DISCLAIMER: I do not own Power Rangers or Super Sentai. They are respectively owned by Saban Brands and Toei Company. I do not profit from this story in any way, shape, or form.

For Emmybomber.

Long ago, there existed a hidden realm called Gaia. It was the source of a great mystical energy tied to the natural elements of the world, like fire and water and wind. It was a safe haven for peace-seeking folk, be they humans, animals, or other forms of life. However, as the realm possessed mystical energies tied to all the natural elements, there existed one that fed off evil thoughts and, over time, tried to consume all others: The element of darkness. Fortunately, there existed a group of Guardians that protected Gaia from the dark, using a powerful silver light that caused the darkness to withdraw before it. No force of evil could match it. But when the time came for the final battle, the light vanished, and the Guardians similarly disappeared into the spreading dark.

None live in the world of humans that know of what happened to Gaia on that fateful day. However, its story was passed down as legend throughout many families. But all too often, mankind seeks to uncover the truth behind most legends. For Gaia, that day is fast approaching...

Nikki Markson let out a sigh as she flopped back onto the grass of the open field around her. She'd pretty much worn herself completely out in her karate class, and was more than happy to lay back and relax. Feeling tranquil and tired as she was, with the wind and sun across her dark skin, she couldn't help but let her eyes slowly close, nearly drifting off to sleep.

As she was about to, though, Nikki saw the image of a red crystal in her mind's eye, shimmering brightly. From within it, a large bird seemingly made of flame suddenly appeared, which screeched at Nikki so loudly, she immediately bolted straight up, panting hard.

That's the eighth time since I moved here! Nikki realized, clutching her chest. What does it mean, anyway?!

Reaching under her red t-shirt, Nikki pulled out the thing she just saw: A red crystal, attached to a chain necklace hung from her neck. She'd been carrying it for years, after her great-aunt had given it to her as a child and told her to guard it with her life and to never take it off. But now, ever since she moved to Silver Hills to attend college, she'd been having the same image of a phoenix of some sort coming from the crystal and screeching at her. The first two times were in her sleep, but since then, they'd been happening seemingly at random. And those eyes that the phoenix had. With every time the vision happened, those eyes looked more and more like it was trying to tell her something important.

Ugh, thank you, great-aunt Hilda, Nikki thought as she fell back again. Yer need to pass down some stupid family heirloom is gonna turn me into a freak someday...

"Hey there!" a voice cried as suddenly the face of a girl appeared up over Nikki, causing her to yelp and roll away. Looking the young woman over, she looked to be a year older than herself, with blonde hair that was streaked pink and purple. She was wearing a violet long-sleeved shirt and sky blue jeans. Her eyes were fixed on Nikki's crystal, who, upon realizing this, quickly put it away under her shirt.

"Jeez, give a girl a heart-attack!" Nikki yelled, getting up and dusting her black knee-length jeans off. "Who are you, anyway?!"

"My name's Madilyn!" the blonde replied. "More importantly, today is your lucky day! You've got some kinda weird crystal, and I'M the head of the crystallography club!"

Nikki slowly began to squirm back a bit. "Okay...How does that make this my lucky day?"

"Well, 'cuz I know that look!" Madilyn explained, her face getting uncomfortably close to Nikki's. "That look that says you've got this weird crystal that you have no idea where it came from! Well, I bet'cha I can help you figure it out!"

Nikki smiled somewhat nervously. "Thanks anyway, but I can't let you do any kinda studying or tinkering with my crystal. See, it belonged to my great-aunt Hilda, and she told me never to let anything happen to it, that it was-"

"It was super-important to never take it off and guard with your life...!" Madilyn finished, the two girls looking completely mystified for a moment, until Madilyn suddenly got the biggest smile that Nikki had ever seen on a human being's face. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH!"

Without warning, Madilyn immediately grabbed hold of Nikki's wrist and hauled her back to the school, Nikki yelping and cursing the whole way as this seemingly insane woman dragged her past hundreds of students that looked at them like they were completely bonkers. Eventually, Madilyn stopped at a door near the dorms, opening it with a loud "YAHOO! She's here!"

Nikki looked at the people inside, all looking surprised to see her. One was a red-haired boy in a green t-shirt, black vest, and blue jeans leaning against the windowsill and reading a book about tornadoes while listening to music. One was a brunet boy wearing an orange long-sleeved shirt and blue cut-off jeans going through a scrapbook at the table, filled with pictures of himself at a farm with presumably his family. The last was a blonde girl in a blue tank-top, jeans, and glasses about Nikki's age playing World of Warcraft on the computer at the desk in the corner. Madilyn just looked to the group ecstatically, her chest puffed out proudly as she took in a deep breath.

"Attention, everybody!" Madilyn proclaimed. "Our fifth member has arrived!"

Nikki blinked in shock. "I...Wait, what?!"

Professor Charles Snyder huffed, making his way through the dark and murky tunnels. He'd come to this island, unmarked by most maps, because of rumours that the caverns deep in the mountain atop the island held artifacts dating back thousands of years, some possibly connected to the lost realm of Gaia that he'd been studying for decades. However, it had been two weeks since his expedition team arrived, and they'd found nothing.

"Hey, Dad!" the Professor heard his son, Drayden, yell from further down the tunnel. "Come and check this out!"

Charles rolled his eyes. He had no idea why he agreed to let Drayden come along. After all, the boy SHOULD have been starting college in Angel Grove. Instead, here he was, fussing over every single find, no matter how significant or insignificant it was. Then again, he supposed, he was very similar on his first expedition, so who was he to do anything but be patient with the lad.

"What is it, Drayden?" Charles asked, reaching his son, only to have his jaw drop at the sight. "...Oh my...!"

Sure enough, erected before them, was a large statue of a dragon, facing toward a unicorn carved into the wall. It looked like it was about to engage in combat with the unicorn, but at the same time, seemed apprehensive about it. The Professor reached a hand out and dusted the statue off, examining the density of the dust now left on his hand.

"This statue must've been carved centuries ago!" Charles declared. "Possibly even whole millenia!"

"So, you think this has anything to do with the Gaia legends?" Drayden inquired, looking the statue over.

"It's entirely possible, yes!" Professor Snyder answered, his eye suddenly falling on an indigo crystal embedded in the statue. "Wait, what's this?"

"Lemme introduce everyone!" Madilyn said to Nikki, ignoring how confused the girl was and pointing to each of the room's inhabitants one by one. "Tall and Irish at the window is Patrick, farm boy is Dirk, and that's Layla, my geeky little sister."

"Hey!" Layla whined. "Just 'cuz I'm a geek and your little sister doesn't mean that HAS to be my thing when you introduce me."

"What are you even doing, playing WoW?!" Madilyn demanded, stomping over to her younger sister. "I asked you to check out those crystal findings in Santa Anna!"

Patrick rolled his eyes, closing his book and walking over to Nikki. "Um, I'm really sorry about this, miss...?"

"Nichelle Markson," Nikki replied, "but everyone just calls me Nikki."

"Right!" Dirk suddenly piped up. "I saw you in fencing class the other day, and-"

"Whatever!" Madilyn interjected as she was giving Layla a noogie. "Starting today, Nikki here is our fifth member!"

"Whoa, time out," Nikki responded. "Why am I suddenly being dragged into this group?"

"Because you've got one of these!" Madilyn answered, reaching into her shirt and pulling out a violet crystal on a necklace, very similar to Nikki's.

Layla's eyes widened. "Wait, she's got one too?!"

Nikki just stood there, dumbfounded and confused. Sure enough, one by one, the others all pulled similar crystals on necklaces out: Patrick's was green, Layla's was blue, and Dirk's was orange. At the sight of this, Nikki pulled her own red one out, the others now intrigued by this turn of events.

"Whoa!" Dirk said, amazed. "Madilyn was right: There WAS gonna be another one besides Layla!"

"See?" Madilyn exclaimed proudly. "My intuition is never wrong!"

"Wait, what's going on?" Nikki demanded.

Patrick sighed, putting his book and headset down. "Last year, Madilyn started the crystallography club after three of us all met on campus with the same story: We were each given crystals from relatives that we were told to safe-guard and didn't know what they were for. So, she decided to start the club to research them, and we knew that Layla had one and would be joining when she finished high school, but Madilyn kept insisting that there might be another member, a fifth one, to join up."

"And you guys all thought I was crazy nutso," Madilyn accused.

"Actually, that would be most of the college campus that thought you were crazy nutso," Dirk corrected. "WE all thought you were just looking for an excuse to keep the club alive."

"Tch, whatever," Madilyn replied with a roll of her eyes, taking her necklace off and holding her crystal out. "The important thing is, we've got five members with five crystals, all from different places but with the same story. Now I'm SURE we can find the connection! C'mon, crystal bump!"

The other four all just looked at Madilyn like she was crazy, who just smiled at the lot of them, keeping her crystal gripped in her fist. "Don't leave me hangin'!"

Patrick pinched the bridge of his nose before removing his necklace, Dirk and Layla following suit. They all brought their fists together, their crystals gripped tightly in each. Nikki just looked at them all, still feeling a desire to up and take off. Still, she had to admit, after carrying her crystal for as long as she did, the idea of meeting others with crystals and trying to figure out where they all came from WAS enticing. So, with a little hesitance, she pulled her necklace off, crystal in her fist, and bumped it against the others'.

Before anyone could say or do anything, though, the instant their fists made connection, the crystals all lit up, and they could feel their hands kept where they were. A strong gust of wind seemed to shoot out from Patrick's, which slammed the door shut, just as currents of heat came off Nikki's, sparks shot off Madilyn's, drops of water dripped off Layla's, and the floor trembled under Dirk's feet. The five could only watch in fear at what was happening as the five crystals soon began creating a vortex of red, green, blue, orange, and violet light around them.

Suddenly, just as Drayden ran a finger across the indigo crystal in the statue, it began to sparkle, illuminating the cave. He found his hand almost magnetized to the statue, unable to leave it as the room became filled with indigo light. His father, who had been inspecting the unicorn carving, looked to his son in alarm as the cavern began to shake, quickly running over to him.

"Drayden, something's happening!" Professor Snyder yelled. "We have to get out of here!"

"I-I can't!" Drayden cried, unable to remove his hand from the statue. "I'm stuck!"

Charles looked on incredulously, but decided to try and grab Drayden's hand and pull it from the statue. Instead, however, a blast of indigo light shot out from the crystal, along with a thick, black smog that came from the statue's jaws, knocking him back against the wall. He groaned as he tried to pull himself up, but his body was becoming enveloped in the light and smoke.

"DAD!" Drayden yelled as the smog suddenly began to swirl around him too.

"What the heck's going on now?!" Nikki demanded, the red beams changing to resemble spinning streams of fire.

"I don't know!" Patrick yelled, the green energy becoming a whirlwind.

"This is getting scary!" Layla admitted, the blue light resembling a whirlpool.

"Everybody hang on to something!" Dirk suggested, the orange beams turning into a sand storm.

"GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOO!" Madilyn cried happily, the violet light becoming swirling lightning, and in one final flash of silver light, the five all disappeared from the room, crystals and all, leaving a star-shaped scorch mark on the floor in their absence.

Nikki moaned as her eyes opened, laying in the grass. She blinked as she felt the grass around her, and began to wonder if the past few minutes were some bizarre dream she had after passing out in the field. However, upon sitting up, she realized that wasn't the case at all. She wasn't at the college anymore, she was in the middle of a forest somewhere, and the grass wasn't even green, it was a rusty-looking red.

The heck? Nikki wondered, getting to her feet and dusting herself off, only to notice the object on her right leg. Looking closer, she saw that it was some kind of gold and red blaster, with black straps keeping it holstered to her leg. Drawing it, she saw that the barrel resembled a bird's beak, almost like the phoenix she saw in her vision before.

Okay, calm down, Nikki told herself as she felt freaked out. Just think back: There was the crystallography club room, those people with the other crystals, and...Wait, my crystal!

Reaching into her shirt, Nikki found that her crystal necklace was, in fact, back where it belonged. Still, while that was a relief to her, Nikki soon remembered that she'd taken it off. So, at some point between the freaky light show and waking up in the forest, someone had put her necklace back on and strapped some sort of blaster to her leg. She eyed her crystal suspiciously, only to see an image of the phoenix inside, staring back at her.

"What's happening?" Nikki demanded. "Just where the heck am I, anyway?!"

"I dunno, but I'm loving the sights so far!" a familiar voice answered. Spinning around, Nikki saw the source of it: Madilyn, who was admiring the forest around them in awe, and had a similar blaster strapped to her leg. At first, Nikki felt relieved that she was okay, but then began to feel very angry.

"You!" Nikki accused, stomping over. "You did this somehow, I KNOW you did!"

"I wish!" Madilyn countered. "This place looks amazing! And I gotta say, I love the accessories that go with it!"

"Maybe it's some kinda virtual reality simulation?" Nikki heard Layla suggest from behind a tree nearby. "Would explain the new tech we got outta nowhere. Oh hey, good to see you're up, Nikki!"

Nikki blinked. "Where are the boys?"

"They went ahead to find some way outta here," Layla explained, walking out from behind the tree to reveal that she too had a blaster holstered on her leg. "And I kept saying, 'If this IS a virtual reality simulation, then there's no way to just walk out of it', but no one ever listens to me, especially our gung-ho leader-"

"Gung WHAT?" Madilyn interjected, looking angry.

Layla rolled her eyes. "Not even close to what I meant, sis."

Nikki groaned, listening to the two argue. However, as they did so, she couldn't help but notice the shadow casted from the tree Layla had walked out behind begin to stretch across the ground. In fact, it looked ever-so-much like a hand, even more-so when, to Nikki's astonishment, it actually came up out of the ground, looking to claw at Layla's ankle. Without even thinking, Nikki instinctively held her blaster out, aiming for the hand.

"Layla, behind you!" Nikki shouted, opening fire on the hand with energy bolts just as Layla leaped to her left. Once shot, the hand ripped clean out of the shadow, as did the rest of its body. It was bipedal, almost human-like in shape, but it was ink black, with a single red eye in the centre of its head, extremely lanky-like, and its fingers were long and pointed like claws. Despite the lack of a visible mouth, it growled at the girls as they backed away from it, Nikki keeping her blaster trained on it.

"Stay back!" Nikki yelled at the creature, who growled threateningly back at her. "Who are you?! What do you want?!"

"Nikki!" Madilyn cried, eyes fixed on something behind her. Quick as she could, Nikki swung her blaster back, catching a similar creature in the side of the head with the barrel of her weapon, and seemingly breaking it in the process. The creature roared in response, but left itself open as Nikki punched it in its single eye, knocking it down and causing it to evaporate into the air.

"The heck?!" Nikki wondered aloud.

"Watch it!" Madilyn shouted, tackling Nikki down as the remaining creature actually shot its claws at her, just missing thanks to Madilyn's save. The pink and purple-streaked blonde then pulled her own blaster free and opened fire, causing the creature to scramble away.

"Thanks for the save!" Nikki said, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Sorry about-"

"Ah, no biggy!" Madilyn proclaimed, getting back to her feet. "Right now, we gotta find the boys!"

"Yeah, preferably before any of THOSE things come back," Layla noted, at which point Nikki and Madilyn glanced over her shoulder. "...Running time?"

"MOVE!" Nikki screamed, causing Layla to sprint forward, just as another creature swung for her head, barely missing. The trio immediately began running as the creature, flanked by at least a dozen or so more of its kind, gave chase. Nikki and Layla stayed behind Madilyn, trusting her to know where the boys were. Sure enough, after what felt like a couple of minutes of non-stop running, Patrick and Dirk came into view. Unfortunately, they seemed to be running from their own pack of a dozen creatures, and right towards the girls.

"Darn you two!" Madilyn cursed as they all came together, the creatures forming a circle around them. "What kind of men run in fear from trouble?!"

"I didn't see YOU put up a fight, 'boss'!" Patrick noted, clutching a stick in his hands despite the blasters strapped to his and Dirk's legs.

We all have one? Nikki realized. What's the deal with these, anyway?

Looking down at the blaster still clutched in her hand, Nikki's eyes widened as she saw that it wasn't broken at all. Rather, the barrel was bent down to reveal a compartment of some sort. In fact, looking at it now, the compartment's edges looked to be quite the familiar shape and size.

"Look out!" Dirk yelled as a creature suddenly lunged at Nikki, grabbing it from around its waist and slamming it into the ground. With this, it was suddenly on as the creatures ran in to fight the group. Patrick started swinging his stick around like a staff of some sort, clonking a few in the head, but he was quickly disarmed and knocked to the ground. Madilyn shot down a couple of creatures, but soon turned her attention to one that was swiping at Layla, getting hit in the back and knocked aside, Layla soon following. Nikki used her karate and Dirk his grappling to try to fend the rest off, but it was now effectively 2-on-24, and they were quickly knocked down with the rest.

Nikki groaned as she hit the ground, her crystal falling out of her shirt. As it lay there, she looked upon its shape. She then looked back to her blaster, and the compartment. A complete match. With that, she grabbed her crystal, pulling it free of the chain, and placed it in her blaster's compartment, closing it shut. The eyes of the phoenix head on it glowed red, and the blaster hummed as if it was coming to life.

"Guys!" Nikki yelled. "Your crystals! They go in the blasters!"

The other four blinked in surprise, at first in disbelief, but Layla quickly examined her blaster, shifting the barrel down to reveal the compartment. "She's right! But what'll happen if-"

"Who cares, let's try it!" Madilyn exclaimed, inserting her crystal into the gun and closing it shut, the eyes of the phoenix glowing violet. With a groan, Patrick, Dirk, and Layla all followed suit. Getting back to their feet, they held their blasters out, just as the creatures ran in to attack again, and opened fire. The result was a flash of red, green, blue, orange, and violet lights that knocked the creatures back before enveloping the group.

"Now what?!" Nikki demanded as her body was enveloped in red light.

"...Guardians of Gaia, AWAKEN!" a voice called out from nowhere as the light grew brighter. Suddenly, Nikki watched as a red costume materialized over her body, with white gloves and boots, a silver belt with a holster for her blaster and another for a red and silver short sword, a white star on the chest, and a red helmet with a black visor and silver accents to resemble a phoenix head. Looking to the others, she saw that the same thing was happening to them, except Patrick's was green with a hippogriff helmet, Layla's was blue with a leviathan helmet, Dirk's was orange with a behemoth helmet, and Madilyn's was violet with a thunderbird helmet. In addition, the girls all had skirts coming down to their thighs.

"...Okay, this day has officially gone into trippy territory!" Nikki exclaimed, looking her suit over.

"Are you kidding me?!" Madilyn cried, and Nikki could just tell that, under that helmet, the girl had the biggest smile on her face. "We're Power Rangers?! BEST DAY EVER!"

One of the creatures hissed and swung a claw at Madilyn as she was fangirling out, sending sparks off her suit as she spun in mid-air. However, despite being hit hard enough to knock her off of her feet, the Violet Ranger was able to take aim and shoot the creature in its eye, and land on foot and knee as the inky monster evaporated. Nikki gasped as she suddenly remembered the last one that evaporated like that: The one she'd punched in the eye.

"Go for the eyes!" Nikki yelled. "That's their weak-spot!"

"Got it!" Patrick shouted back as the group immediately split off with their own targets. Pat squared off with a trio of creatures, holstering his blaster and leaping up to grab a low branch from a nearby tree, kicking at his opponents. After catching one in the eye, the Green Ranger flipped off the branch and did a mule kick off another, sending it crashing head first into the tree. Once on the ground, he pulled out his short sword and slashed at the remaining creature's legs, knocking it down before slashing it across the eye, destroying it.

"Oh wow," Patrick muttered, looking over his sword with barely contained glee. "Luck of the Irish, have you ever been kind to me today!"

"Eep!" Layla cried as she ducked and dodged around slashes from a small pack of creatures. "A little help here, guys?! I'm not really much for fighti-OOF!"

Layla groaned as she took a harsh kick to her behind, knocking her flat on her face in the dirt. The Blue Ranger's eye twitched at this, feeling incredibly angry as she drew her blaster from its holster.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to kick a lady there?!" Layla cried, immediately shooting down four creatures one by one, scoring perfect eye shots. "Especially not a lady who beats suckers on Halo for a hobby!"

Nikki cut down a creature before a flurry of nails shot forward and knocked her sword from her hand. Backed against a tree as more opponents came up to face her, the Red Ranger suddenly looked to her belt, seeing a shield-emblem emblazoned on the buckle of her belt. Feeling a natural urge take over, she pressed her thumb to it, sending out a pair of red lights that took the form of twin swords, each resembling a wisp of flame, perhaps even a phoenix's wing.

"Heat Sabers!" Nikki yelled, somehow immediately knowing the name of her weapons. Leaping forward, she immediately cut down a pair of foes before ducking and spinning, sending waves of heat off her blades that scorched any creatures that came her way.

"Cool, I want in on that action!" Madilyn exclaimed, ducking a slash from an opponent and pressing the shield on her buckle to unleash a pair of violet daggers shaped like feathers. "Lightning Daggers!"

Spinning the daggers in her hands, the Violet Ranger went to work stabbing at the opponents closest to her. She then spotted one trying to get the jump on Dirk nearby, who was blasting targets from up in a tree. With a loud cry, Madilyn threw one of her daggers at the creature, only for the dagger to suddenly turn into a thunderbolt latched onto her hand, stabbing the creature in the eye before immediately returning to her grip.

"Okay, I reiterate: BEST! DAY! EVER!" Madilyn cheered.

"Flood Launcher!" Layla shouted as she brought out her own weapon: A large cannon balanced on her shoulder and held in both hands, looking like a tidal wave ending in a leviathan's open jaws. As more creatures came toward her, she opened fire, sending wave-shaped blasts of energy out that leveled them all with ease. Layla's eyes widened, looking over the cannon in awe.

"...Holy cow!" the Blue Ranger commented. "I am SO keeping you!"

"Storm Lance!" Patrick yelled as he leaped through the air, drawing a lance with blades on the ends resembling a hippogriff's talons. With a spinning slash, he immediately brought down two creatures. The Green Ranger then gave the lance a twist, separating it into a pair of small trident-like weapons, before cutting down foes while flipping around to avoid attacks.

"Yo Patrick, watch out!" Dirk shouted as he leaped off the tree he was perched in, bringing out a two-handed battle-ax resembling a behemoth's head. "Quake Ax!"

Patrick immediately put his lance together and vaulted off the ground as the Orange Ranger brought his ax down, cleaving through the earth and sending a small tremor through the ground that knocked the creatures off their feet. Pat's jaw nearly dropped straight through his helmet at the sight of this once he landed back down on his feet.

"...Um, overkill much?" the Green Ranger asked.

"Yeah, you worry about finesse in a fight, I'll just knock the suckers down," Dirk replied with a smirk.

Patrick rolled his eyes at Dirk as the last eight creatures were all knocked into a group. Nikki, Layla, and Madilyn all joined up with the boys, just as Layla noticed the hilt of her short sword had a hidden compartment on it. Sure enough, the compartment was shaped like their crystals.

"Wonder what happens when we use these?" the Blue Ranger inquired. Deciding to find out, the group all took their crystals out of their blasters and placed them in the swords, causing the blades to glow in their own respective colors. The creatures all roared at the Rangers, charging them, only to receive a series of elemental slashes for their attempt, destroying them all.

"Whoo-hoo!" Madilyn cheered, leaping up and down. "That was AWESOME!"

"That was really violent!" Layla commented, putting her sword away shakily. "I'm starting to think this isn't a computer simulation."

"Gosh, what made you think that?" Patrick asked.

"Guys, we need to figure out what's going on, like right now," Nikki reminded the group.

"Well, if I had to guess, we got teleported to some weird world, and our crystals and blasters are actually morphers of some kind," Dirk surmised, causing everyone to look at him with slumped shoulders. "...Oh, you meant we need to find out how this all happened and how to get home, huh?"

"C'mon, you guys!" Madilyn whined. "Am I really the only one that wants to stick around for a bit longer?"

"And you would be the foolish one, then."

The group all spun around, facing the source of the voice. The figure standing before them was a skinny-looking fellow in a chain-mail top and black jeans. He had grey skin, almost like stone, long raven locks flowing over one side of his face, and amber eyes peering out from under his hair. He was holding a long black staff with a wyvern head at the top holding an amber jewel in its beak. He was smirking at the group menacingly, despite his somewhat smaller stature and being outnumbered.

"After all, Gaia is a dangerous place these days," the stranger went on, gripping his staff in his right hand. "The Blots are just about everywhere, and they'll attack anything that moves and isn't their own, especially if someone were to send for them."

"Why do I get the feeling that someone would be you?" Pat accused, keeping his sword drawn.

"Tch," the stranger replied, giving a small bow. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid. Name's Walker, a Shadowmancer."

Nikki blinked. "Shadowmancer? What's that?"

Walker grinned wider still. "It means that I'm able to warp shadows, like the ones the Blots come from, to create bigger, stronger creations."

Suddenly, the Rangers heard a loud thud further down the forest, the ground shaking in its wake as Walker stepped slowly to his left. "Oh my, I believe that's one of them now."

Nikki felt a certain sense of dread as she and the others looked straight ahead. After a few moments, the source of the stomping made itself known: A massive creature, or Blot as Walker called it, several stories tall, tearing up the trees as it marched along toward them. Walker gave a small giggle as he vanished into a column of black smoke, leaving the Rangers to their fate.

"...Okay, I KINDA wanna go home now," Madilyn admitted.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, do a quick recap on each of the Rangers and what we know about them so far. Nikki Markson is the Red Ranger, specializing in Fire attacks with a Phoenix motif. She's African-American, of which there were three canon Red Rangers, and there were two canon female Red Rangers, but never both. She's into martial arts, specifically karate, and is also interested in fencing. Her personal weapons are the Heat Sabers, a pair of swords resembling Phoenix wings while also resembling wisps of flame.

Patrick O'Donnell is the Green Ranger, specializing in Wind attacks with a Hippogriff motif. He's a redhead of Irish decent, oftentimes relying on the Luck of the Irish in situations, has studied parkour and fencing, and is fascinated by meteorology. His personal weapon is the Storm Lance, a lance with three points at each end resembling a Hippogriff's talons, that can be separated into two smaller weapons.

Layla Bluestone is the Blue Ranger, specializing in Water attacks with a Leviathan motif. She's Madilyn's blonde younger sister, and a self-described computer geek with a love of gaming and technology, initially thinking Gaia might be some sort of virtual reality simulation, then growing fascinated by the team's equipment. Her personal weapon is the Flood Launcher, a large blaster resembling a tidal wave ending in a Leviathan's mouth, that's supported with both arms to deal with the recoil.

Dirk Slater is the Orange Ranger, specializing in Earth attacks with a Behemoth motif. He's a brunet from a family of farmers, and thus grew up surrounded by animals. As such, he's the member of the team with the biggest connection to nature. He also has a history in high school wrestling. His personal weapon is the Quake Ax, a large battle-ax resembling a Behemoth's head and horns, which can cleave through steel and stone with ease.

Madilyn Bluestone is the Violet Ranger, specializing in Thunder attacks with a Thunderbird motif. She's a blonde with pink and purple streaks in her hair, and is Layla's older sister. She's also the one who started the crystallography club the others all joined, and at times can get over-excited and break personal boundaries in her excitement. Her personal weapons are the Lightning Daggers, a pair of feather-like daggers that come packed with a large amount of voltage, blasting foes down with bursts of electricity.

Anyway, next time on Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia, the Rangers have to figure out how to awaken the full extent of their powers to summon their new Gaia Zords, beat Walker's monsters, and hopefully find a way home. Ja né!