Author's Note: This is a new fic I've been working on for a while. My take on the MMPR Universe. Much darker than the show. This chapter is the prologue, giving the background of my MMPR Universe. Let me know what you think.

Thanks to Shawn for being my beta reader for this fic. Your feedback was extremely helpful. And thanks to everyone who read and reviewed "Going To Be Okay," it provided the push to go ahead with this story. Hope y'all like it.

There was a time where there was no battle between Good and Evil. There was a time when there was no such thing as Good or Evil.

There was only the Imanyd.

The Imanyd belonged to the Elders of Eltar, a powerful group of Eltarians whose knowledge was a source of wonder to all. They were the first and most powerful beings of the galaxy. The source of power for the Eltarians was the Imanyd, a liquid solution of pure power. The Imanyd was used to build their civilization and planet – it was also used to form several other planets and serves as the main power source for all magic in the universe. The universe was at peace for thousands of years, but as the Elders began to age, they began to fear the substance falling into the wrong hands.

The Eltarians were not a race of Good or Evil, but of Logic. They were not advocates of right or wrong, but simply realized that the destruction of many was irrational and an unnecessary waste of resources. Although there was really no Good or Evil at this point in time, there were those who could easily be swayed given the right amount of power at hand. The Elders had seen visions of the future – a future where Good and Evil would battle for centuries to come, and wanted to prevent the death and devastation at all costs. They knew the power for such destruction could only come from the Imanyd.

The Imanyd was not a source of good, only a source of power, making it useful to those that were pure as well as those who were tainted. Upon their death, the Elders froze the solution into a solid crystal, no larger than a Rubik's cube. This crystal was then shattered into several pieces and scattered across the universe. The pieces individually have great strength, but the true power comes from the combination of all the pieces into one pure substance.

Zordon, son of the Head Elder, Gali, received a message from his father following his death. Gali relayed to his son the vision of the future. He explained how the future was filled with death and devastation; he feared this would come from the scattering of the Imanyd. It was the only logical explanation for the level of destruction that would come and obliterate this period of existing peace. In his last message, Gali requested that Zordon find the Shards of the Imanyd, ensuring the safety of the universe. The bloodshed in the impending war had already been envisioned, and in their attempt to stop the war, the Elders would ironically start it. Gali felt guilt for the hand he knew the Elders would play in the war, but they could not stop it – the future had already been decided. What he didn't tell Zordon, however, was his very last vision of the future – the night before his death. Yes, there was bloodshed in the war, but he also saw a team of warriors that fought for the side of Good. That team was under the guidance of his son.

At his father's request, Zordon devoted his life to finding the Shards of the Imanyd, leaving home after completing his schooling with only his clothes, food, old Eltarian texts, and the symbol of the Elders of Eltar hanging around his neck – it was the only thing left to him by his father. He had been able to gather more information about the shards over time, enlisting the help of his friend from his youth, Alpha 5. Zordon had successfully found six shards across the universe; he was not sure how many were still missing. In his search for the shards, Zordon had acquired many enemies. He was not the only one who knew of the shards or their awesome power – his mission became more dangerous with each passing day.

Centuries of living showed Zordon the effect the shards could have. He watched Ivan Ooze come to power by harnessing the energy of one of the shards; he saw Lord Zedd create Serpentera using the raw energy trapped within a small shard; he witnessed the birth of Goldar by Rita Repulsa and her beginning as a young sorceress by using a shard as a source. Zordon did not understand why the shards brought out the worst in people – in Ivan Ooze, unbridled contempt; in Lord Zedd, ruthless ambition; in Rita Repulsa, unforeseen corruption. He had six of the shards in his possession, and nothing had pushed him onto the side of Evil.

It wasn't until finding the seventh shard did Zordon truly understand.

Zordon was fast approaching the seventh shard on the Machine Empire, but he was not alone. King Mondo had already succumbed to the power of one of the shards, giving him a seemingly insatiable greed for power, and he wanted the shard he recently discovered was on his planet. Once Zordon found the shard deep in a chasm of the Machine Empire, he was met by Prince Gasket, who had come to secure the shard in his father's name. Zordon expected a full-on fight, so he was floored when Prince Gasket refused to attack once the shard was in his hand. The young prince stated, as if in a trance, that it made more sense for the Eltarian to take the shard, as in his father's hand, it would mean the destruction of many, handing the shard over to the wizard. Zordon quickly grabbed the shard and disappeared, not waiting for the prince to snap out of it and realize what he had done.

Zordon did not understand the Prince's change in attitude. Before coming near the shard, he was running full speed towards the chasm, screaming how he would destroy him once he got the shard. All his anger and rage diminished in the presence of the shard, turning the enraged prince into a calm, rational man. Zordon could only assume the shard was the source for the prince's drastic change. He began to wonder: if the shard could have such a change on the Prince from evil to good, it was highly possible that a shard could have the reverse effect. It made sense, given the emergence of evil beings only after having contact with the shard. The more Zordon thought on it, all of them became evil only after having found a shard.

In shattering the Imanyd, the Elders unknowingly disrupted its natural balance. As a liquid, the components of the Imanyd were able to mix evenly, but as a crystal, this was not the case. The Imanyd was made of pure power: magnetic, deceiving, tempting, empowering, dominating – all the characteristics of raw, unadulterated power. Shattering the Imanyd into shards literally broke the power into its different qualities. Direct contact with the shards amplified that quality in the beholder. Zordon was not affected by the shards he possessed as the qualities were those instilled in all Eltarians from birth. The shards never altered him, simply strengthened.

This explained why Zordon was able to find the seven shards so easily. The shards possessed the attributes of power that Zordon was already familiar with. He felt a connection to the shards, and that connection led him straight to them. It also explained why he could never detect the shards found by those on the side of Evil. He had no natural connection to those qualities, so no connection existed between him and those shards.

Although this disappointed Zordon, it did not deter him. Everything was beginning to come together. When he originally set out on his quest, he had no idea how many shards existed. Having found seven, he had strong reason to believe that at least seven more existed. The Imanyd existed as a source of power, a balance of the Good and Evil qualities that come with having power. If he found seven shards that possessed positive qualities, there must exist seven shards to balance them, otherwise the Imanyd could not act as a source of pure power.

Four of the seven were already in use – by Lord Zedd, Ivan Ooze, Rita Repulsa, and King Mondo. That meant there were three that were unaccounted for. Zordon was hesitant on this hypothesis; although all reason pointed to there being three shards left, he felt something was missing. The Elders were very smart and particular about everything they did. It was no coincidence that there were seven shards in his possession – there were Seven Principles of the Eltarian Way.

There had to be more to the Imanyd, Zordon was sure of it – nothing the Eltarians did was ever so straightforward. With Alpha 5, Zordon began to tear through everything they knew aboard his ship. There were seven positive shards – he called them the Shards of Light. The Shards of Light possessed the positive qualities of power, the Seven Principles of the Eltarian Way – trust, honor, respect, integrity, persistence, reason, and discipline. Balancing these were seven other shards possessing the negative qualities of power – he called these the Shards of Darkness. From what he knew of the beings in existence, four of the seven shards' qualities were known – ambition, contempt, greed, and corruption. The last three qualities were unknown to the wizard. With Alpha, he made a list of potential qualities, wanting to at least have some idea of what type of foe a new shard would bring if it fell in the wrong hands. Realizing the similarities among the traits, they realized the remaining qualities fit into three categories – brutality, deceit, and lust.

Zordon reviewed the shards he had, they were of equal size and shape to one another. From Prince Gasket's familiarity with the shard, he could only guess the one in his father's possession was similar. The shards were tiny in his hands, no larger than two inches, shaped like elongated diamonds. He knew the shards made a particular shape, a small cube, as explained by his father. He asked Alpha to scan the shard into the main computer and to make thirteen duplicates.

"Computer, arrange the shards to make a small cube. Dimensions of the cube are unknown. Resize seven of the duplicates if necessary. The remaining six are fixed to the dimensions of the scanned shard."

"Understood." The computer began to rapidly run through the possible configurations on the screen. After what seemed like millions of combinations, the computer stopped.

"Error."

Zordon looked at the computer, surprised.

"Given the set restrictions, there is no possible way to from the desired shape."

Zordon stared hard at the screen. "Computer, show me the optimal combination for shards of equal dimensions." The computer made a few noises before showing Zordon what he asked for. His eyes widened.

"Computer, provide a tactile projection of this combination. Detail, highest degree."

The computer complied, as a 3D image shot from the screen in front of the young wizard. Zordon grasped the projected image, turning it full circle. He gave a startled gasp at the large hole in the center, releasing the 3D cube. Alpha 5 moved as quickly as he could to his old friend.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! What is it, Zordon?" The Eltarian gave a strangled laugh, hand moving to the pendant his father left him around his neck.

"Fifteen, Alpha." He turned to his friend with a small smile. "There are fifteen shards."

"How do you know for sure, Zordon? I thought you said there must be balance. Fifteen gives an odd number of shards." Zordon grinned at his friend. He reached for the 3D projection.

"Computer," he stated softly, "highlight the hole in this combination. Remove the exterior. I want to see the shape that keeps the shards from making a cube."

The computer did as told, showing the remaining hole. Zordon gave a shout of happiness, grinning down at his old friend. "I should've known."

Alpha 5 looked at his friend with as close to a look of confusion as it could muster.

Zordon lifted his pendant from around his neck. Moving quickly to the computer, he scanned it into the main computer.

"Computer, enlarge scanned object proportionately to the dimensions that will allow it to fit inside the hole in the combination of the existing 3D image. Make a tactile projection. Detail, highest." The computer made a few noises before doing as told. Quickly, Zordon grabbed the new image, flipping it over and moving it inside the hole.

Alpha 5 began to light up in excitement. "Zordon! You did it. It fits perfectly!"

Zordon shook his head. "Not yet, Alpha. We still have a ways to go, but now we know what we're looking for." He laughed in happiness – they had an edge over the enemy.

"If you don't mind my asking…how did you know?" The robot cocked his head to the side. Zordon smiled, lifting his pendant up to the light to show Alpha the scripture barely visible on the front.

"What does that say?" Zordon grinned at his friend.

"Control is the key to Balance." It was true. For every positive quality in power, there existed a negative to balance it. The key to it all however, was control.

After their discovery of the existence of a fifteenth shard, the Shard of Balance – control, Zordon began to reformulate his plan on collecting the existing shards. Although he had seven in his possession, eight still remained; four of which were already in another's possession. Zordon would not be able to get those shards on his own. He had too many in his possession and too many aware of what he was doing to try and find the remaining shards. His time was better spent protecting what he had – but he still needed the shards. Even if he could go out and find them on his own, it would still require centuries of searching… he did not want more time to be devoted to bloodshed.

Zordon stared at the shards before him. The Seven Principles of the Eltarian Way were in his hands.

Maybe… He was a young wizard, but he was also the son of Gali. Zordon knew his wizarding powers were very strong, and with the shards at his possession…

Zordon moved quickly, gathering the shards and running off to his quarters.

Alpha 5 stood in the main room, at a loss for his friend's sudden disappearance. He looked at the computer screen; they would be on Earth in a few hours. They were in need of rest, and the small world seemed just the right spot to stop. They doubted any of their enemies would look for them on such a primitive world.

After hours waiting on his friend, Alpha grew tired, making the switch to hibernation mode. His sleep didn't last, however, as a door slammed open, jerking the robot awake.

"Ay-yi-yi, Zordon! What is it?" Zordon grinned at his friend in excitement, showing him the six gold coins in his hands.

"I don't understand, Zordon. You made coins?" Zordon rushed to the main table, putting them under the light.

"Power coins, Alpha."

The robot snapped back in surprise. "But I detect no power…" Zordon gave a sheepish look.

"Well, they will be. At least I hope so." He looked closely at the coins. Ape, bear, frog, wolf, crane, and falcon.

"Animals? Why animals? And why those?" Zordon looked at his friend before shrugging.

"I looked through that Phaedosian text, the one given to me by Dulcea last century." Alpha 5 nodded. "Well, the text showed me how to make the coins." He paused. "I was looking for something to hold a vast amount of power, but would be easily concealed. Coins work, don't you think?"

Alpha nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"And I used this," he reached into his robes, pulling out a scroll, "to find a power bearer." He looked around the ship. "This planet will probably be our last stop, Alpha. Old girl's falling apart."

Alpha could not deny the sorry condition of their ship – a couple centuries in space can be grueling on a machine, even the Astro Megaship.

"I can't… we can't go gallivanting around the galaxy anymore. Not with these shards, Alpha. I have to stay and protect them. Which means I need someone in my place to look for the others…"

Alpha nodded. "But Zordon, how will you find this someone? I'm not sure if you know this, but this planet, Earth? It is toxic to you, old friend. The planet's atmosphere is approximately 70 percent nitrogen."

Zordon blanched, grimacing. "I'm aware of this Alpha. That's why I used Ninjor's scroll. Remember when he said the time will come when I will have to find my champions?" Zordon paused. "This is it, Alpha."

Unraveling the scroll, he began reading the ancient language. "There are only six who can access the ancient power of the Ninja," he read. "Their time will come when He can no longer go on." He looked at his friend.

"This failing ship? The toxic planet? These are stopping me from completing my mission. This is it, Alpha!" Zordon turned back to the scroll. "I read the ancient scripture… the sacred animals of the Chosen Six shall come forth in his time of need. The animal spirits will find them." He pointed to the coins. "When I read this, lights shot out from the scroll. Six animals came out, Alpha, in different colors – pink, white, blue, red, black, and yellow. They must be here… on Earth."

Running back to his room, Zordon grabbed the seven shards, bringing them back with him to the table. "I think… I think I'm supposed to use these to – "

A flash of white light came from the shards, hitting the coins with tremendous force. Zordon and Alpha 5 flew backwards, landing on their backs. Shaking his head, Zordon stood up slowly, blinking several times.

"Ouch." He reached down, helping his robotic friend. "Are you all right, Alpha?"

The robot shook his head, as if to clear it. "Ay-yi-yi…"

Slowly, Zordon walked over to the table, not sure of what he'd see. Cautiously, he peeked at the coins, grinning at what he saw. On the table, the six coins remained intact, but were now cackling with energy in various colors.

He turned to Alpha. "When we land, we need to construct an energy tube to keep me alive on this new planet. We need to set up a base, something like a command center. It's going to take a while, but we can get it done. In my tube, my wizarding powers are far stronger."

He moved quickly to the console. "Computer, set our destination to a non-populated section of this new planet in the direction we are heading."

The computer made several noises before beeping. "Location found."

Zordon peered at the blue and green planet. "Name?"

"An unnamed desert outside of a nearby city. The species here calls it Angel Grove, California."

Zordon thought the name was very strange. "What species is this?"

The computer took a few seconds. "The scientific name on this planet is Homo sapien. Across the galaxy, they are known as humans."

"Interesting," he murmured. "Computer, provide me with as much information as possible on humans and this planet, Earth." Turning to Alpha, he grinned. "We will build our base of operations outside of this… Angel Grove." He tested the name.

"And when we're done?" inquired Alpha.

"I'll find my warriors."

Alpha put his hands on his hips. "You're going to name them Zordon's Warriors?"

Zordon hadn't really thought about naming them. He shook his head. "No. What about soldiers?" He grimaced as the words escaped his lips – too militant.

"What about Rangers?" suggested Alpha. Zordon smiled. He could deal with rangers. Although it was the same as a soldier, the name was less… aggressive.

"I like it… but my name can't be included." His face went stern. "They'll already have a target on their back by fighting for the side of Good. My name will just make it worse. But simply The Rangers won't do. There are Rangers in over half the galaxy."

Zordon looked around the room, eyes drawn to the coins on the table. Even at this distance, he could feel the energy surging through them… so much power.

Zordon smiled widely, looking down at his friend. "That's it, Alpha," he said softly.

"The Power Rangers."

AN: Feedback is appreciated. The next few chapters are ready to go, just need some reviews. Thanks.