Late morning sunlight sparkled over the blue pond as Danny Winthrope skipped another stone over the surface of the water. After the chaotic events that had happened the other day, Danny wanted to be alone and found himself wandering through a small local park at the south edge of the university. As he reached for another stone in his pocket, he stopped as he pulled out his blue Keyrune and studied it. To think, this little ancient device had turned him into a Power Ranger. He couldn't help but wonder for a minute what other powers, or dangers the artifact contained and he took a long moment to consider throwing it into the water too.
At that moment, he was snapped back to attention as he heard his name being called from behind. He turned as he saw Nick and Izzy approach, their shoes crunching on some of the dead fallen leaves.
"Hey," Nick said walking up to his classmate, "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Sorry. I guess I just needed some space." Danny sighed tucking the Keyrune back into the inner pocket of his blue blazer.
"Thinking about last night too, huh?" Izzy asked gently as she brushed a few stray leaves from her long brown hair.
"Kinda hard not to," Danny replied turning to look back over the still waters of the pond. "I'm guessing you're here to try and talk me into joining the team?"
"Well... he's smarter than he looks," Nick quipped sarcastically crossing his arms. "What do you say Dan? Are you in?"
Danny frowned, "Have you two even thought about what this means? We've just gotten caught up in some ancient struggle that we have nothing to do with and we know next to nothing about. Are you really going to be so quick to possibly lose your life over that?"
Nick narrowed his eyes, "The rest of us don't exactly have all the answers either. But we do know that people's lives are at stake and they might get hurt if we do nothing. Hell, maybe everyone we love if these demons have their way with things."
Izzy nodded her head, "The Keyrunes chose us for a reason Danny. Why they did, is anyone's guess. But until we figure that out, we have to the power to do something about it... and the obligation to do something too."
Danny looked to her for a moment before giving a pained expression. "I'm sorry. I can't join you."
Nick furrowed his brow in frustration and strode over, giving Danny a hard shove that knocked him to the ground. "I can't believe you Danny! You really want to just give up so easily and say to hell with everyone and the world? Fine then! Go ahead! Lay there and be selfish! We don't need someone who doesn't care."
"Of course I care!" Danny shouted back angrily as he sat up. "You really think I want a bunch of evil monsters to destroy everything?"
"Then why don't you want to join us?" Izzy asked quietly stepping forward to join Nick.
Danny grimaced again before speaking, his voice unusually emotional and uncertain, "Because I'm afraid... really afraid. Because for once in my life, I don't have a good answer for all this. I don't know what to do... and I hate it."
Izzy knelt down and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Well, neither do we. We're all scared, but I know Professor Bishop will help us figure something out in time. Besides, I'm sure other Power Rangers have had their doubts or fears too."
Danny considered her words and nodded, "Yeah... I guess you're right."
Nick sighed with a softer expression and reached down, hoisting Danny up with one powerful arm. "Sorry about that." he muttered quietly.
"Well..." Danny began slowly sliding an arm around Izzy's shoulder, "I guess if we're going to be Rangers, it's only logical that we should stick together... so we don't get scared, right?"
Izzy groaned and gave him a hard shove, knocking him back down into a pile of leaves as Nick's cell phone went off. As Izzy began berating Danny for his lecherous ways in the background, Nick answered his phone. "Oh hey... yeah we found him. Everything is fine... I think. Ok, we'll be there soon. Bye."
Izzy and Danny stopped and looked on curiously as Nick turned to them, "That was Joe. He and Claire want us to meet them at the Rookery. Sounds like Professor Bishop needs to tell us something. Let's go."
A little while later, all five Rangers assembled at Professor Bishop's office within the Rookery Tower. Although the tower itself was a little unkempt, it was out of the way enough that they figured it could serve a reasonable home base for now. As the five young people curiously gathered around the main desk, their teacher sat back in his chair. He looked haggard and exhausted, as if he hadn't even rested or cleaned up from last night. Scratching his whiskers and turning his bloodshot eyes on them, he pushed a portfolio in front of the Rangers.
"Thanks for coming everyone. I wanted to tell you that I was working on something after you all left last night."
Izzy glanced at the papers on his desk and asked, "Aren't those the same papers that Joe delivered to you yesterday?"
Bishop nodded with a tired smile, "Yes. It turns out the research that Father Santos had given me will be more valuable to us now, then it ever was before."
"What are you taking about Professor?" Claire asked impatiently trying to peek at the papers.
Bishop picked up the papers officiously, "This recent stack of research is a treasure trove of Empyrian lore. I've only been able to make sense of a tiny fraction of it, but it looks to be related to the original users of the Keyrunes...the Empyrian Rangers."
Everyone's eyes went wide as Bishop showed them a sheet of paper with a circular combination of Empyrian sigils. "This key combination of sigils looks like it was used to summon some sort of powerful weapon. What that is, I'm not too sure yet."
"A super weapon? Awesome!" Nick grinned excitedly, "What else do you have?"
Bishop gave an apologetic shrug and closed his other notes, "I'm afraid that's it for now. These translations will take a lot of time and I haven't slept since I found this out."
Meanwhile, Joe held his red keyrune out and thoughtfully examined the ornate sigils engraved around it. Sure enough, it looked as if turning different areas of the key could produce numerous sigil combinations. "That's ok Professor. Every little bit of knowledge or weapon we can discover will be a big help. Thank you."
As they turned to leave, Claire stopped as her smart phone began to buzz and light up. Glancing at the screen, she checked her news updates and her eyes went wide in panic. "Everyone! There's trouble. Is there a TV anywhere here?"
Everyone looked about in confusion as Professor Bishop grabbed a remote control from his desk drawer and pointed it a corner of the office. As the television lit up, everyone quickly gathered around to see a shocking sight.
On the screen was a breaking news report coming from above the city of Hyperion Falls. As the news chopper circled around, the Rangers could see columns of black smoke rising from the small skyline of the buildings while the view focused down to near street level of one of the city's outer districts. Striding amid a stretch of ruined concrete and a crowd of fleeing people was another Cambion demon. He looked gaunt and sallow while carrying a twisted staff, almost like some kind of zombie wizard. Here and there, small groups of Magog soldiers scrambled about, smashing windows of storefronts and terrorizing people.
"Not again..." Claire murmured in dread as Danny gave a subdued quip.
"Looks like those Cambion demons are sore losers and itching for a rematch."
Nick pounded his fist in his other hand, "Well, let's oblige and pull out that new weapon on em then!"
Joe kept watching the screen with a solemn expression as everyone turned to him. "Uh, what?"
Izzy nudged his arm, "Well, you're the Red Ranger now. Typically everyone kinda follows their lead, right?"
He looked to her incredulously for a moment before turning to the expectant faces of the others. "You're really sure about this?"
The others nodded as Professor Bishop smiled grimly, "I think the team has made their decision."
"All right then," Joe said grimly clutching his Keyrune, "From here on out, it's going to be up to us to protect our city. Whether we like it or not, this is our fight now and the only way we're going to win is by doing this together. Are you all with me?"
Everyone nodded, encouraged by the resolute words. Professor Bishop glanced up to the top of the Rookery. "It seems the Keyrunes had the power to grant you all limited flight. If you take off from the top of the Rookery, you should be able to make it into the city in no time."
"Wait!" Izzy cried stopping everyone. The Rangers stopped to turn impatiently as she shoved her notepad in front of them. "If we're really going to go into battle as a team, we have to do it right this time. Nick and I thought you guys should see this."
Joe began looking at the notepad while the others gathered around. As they read, a bright smile began to grow on the Red Ranger's face. "Nice job Iz. I think this will work just fine."
As the fires burned and people of Hyperion Falls continued to flee in terror, the demon sorcerer Arhiman threw his head back to the sky and gave a loud laugh. The ghoulish looking monster pounded his thick twisted staff into the ground and continued trudging forward in his demonic armor, which had corroded to a rusty blood red color. It had taken some effort by his Master Gideon to get him across the seal that warded earth from the Abyss, but Ahriman was surprised that it had been so easy to attack this human city. It had been many centuries since he had seen the filthy creatures cowering in huts made of wood and clay. To see the humans now within tall buildings of glass… made him sick. He would make his master proud and start by punishing these mortals for their arrogance.
As the demon continued forward, he stopped as a powerful gust of wind blew by him and his Magog foot soldiers.
"That's far enough monster!" the powerful voice of Nick Adler rang out. The demons turned and looked around to see the figures of five young people standing in the way. As they stood in the middle of the ruined street, each of the heroes regarded the monsters with quiet determination and focus. Looking over the new heroes with contempt, Ahriman gave a mocking laugh, "So you're the five children who defeated Belial in battle? It must have been a pretty pathetic fight. Now get out of my way before you really get hurt."
Joe brandished his Keyrune in a defiant challenge, "If you want to destroy Hyperion Falls, then you're going to have to go through us to do it! Everyone?"
In unison, the other Rangers pulled out their Keyrunes and twirled them quickly along their fingers. In a circular arm motion, the Rangers raised their Keyrunes to the sky while Arhriman growled and fired off a barrage of fireballs with his staff. As the magic of the Keyrunes activated, glowing circular wards surrounded the Rangers and deflected the demon's fiery projectiles.
Ahriman and the Magogs recoiled for a moment from the brilliant light as five majestic Power Rangers stood in place of the students.
"I don't believe it! The Empyrian Rangers…" the demon sorcerer growled in surprise.
The Red Ranger held up a fist in reply as a cool breeze began to gust and the light of the sun broke through the smoke, "No! The Empyrians may have been the world's first defenders, but we're the new Vanguard. Everyone, let's tell them who we are!"
"The Radiant Torch, Vanguard Red!"
"The Swirling Tempest, Vanguard Blue!"
"The Rumbling Mountain, Vanguard Green!"
"The Stinging Blizzard, Vanguard White!"
"The Dancing Whirlwind, Vanguard Pink!"
"Power Rangers!" they chorused together taking a group stance amid the dazzling light of the bright sun and clear blue skies above.
"I don't care who you are!" Ahriman roared, I'll wipe you out too."
Quickly calling the weapons of their Astral Armament, the Red Ranger pointed his saber forward, "Vanguard! Take Flight!"
To the demons' complete shock, all five Rangers took off together with their shining summoned wings and charged forward, attacking from all directions at once. Amid the debris and fire of the district's ruined street, a furious melee erupted between the Vanguard Rangers and the Cambion foot soldiers.
Danny charged first into the fray, lancing through several Magogs with his spear, before twisting the other end of the weapon to ward off a blow and swat away another minion. Following the Blue Ranger's lead, Claire stayed close and used her bow to deflect several attacks from Magog spears and swords. As she saw her ally throw back several minions with water charged strikes, she raised her bow and hit the wet Magogs with her ice bolts, freezing them all completely. With another spinning strike, Danny shattered the frozen foot soldiers and exchanged an enthusiastic high five with the White Ranger.
Nearby, Joe and Izzy fought together, cutting through the ranks of Magogs with their blades. Despite the numerical advantage, the attacks of the Cambion troops were parried and countered by the swift sword fighters. As the two Rangers drove back their opponents, they found themselves surrounded on three sides from fires on the street and boxed in by the Magogs. Pulling out her Keyrune, Izzy looked to Joe, "Going up?"
In a swift motion Joe sheathed his saber and scooped up the Pink Ranger, taking to the sky with a high winged jump as she used her Keyrune to call up a powerful whirlwind. The cyclone momentarily kicked up the flames and incinerated the Magogs in a fiery tornado. As the fires died out, the two Rangers descended gently and recovered their footing, giving each other a mutual thumbs up.
At the other end of the street, Nick plowed his way through the remaining Magogs, easily swatting them aside with his powerful warhammer. As he locked weapons with Ahriman, Nick shifted his weight and turned aside his enemy's staff. Spinning on his heel, Nick hauled back and sent the demon sorcerer flying with a reverse backspin strike.
The other Rangers regrouped as Ahriman furiously rose to his feet. "Insolent humans! Take this!"
The sorcerer pointed his staff and unleashed another barrage of fireballs but the three male Rangers stood firm and deflected the blasts with their weapons. Breaking formation, the boys turned aside as the girls returned fire with their bow and Feather Stinger pistol.
"This guy isn't going down as easy," Danny commented as Ahriman slowly began rising to his feet again.
"All right. Time to use that new weapon professor Bishop showed us." Joe answered turning some of the sigils on his Keyrune. The others followed suit and in a flash, their weapons dematerialized and reformed into what looked like a huge ornate crossbow made of gold, their Radiant Arbalest.
Ahriman froze in surprise as the Rangers regrouped and formed up around the Arbalest. "What sorcery is this?"
Each of the Rangers locked their Keyrunes into the weapon and took aim. As they did, a great crossbow bolt of white hot light formed and began to light up the entire street. "Radiant Arbalest, Fire!" the Rangers shouted together, unleashing the burst of light.
Ahriman raised his arms and tried to ward off the bolt of light for a few moments. He gave a roar as the bolt penetrated his defenses and blew clean through his armor causing the demon to explode into a great blast of fire and ash. Lowering the Arbalest, all five Rangers pumped their fists to the sky and let out excited cheers of relief and joy.
As the smoke and fire began dying down, citizens of Hyperion Falls began to peek out of their hiding places and caught sight of the five Rangers gathering together. News cameras and citizens alike watched in awed wonder as the five Rangers sprouted wings of light and took off quickly into the sky, disappearing behind some low hanging clouds. After what had happened today, the Vanguard Rangers were certain the news reports would start to become very different from now on, but for the moment, they would be content with a glorious victory.
Later that afternoon, the five Rangers returned to the Rookery and gathered to find their professor had fallen asleep in his chair from exhaustion. With a small smile, Danny took a pen and scribbled a note for Bishop. "Dear Teach, we saved the world again. Please give us extensions on tomorrow's homework assignment. Thanks. - Danny"
Deciding to let their teacher sleep, the five exhausted students made their way out of the tower and prepared to walk back to their dormitory together. The skies were bright and clear and the cool autumn air was refreshing after that furious fight.
"Well, I guess we're official now." Claire said with a faint smile, enjoying the moment of peace and quiet. "Power Rangers Vanguard."
"It does has a nice ring to it," Joe added with a thoughtful smile, "We've got a name and a headquarters... we're just missing one thing though."
"Oh? What's that?" Nick asked curiously.
Joe grinned, "A place to blow off some steam and celebrate. I think as my first official act as leader, I move to party tonight!"
The other Rangers laughed and gave cheers of agreement as they continued walking down the road together. Despite everything they had been through the past few days... the darkness, the demons, and learning of the ancient struggle with the Cambions, they had survived. Tonight, the Rangers decided to enjoy their victory by focusing on the present, and for the first time this week, it had never looked so bright.
A/N:
Thanks again to everyone for reading and commenting already, especially as we begin heading into the season proper. I couldn't do it without you guys. Extra special shout out goes to my buddy Kuro no okami 23. He sent me an awesome idea for a monster that will be featured in the next installment, so thanks again man, and stay tuned everyone. The Vanguard has taken flight!