room. "Wha..."

"Pardon me for taking you out of your training session with Ecliptor, but I have immediate need of your services," Ahriman said as he turned around to face the figure. "Astronema."

The Princess of Darkness walked into the light without fear of her master. Ahriman was proud of the way that she had grown, thanks to his added training and teaching along with Ecliptor's as well as Scorpina's own lessons to her. Standing before Ahriman was not the scared little fourteen-year-old mortal who might have been. That would have been a true waste of a potential warrior and sorceress, from what he had seen her become in the timeline in which his father's Legacy had succeeded.

Standing before him was a seventeen-year-old young woman who was truly worthy to be among his elite. She was dressed in a black leather body suit, which hugged all of her curves and her bosom. She also wore a pair of silver gauntlets and boots, a Wrath Staff -- just one of her many weapons -- in her hands, but he had also given her a sword made of Triforian Silver, the strongest metal in the universe. She had given it the name of Shiva. A very fitting name for it, Ahriman had thought.

But her fighting skills were not her only weapon. Her body was a natural weapon to be used against men if needed. Long, wavy purple hair placed into intricate braids, blue eyes shining like sapphires -- she was lovely, fairly glowing with sexual energy. She had become what he had hoped to craft from her potential, and then exceeded those expectations.

The look on her face was one of absolute confidence, no fear at all in her eyes. "What do you wish of me, Lord Ahriman?" she asked without hesitation.

Ahriman simply smiled, "I have a feeling that you will enjoy this assignment." And with that he began to outline to her exactly what he wanted her to do.

* * *

Jason groaned painfully as he crawled out of the wreckage of the hover jeep. He didn't know if it would blow or not. All he knew was that when the jeep had hit the rock face, he heard screams from the others and could only wonder what had happened. "Guys... guys!" He struggled to get to his feet, feeling like he was going to fall back down again when he looked to the left and saw Trini and Kimberly, both of them not moving. "Oh please no..."

"Jase..."

"Zack?" Jason whirled around to see his friend coming out from the right side of the area "You okay?"

"Been better... " Zack muttered before he was sent flying into a rock wall.

"You're going to get worse," Nemesis sneered, clearly proud of what she had just done. "So I have two dead girls, and you two aren't that far from being dead. I wonder, which should I kill first?"

"Just shut up and get it over with, you stinking witch," Jason hissed.

"Get it over with? Get it over with?" Nemesis asked incredulously. "Oh-hohohohohoho!!! Now that is a good one, flesh thing! If you haven't already figured it out, I enjoy toying with my prey... and guess what you are."

"Murderer!"

Nemesis turned around at the sound of that scream only to see something smash right against her visor, knocking her to the ground.

"Billy!" Jason shouted.

His left arm bleeding, holding a large rock in both hands, the brains of their group had a grim smile. "Not bad for the geek, huh... just wish that... AGH!"

"BILLY!!!" Jason screamed as he saw five silver fingers go through his stomach.

"That..." Nemesis hissed in pain, "that actually hurt... I am impressed..." She made her staff appear in her free hand and raised it up. "So consider this a warrior's funeral! YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" She screamed as she slammed the staff down into the ground and suddenly the earth split open, leading into a long dark nothingness.

"Billy!" Zack screamed.

"Say good-bye to your friends... but just for a little while. They'll be joining you in the Afterlife very soon!" Nemesis sneered as she flicked Billy off her gauntleted hand, sending him falling without a single sound into the darkness.

"NO!" Zack screamed, not believing what he was seeing. _First Kim and Trini, now Billy... this can't be happening... it can't..._

"Zack, run!"

"What?!" Zack blinked in disbelief as Jason got to his feet.

"You heard me," Jason muttered. "You're the best runner and you're in better shape than me. You're going to need to be fast to avoid the Evi-sevs when she lets them loose."

"Jason..."

"The resistance needs that data, it might be the thing that actually beats this demon into the ground once and for all," Jason told him. "You have to get it to the Commander at any cost... now get going... if she's as depraved as she said, then hopefully she'll just toy with me for a while and give you something of a head start."

"If you think I'm going to..." Zack started to say but then saw Jason pull a gun, a regular normal gun, on him. Jason was looking at him with very narrowed eyes. "Get moving! That's an order!"

Zack was fighting against every emotion that he felt, just trying to listen to his best friend and do what he had asked, as if it was his last request... which it probably was. "I love you bro..." He flashed one last look of hatred at Nemesis before running off.

Nemesis however was not impressed at all. "You think he's going to get very far? Think again. Evi-sevs!" Within seconds twenty Evi-sevs appeared right before her. "Go after the dark skinned one! He is your dinner! Eat him up slowly and divide him amongst all of you! Now go!"

The Evi-sevs obeyed like trained golden retrievers, rushing off after Zack but passing over Jason, who had a look of disgust on his face. "You sick monster..."

"And just what are you going to do about it?" Nemesis sneered as if daring Jason to come at her. Instead, Jason fired off shots from his father's gun. Nemesis just let them bounce right off her exoskeleton. "You pathetic fool!" Before Jason could even react, she charged him with inhuman speed and rammed him against a rock wall before choking him. "I am wondering just how long I can keep on squeezing your neck? Will your head just keep getting bluer and bigger like a balloon? Or is it going to pop from the top and your brains ooze out for me to see?" Under her mouth plate her lips curved into a delicious smile. "Did I ever tell you I love having brains as part of my daily meals? I enjoy cracking open human heads twice a day and having their brains for my food. I wonder what yours will taste like."

"Go... to... hell..." Jason rasped, feeling darkness starting to surround him.

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt," Nemesis chuckled. "So what should I have to worry about?"

BLAST!

"NGAH!!!!" Nemesis screamed as an intense flash of energy blasted her down to the ground, making her lose her grip on Jason, who fell to the ground, barely holding on to consciousness. He didn't know what had just happened, and he couldn't think straight for much longer as everything was getting darker, but he saw someone standing above him. It was a female figure but it wasn't Nemesis.

Nemesis didn't look like an Angel of Beauty.  "Who..." Jason whispered out.

"Shhh... just rest now." A soothing female voice spoke to him. "Don't worry. You will be safe. I promise."

Hearing that voice, Jason believed it and welcomed the darkness that engulfed him with honor.

* * *

Astronema looked down at the young man, Jason she believed Lord Ahriman had called him, whose life she had just been told to save. To be quite honest with herself, he was an attractive young man at the very least, regardless of whatever battle scars he might have endured.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you little scank!" Nemesis roared as she rose from the ground. "That was my kill!!!"

"Well then, I guess it really is true," Astronema said tauntingly. "All that bloodlust lowers the amount of brain cells that you have in that big head of yours."

"Why you little...!" Nemesis spat as she thrust her hands down and started to glow crimson red, flaring her battle aura to life. "You do not want a piece of me, little girl!"

Astronema merely pulled out Shiva from her scabbard and held it at the ready position. "Are you that eager to fall flat on your skinless ass again, like the last time we had a duel?"

"That's it! You are so dead!" Nemesis screamed as she let loose an incredible blast of energy at Astronema, energy that she believed would have been enough to strike her dead.

To her utter surprise, that energy froze in place no more than five feet in front of her. "What the...?!"

"You are now beginning to test the limits of my patience, Nemesis." A cold voice billowed in the wind.

Fear clutched Nemesis as she saw Ahriman appear right in front of Astronema with his right hand seeming to be holding back the energy that she had thrown at the girl. "You seem to enjoy dishing out punishment... let's see if you can take it for a change." With that he threw his right hand down and to Nemesis's shock, the energy was sent flying back at her. She didn't even have time to throw up any sort of defense. It rammed into her hard and fast, her screams of pain echoing through the air as she was sent right into a mountain, making a four-foot impression of herself in the rocks. She painstakingly pulled herself off the wall but when she finally did, Ahriman grabbed her by the throat.

"You have been a very naughty servant," Ahriman hissed.

"I haven't..." Nemesis started to say but Ahriman tightened his grip around her throat.

"Do not insult my intelligence, sadist," Ahriman spat angrily. "I saw everything you did. Those five that you attacked were among the 'certain humans' I instructed all of my court not to kill, for any reason whatsoever. You were to report to me at once when you saw even just one of them!"

"But... why do you want these pathetic humans anyway? Don't you have enough already?"

Her answer was a kick to the head by Ahriman that sent her to the ground. "Your only job is to follow my commands without complaint... or would you rather I unmake you?"

"No! Please! I don't want to be reduced to being those pathetic weaklings!" Nemesis shook her head, groveling on her knees.

Ahriman turned away from her, "Get up off your knees. You're starting to be as pathetic as Divatox ever was. You know I do not tolerate groveling for mercy. Only success grants anyone in my service mercy." He paused for a moment before continuing. "If you want to make this up to me then you will fetch the two young girls. They are still alive and you will bring them unharmed."

"Two... girls?" Nemesis turned to where the two girls' bodies had been, only to find that they weren't there. "Those two little brats! They were playing possum and I didn't even see it! Oh they are..." was all she got to say before Ahriman hit her in the face, sending her to the ground.

"Does what I say go in one ear and out the other? Is that brain of yours incapable of carrying out any task except for killing?" Ahriman growled.

"No... forgive me Lord Ahriman..." Nemesis muttered as she bowed her head down.

"Find those girls, Nemesis, and if I find that you've plucked even just one hair from their pretty little heads..." Ahriman trailed off, leaving his implied threat very clear to Nemesis, who vanished in a black flash of light.

Once she had left, Astronema turned to look at Ahriman and asked, "Are you certain she is worth having around?"

"I happen to recall a time in which you were afraid of her."

"That was then. This is now," Astronema returned.

A small smile graced Ahriman's face. "Quite true, but Nemesis still has her uses to me, Astronema. As long as she serves a purpose, she gets to live. Once she is no longer useful..." He let it trail off from there, as Astronema got the unspoken message.

"I understand, my Lord... and what of him?" Astronema asked, pointing to the unconscious Jason.

"Take him back with us, of course. Place him in one of the 'guest rooms' and have him cleaned up." Ahriman turned to leave but stopped and looked at her. "And Astronema, it would be better if you went in your casual wear and not your battle gear."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Astronema replied as she vanished in purple sparkles, taking Jason along with her back into space.

When Jason eventually woke up, he would be in for the surprise of his life.

* * *

William 'Billy' Cranston knew that he was going to die.

He knew it even before he started falling down this endless dark pit that Nemesis had thrown him in. His chest throbbed where she had dug her claws into him. It must have been dumb luck that she missed all of his vital organs, otherwise he would have been dead on the initial strike.

When he finally hit bottom, he was surprised he didn't die instantly. As it was, he figured every bone in his body was now turned into pulp or at the very least broken. He couldn't even move.

He started to cry for all the people that he had lost. His parents had died in the initial bombing just like Zack's had. Kimberly and Trini were gone and he was pretty sure that in their condition, Zack and Jason wouldn't last long against that sadistic monster.

_At least... this end... might be peaceful... I hope..._ Billy thought to himself as darkness started to fill his view.

But as he was ready to embrace death, he heard a swishing sound, as if there was a pair of doors opening. The last thing he saw before the darkness engulfed him was a figure moving up to stand over him.

It wasn't human; it was a machine.

But it wasn't a machine that belonged to the enemy.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Well, there you have the first real chapter of Dark Horizons. I know I originally said the chapter was to be A Light in the Darkness, but it was going past forty pages, which is why I had to divide it up into two separate chapters. A Light in the Darkness is being reworked, thanks to the split that has occurred. Aside from that, I'm curious to see what you thought of what has happened in this chapter alone. I know this is probably an annoying cliffhanger but I thought this was the best place to stop for now and leave it as it stands for the next chapter. You're probably all going to wonder what will happen to Jason, Trini, Zack, Kim and most all Billy since it looks like I've killed him off. You should know that nothing is ever what it seems to be, as you will see in Chapter 2 of Dark Horizons, A Light in the Darkness. Until then.