A Zero Beginning

In another universe that was unlike ours, a tyrant ruled the planet Earth. He was known as Lord Drakkon, originally known as Thomas "Tommy" Oliver. With his intellect and strength, he crushed all who opposed him, including the legendary Power Rangers. They tried stopping him as best they could but were overwhelmed by his forces.

After taking controlling the entire world, that still wasn't enough to sedate Drakkon's lust for power. He went across the multiverse, draining the Morphers of multiple Ranger teams and distributing their abilities across his army. It almost seemed he was unstoppable…

…or so he thought.

Power Rangers from other dimensions banded together in the effort to fight against him. After a battle like none other, Drakkon was finally defeated and they all celebrated. The rebels of Drakkon's Earth dedicated themselves to removing what's left of the former ruler's empire. It was a hard task, to say the least, considering his grasp on humanity but were most successful in their efforts.

But what if Drakkon left someone to carry on his legacy? His bloodline.

This is the story of the Zero Ranger, Tobias "Toby" Oliver.

How did it end up like this? That's what most people would think if they were stuck in his predicament. Toby was the kind of person to ask instead: why didn't this happen sooner?

Sitting on a metal chair in front of a metal table underneath a bright, probably a metal light, Toby was bored. He had cuffs on both hands and feet, each one conjoined by an electric link. He could barely move while wearing these things.

He looked to his right and two guards were posted by the door. Both were armed to the teeth with assault rifles and armor. Toby knew if he tried breaking out, they'd come rushing in with guns pointed to his head. He contemplated earlier doing that just to see what would happen.

Toby saw on the other side of the window a woman in yellow was there. She talked to a guard on the other side who nodded and knocked on the door. One of the guards on Toby's side went to open it. When the woman entered the room, she stopped once she saw the teen.

"Why's he chained up like this?" she asked the guards in a demanding tone.

Both of them shrugged. "Sorry, ma'am. We're under orders. This kid's dangerous."

"Does he look dangerous to you?" she pointed at him to emphasis her point. "Take those off him right now."

"Y-yes ma'am."

A guard went to Toby and had his cuffs taken off. The teen rubbed his hands afterward, feeling their stiffness due to being stuck in the same position for hours.

"Good. Now leave both of us." The woman ordered. "And don't you say it's not safe for me to be here."

The guards nodded and left the room. The woman made her way to the chair on the other side of the table. A silence fell between her and Toby as they stared at each other.

Toby was the first to break the quietness. "So, come here to laugh at me?"

The woman frowned. "No, I'm not."

"Pfft. Yeah, right." Toby scoffed. He didn't want to feel like a jackass but he wasn't in the happiest mood.

"Toby…" The woman began. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course," Toby replied. "Trini Kwan. The Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger, a leader of the Coinless, and wearer of Black Dragon's dead body. Who hasn't heard of you?"

"Then you should know that I mean no harm," said Trini. "Toby, nobody's here to hurt you."

"I find that hard to believe." He rebutted. "Why do they have a million guns on them if they weren't prepared to take me down on sight?"

"They're just nervous. Since you're…" Trini realized those weren't the right words to say.

"The son of Lord Drakkon?" Toby finished the sentence for her.

"…yes." Trini dug into her bag and pulled out an object. "This is yours, isn't it?"

Placing it onto the table, Toby saw what it was. It was a white, thick rectangular shaped object that was the size of one's palm. It had black linings and flattened corners. At the back, there was a black strap while in the center of the front side, there was a circular screen with a green border around it.

"You and I very much know what this is."

The teen had no excuse for that. It was quite obvious that it was a Morpher and it was his. The strap even had his initials etched onto it. This lady must have been very respected if she could just take it from custody with no repercussions.

"I only use it for self-defense," he told her. "All those news reports, calling me a terrorist are just lies governments spew out."

She had heard the stories, with headlines such as, "Drakkon's Son Attacks Chinese Military!" or "Son of Drakkon Arsons Brazilian Warehouse District!" making him out as a monster leaves a trail of destruction. But when you saw the quote-on-quote Drakkon's son, you didn't see an armed terrorist but a teen who had a lot of scars on him.

"I know none of those stories are true," assured Trini. "By how dirty you look, it looks like you've been through a lot."

"So I have," Toby looked at his Morpher. He could grab it right now and break for it but knew he wouldn't get far. "What are you really here for, Ms. Kwan? Were you here to check up on me or just confirm that I'm actually his son?"

Now that was the question of the day. The Yellow Ranger parted her lips, trying to figure out what to say that wouldn't sound like she wasn't his surveillance. This would be easier if his eyes were that of Tommy's.

"I'm here to see you're not being mistreated," Trini told him. "There are a lot of people in my group who are still arguing about what to do with you. I and the rest of the former Mighty Morphin team just want you to live a normal life."

"A normal life?" Toby wanted to imagine such a future. Where he had a roof over his head, food to eat and people to talk to. That sounded so ideal to him but deep down, he knew things wouldn't be the same.

"Yes, but I'm sorry. We're all still trying to figure out how we can do such a thing, especially now that the media's picked up you were caught." She explained. "It wouldn't be safe anywhere for you."

Toby realized what that meant. "So you're keeping me here."

Trini solemnly nodded. "Only until we agree on what to do with you. Different kinds of people are calling for your blood and we don't want any of them finding out where you are."

She took out a tablet from her bag. "I'm going to ask you a few questions before I go. Is that alright with you?" she prompted. By the irked look on the teen's face, he didn't like the idea of being interrogated.

"Yeah, sure," He agreed with a hesitant tone. "Can I ask something from you first?"

"Anything."

"Why isn't Kimberly Hart here?"

Trini looked up from her tablet. The way he asked for her almost sounded like a plea. Kimberly was the person who wanted Toby found the most after Drakkon's defeat, even before word broke out on his existence. Trini suspected she and the kid had a special connection of sorts, familial or otherwise.

"She's on a mission right now," she answered. "Trust me, the moment she's done, I'll tell her you're here."

The teen didn't say anything. He could understand the reasons why Kimberly didn't show up, such missions coming from her were likely far more important than he was. Still, it bummed him out regardless. The only person he had any relation to was likely on another planet or dimension right now. After running from nation to nation, a face he recognized would help out a lot.

"Let's just begin already," Toby just wanted this done and over with. The woman only smiled in response. Too bad for him, he would find himself sitting on that chair for a much longer time.

Louise being nervous would be an understatement. The Familiar Summoning Ritual was today and she still couldn't even cast the simplest of spells! She cursed herself for being born this way, especially compared to her birthright.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she also cursed her appearance being far less developed than her peers. Instead of the blossoming woman, what a sixteen-year-old should be, she looked as if she was barely in her teens, twelve at worst! It wasn't like she was hideous, she was quite cute, with her flowing pink hair and eyes. Unfortunately, she didn't any sex appeal thanks to this, something a certain rival of hers mocks to no end.

"Miss Valliere?" Louise almost jumped at the knock on her door. "It's me, Professor Colbert. I was just passing by and wanted to see if you were ready for the ritual."

She gulped. Even her teacher, the person overseeing the event wanted to be sure if she didn't wish to make a fool of herself. Louise might as well just jump off a cliff to save herself from the shame.

"Y-yes, Professor Colbert!" she replied in the fakest optimistic voice she could make. "I'll be ready soon! Just memorizing the incantation!" She hoped he would buy her act.

"Apologies for disturbing you then," said Colbert. "Hope I see you there in a moment."

"W-will do!" Hearing his footsteps, the man finally left. "What am I going to do?"

As she said that, the image of her mother came into her mind. A strong and powerful woman, Louise knew that if she were here, she would be scolded for appearing so weak. She would not only dishonor herself but her entire family if Louise were to be removed from the academy for being so magically inept.

"You are a Valliere," she told herself. "Rule of Steel, just like mother says…"

Gathering courage and calming her nerves, she grabbed her cape. After putting it on, she went to take her wand. She was going to summon a familiar, she was going to show all those other students she wasn't a failure, and she was going to summon a familiar so grand, it would put all others to shame.

With that said, she left her room.

Gathering just outside of campus grounds, Louise found herself with the other students who were loitering around the grassy field. Just like her, they wore white shirts and either black pants for males or ridiculously short skirts for girls. Slung onto their backs were black capes, indicating their second-year status.

The students were all in conversation, wondering what kind of familiars they would summon. She heard Guiche de Gramont, her class' ladies' man brag that he would summon the most beautiful familiar out of all of them. He was always swimming in his vanity.

Wandering away for the crowd, she saw where the ritual would take place. A runic circle was embalmed into the ground, large enough to fit a carriage. Louise saw Colbert, a balding middle-aged man wearing a blue cloak inspect the circle to see if it was in perfect form.

"My, my, looked who showed up!"

Louise immediately grit her teeth upon hearing that voice. Turning around, she was met with her nemesis, Kirche von Anhalt Zerbst. Hailing from Germania, Kirche had red hair, dark skin, a voluptuous figure and alluring looks.

"Zerbst…" Louise murmured vehemently.

Kirche only smirked at her family name being spoken out. Walking next to Kirche was Tabitha, a short-haired girl wearing glasses who shared the same petite body Louise had. She was Kirche's best friend but never bothered the Valliere. Instead, Tabitha had her eyes glued to books and was just following the Germanian around for some reason.

"You know Zero, I didn't expect you'd show up today! I thought you'd just give up and run off back to whatever you call a home." Kirche taunted.

"I'll have you know a Valliere doesn't run from anything, Zerbst!" Louise gripped her wand. "Why don't you go bed some first-year? Surely, you have nothing better to do!"

Kirche only gave a small chuckle. "Jealous, are we?" Kirche leaned over, showing off her predominant cleavage thanks to not buttoning the top of her shirt. "I find it quite sad that you lack the kind of attractiveness men want."

"Why you-!?"

"Alright, settle down!" Colbert shouted. "The ritual is about to begin!"

"Well then. Guess it's time." Kirche noted. "If you won't go home a coward, then you'll certainly go home a failure. You are aware what happens if you don't summon a familiar, do you?"

Louise knew most of all the consequences of being unable to summon a familiar for herself. The academy would boot her out of class and ship her back to her parents. She would likely have been married off at best, disowned at worst.

"Come on Tabitha, let's go. We're about to meet our wonderful new companions after all while Zero doesn't!" Kirche grabbed Tabitha's hand and went to the forming crowd of students. Tabitha was still only interested in reading her book.

"Damn her…" Louise said under her breath. She moved to the other side of the crowd, away from her enemy. She wasn't to let some spat ruin her confidence.

Colbert went to the front of the students who all went quiet. "Welcome! Today, you'll be summoning your very own familiar!" He stated with a smile. "The familiar you'll summon will be your companion for a lifetime. This is a tradition mages have done since the days of Brimir. Now, I hope all of you memorized the summoning incantation. Who will be the one to go first?"

Many hands were raised. Meanwhile, Louise backed herself into the crowd, an overwhelming feeling of nervousness overtaking her. She figured that being first would only get her cold feet and decided to let others go ahead.

By Brimir, she had made a mistake.

The pinkette had her confidence chipped away bit by bit as each student successfully summoned their familiars. Some were as simple as a mouse or a bird, but some were wild beasts and even a bugbear (a floating eyeball). Kirche managed to summon herself a salamander, which was moderately impressive, though Louise thought a snake would be more fitting. Guiche summoned a mole, while hardly the beautiful creature he boasted about, he adored it nonetheless.

"Amazing!" Everyone watched in awe as Tabitha's familiar took everyone's attention. It was a beautiful blue dragon, a rhyme one at that! It roared into the sky proudly as it spread its wings.

All of Louise's confidence went to Zero.

"Our final summoning is here, Miss Valliere!" Colbert called. "Come over here please."

All eyes turned to her, all other students had a look of absolute dread to them.

"Zero's going to summon? I thought she ran for the hills!"

"Better back away from the circle then, or you're toast."

"Why are they allowing Zero to summon in the first place?!"

In the background, Kirche was laughing herself a new one with Tabitha just standing atop her dragon reading. How was she already being humiliated before she's even done anything?

"Miss Valliere, we're waiting." Louise came back to reality upon her teacher's second call. She endured the glares from her peers as she walked towards the circle. Colbert stood there patiently as she made it to her destination.

"Don't worry Miss Valliere. I'm sure everything would turn out fine." He did his best to ease her. "Just speak the incantation, it's as simple as that."

Louise didn't look at him. Colbert moved away to give her space. In her mind, the pinkette was panicking. If this didn't work, everything she strived to be will be gone.

"Rule of Steel…" she whispered. "I am a Valliere. My mother is Karin the Heavy Wind, a mage even elves fear. I can- no, will do this."

Raising her wand into the air, she began to cant. "My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, heed my call. In the great Five Pentagon Powers, please bring forth my familiar!"

Toby jumped onto his cell bed. It was actually just a regular bed, with a pillow, a mattress and a blanket. They likely just moved a bed here since this room was likely meant for monsters. His prison was an isolated chamber, where a door was. A security camera was in a corner overseeing him. Fortunately, the toilet in the corner wasn't watched over.

He was stuck being questioned by the Yellow Ranger for a few hours. Not only waiting for her was painful on his butt but now he had to wait some more as she interrogated him on info.

The questions she asked were nothing special. She tried to get his account on various incidents that people kept pinning on him. Many of them were either caused because they were after him or they never happened at all and it was likely just some pro-Drakkon group. Some incidents were actually caused by him but he never intended things to go that far.

Then she got into more personal matters, something he disliked. She asked him about what he was doing while on the run, how many things he stole, even his childhood wasn't safe. He refused to answer some questions, especially the last portion. Trini accepted his refusals, knowing she and the rest of the former Coinless had to gain his trust first.

After all of that was said and done, Trini went to leave. She promised she'd drop by soon if not tomorrow. That meant even more time on that chair, something Toby fears. He just wanted to lay down on one of those psychiatric chairs instead of a cold, desolate room. How was he supposed to open up if they treated him like a criminal?

The guards made him take a shower afterward, something he was more than happy too since it's been a few weeks since his last one. They also tossed him a new set of clothes as well. A white hoodie and shirt along with black pants. Saying goodbye to his old garments wasn't that tearful of a farewell. Some underwear, boxers, undershirts came along with them were stuffed into his backpack.

Speaking of his backpack, Toby dug his hands into it. Trini had all of his stuff given back to him from evidence as well which he thanked her for. He saw his various hygiene products, his contact lens containers and spare pair of glasses in its case, his mobile game consoles with its games, utensil, and so on. For a brief moment, he took out a spare collar and leash which filled him with sadness before putting them back in.

Trini also managed to have him take back his Morpher which he's sure she wasn't allowed to do. Hiding it underneath a pair of boxers, he shoved them into the bag to convince the security camera he was behaving himself. No doubt they would come to search it later but they may respect the boundaries of someone's pajamas.

"I'm gonna be stuck here forever, aren't I?" He dropped his bag and put his arms over his head, looking at the ceiling. At least being here was better than staying outdoors. He remembered those times druggies tried mugging him or some mercenary attempted to sedate him with Clorox. The modern world was a scary place.

Toby's hand reached for the sky before balling it into a fist. "Dad, are you having a good time with Cots wherever you are?" he asked nobody. No response was given. He gave a small chuckle. "I'm going off the deep end."

Suddenly, the lights flickered then turned off entirely. Toby retracted his hand and lifted himself. Did the one in charge of the lights turn them off to indicate his bedtime? Somehow, he doubted it. Even the security camera's light died.

Something's not right. Toby grabbed his bag and pulled out the Morpher. An ethereal green mist formed and began to spread around. Toby was prepared to morph until a bright figure appeared in the middle of the room.

"Tobias Oliver…" The figure spoke his name in an ominous matter.

Toby took a step forward. "Who are you? If you think you can kill me, think again."

"You don't recognize the voice of your own father, Tobias?"

Once Toby saw who it, his heart stopped. Standing in front of him was the Green Mighty Morphin Ranger, his father's former identity. The Ranger himself glowed brightly like a ghost in the darkness.

"D-dad?" Toby couldn't believe it. His father was dead, deader than dead supposedly. How can he be here?

The Green Ranger shook his head. "I apologize for taking this form. You would have likely not have listened if I haven't."

In a blink, the person's appearance change. He was now a different Ranger, the Green Zeo Ranger if Toby's memory serves correct. "I mean no harm to you." The being said in an entirely different voice, likely the Ranger who wore the suit.

"Who are you?" Toby questioned. "What do you want with me?"

The being shifted into another form: the Green Mystic Force Ranger. "I am the Green Emissary, an entity from the Morphin Grid. I and my brethren are offering you a proposal."

"A proposal?" Toby did his best to digest all of this.

"Yes," the Emissary replied as it became the Green Dino Charge Ranger. "As you know your father is Drakkon, scourge of dimensions and enemy of all Power Rangers."

The teen nodded. It wasn't like he could argue against that. "Guess he did something bad to you and your people."

"Drakkon attempted to disrupt the balance of reality with his goals. He has met a fitting fate for such a vile person." The Emissary then became the Jungle Fury Elephant Ranger. "But we do not believe that his son should carry the burden of his father's sin."

That was a surprise. Toby thought for sure the proposal they would offer was his execution. "So, what do you want with me?"

It became a Ranger Toby didn't recognize. It appeared to be themed around a Chinese dragon. "We wish to send you across another plane of existence, you may have a new start in life. In this world, all would see you as the son of Drakkon first, regardless if they are hostile or not. We do this because you, Tobias Oliver, have great potential that would flourish elsewhere."

The teen was speechless. A new life in another world? It sounded like a dream. He can leave everything behind him, a fresh beginning where he didn't have always be on the move and get constantly paranoid. It almost seemed perfect. Almost.

The more he thought about the offer, the problems surrounding it cropped up in his mind. First of all, where was he going? For all Toby knew, he could end up at a moon at another galaxy with no oxygen. Or another plane of existence where demons want to eat him. The dangers of where he could end up staggering.

Second, he'd be leaving Earth civilization behind. Despite being a wanderer, this planet was his home. He'd miss all the animals, the entertainment, maybe even the toiletry would vanish where he'll be going.

Third, there were the people here who didn't want to hunt him down. Trini seemed to be a nice enough person who cared for the boy and wanted what was best for him, a sentiment that all former Coinless leaders shared. Then there was Kimberly, someone he wanted to see the most after all these years. Would she even want to see him again?

"So, what's it going to be?" The Emissary asked. "We will not ask again if you refuse."

The Emissary switched back into becoming Mighty Morphin Green and held out his hand. Toby's heart raced, knowing this was his only chance. At last, he had come to a decision.

"I'll do it," Slinging his bag to his back, Toby returned the handshake.

"Then we hope your future will be a bright one," With that, they vanished into light, leaving no trace of themselves. Later, guards would rush in to find nothing but an empty room.

Black smoke covered the clearing. Many of the students coughed and wheezed, having not expected such a powerful explosion even by Louise's standards.

"Dammit. I didn't expect she'd fail this hard!" Kirche muttered as she waved the smoke away. "Tabitha, can you and your dragon be a dear and fix Zero's mess?"

Tabitha shrugged then patted her dragon. The dragon's wings flapped, whisking the smoke away. Many other students were either plopped onto the ground or rubbing their eyes. Back at the summoning circle, Louise coughed out whatever smoke there was and stood back up.

"D-did I do it?" As the last bits of smoke began to clear, she finally saw what she summoned.

In front of her was a boy the height of Guiche. He had short messy brown hair, tan skin and hazel eyes. He wore rather strange clothes with some kind sack being on his back. He was quite handsome, having soft features but had a noticeable scar streaking down his right eye.

The boy stared back at her with a confused expression. "Where am I?"

The gears in Louise's head began turning. She realized who this person was after seeing where the boy was standing on. "No… I didn't..."

The other students recovered and looked down upon the scene. "Who's that?"

"It's a commoner! What else is it?"

"Zero summoned a commoner as a familiar?"

"Of course not! She must have hired him to be here!"

As the murmurs continued, Colbert fixed his spectacles. "Miss Valliere!" the teacher called out. "You have to complete the familiar contract!"

"B-but he's…"

"Now Miss Valliere!"

Louise turned her attention back to her supposed familiar. He was shaking his head in a dazed matter. Taking a deep breath, Louise went to him. The boy looked up at her, wondering what she was going to do.

"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my creature," she went to give him a light kiss on the lips. The boy's widened his eyes at the sudden action.

After parting from their kiss, Louise wanted to wipe her mouth. That was her first kiss and this peasant took it from her. She was surely going to punish him later for this humiliation. Her classmates were jeering at her from the sidelines to make matters worse.

"What the…" She heard the boy say. He was looking at his hand with distress as a symbol carved into it. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Before Louise could respond, Toby fainted.

I'm back everyone. After saying I'm done with writing fanfic, I got pulled back in after taking writing courses online. I'm trying to become a professional writer and I've got major esteem issues preventing me from trusting my writing quality.

So how did I get here? Well, I got pulled back into being a Power Rangers fan and a tokusatsu fan in general when my brother watched Power Rangers and became a fan. Took me back to nostalgia and I got inspired. I tried making my professional Power Rangers novel but progress is going terrible. With multiple rewrites and it looking extremely amateurish, I've given up on it and my depressing led me to write this. Somehow I've had more progress writing this first chapter than anything from that book.

Fumbled around with the idea of a Familiar of Zero fic. It's everyone's favorite replacement isekai, so why not do it myself? Power Rangers has awesome lore and world to it, so why not Power Rangers but based on the much more mature comics? Blended much better than I thought it would.

If you like this fic, review, follow, and fav. I don't own anything. Power Rangers belongs to Saban Brands and Toei. Familiar of Zero was written originally by the late Nooboru Yamaguchi and the series belongs to its rightful owners. I hope don't have to repeat that.

See you (if I do it) in the next chapter!