Episode 14: Part 2

From where he stood, the demon warrior Moloch patiently sharpened his blade with a small whetstone while he waited for Bahsmal's magic to dispel. Nearby, the Magogs formerly under the sorcerer's command turned and fled in terror, not wanting to get caught up in their generals' feud. While Moloch sharpened his weapon, he spotted Izzy turn to her fellow Rangers and begin to speak but he cut her off, "I know what you're thinking right now little girl, and no. Running away will do you no good. Either way, we will have our battle on a level field free of Shemhazai's taint."

"Well, that's really sporting of you," Joe said sarcastically crossing his arms and trying not to show any fear, "I don't suppose you're going to tell us why you're doing this... I mean, after all, we've got a little time left to kill."

Moloch snorted in amusement, "I don't care about honor toward you humans. I only care about destroying you in a way that will restore glory to General Abaddon's legion. I'm going to..."

The demon was suddenly cut off as a jet of dark smoke arose from the spot where the sorcerer Bahsmal had fallen. A bright glowing Cambion brand appeared and flared an angry color before reviving the slain monster, only in the form of a fearsome giant.

"Damn! Damn that accursed witch!" Moloch roared as Bahsmal stretched out and looked down to the ground below him, "I should of known he had been branded."

"I see you Moloch!" the giant monstrous sorcerer boomed in fury, "I've got a score to settle with you first!"

Moloch tumbled away as Bahsmal's giant foot came down and stomped the ruined pavement, causing the Rangers to lose their balance again and stumble over each other.

"Man! Demon drama, giant monsters, and we still can't morph! Can this day get any worse?" Nick shouted as the last of the snare spell continued to fade away.

Meanwhile, high up in the sky, the great form of an ancient majestic Pegasus zord descended from the clouds giving a furious cry. From where she sat, clinging to the armored mane of the zord, Kara watched intently as she and her new ally swooped downward like an avenging bolt of lighting to face the Cambion intruders. As she and the Pegasus had made their return to the city of Hyperion Falls, they had spotted the massive spell that Bahsmal had triggered.

While they continued to descend on the battlefield, Kara's stomach dropped as she suddenly realized that there was another great demon warrior on the ground as well as the whole team of unmorphed Vanguard Rangers. Something had gone wrong and she had to help.

The wind whipped through her golden hair as Kara gripped her Keyrune tightly. The Rangers had been right. She may have been a warrior of Eden once before, but there was no point in letting her past hold her back either. Her enemies were still threatening the future of this world, a future she hoped she could share with new friends and fellow humans... like the Vanguard Rangers.

"All right," she called loudly to her Pegasus zord, "our friends need some help. You take the big demon, the one on the ground is mine."

The Pegasus bucked and whinnied in agreement as it tucked its wings into a steep dive. To Bahsmal's complete shock, an armored Pegasus crashed down upon him from above and plowed the demon into the turf with its momentum. As the titanic horse bucked and trampled its opponent with its hooves, the unmorphed Gold Ranger leapt off its mane with her scimitars in hand to confront Moloch.

"Whoah... no way," Claire gasped in awe while the Red Ranger helped her to her feet.

"Yes way!" Nick corrected her pumping a fist in the air, "Go Kara!"

Beside him the Pink Ranger gave a bright laugh, "I knew it! I knew she'd come back to us!"

Just like her element, the Gold Ranger dashed forward at almost superhuman speed and locked weapons with Abaddon's newest servant. Despite his power, Moloch was weighed down by his heavy armor and weapon, making him awkward against the quick agile Ranger. In a flash of golden hair, Kara charged her blades and parried aside Moloch's strikes, ducking and weaving around him, landing paralyzing counter blows in punishment. As she dodged another swing with a sideways somersault, Kara brought both her blades around and sent Moloch reeling backwards just as Bahsmal's spell ended and evaporated harmlessly in the air.

Nearby, the Pegasus zord screamed angrily as it dodged a magic blast from the giant sorcerer Bahsmal and kicked aside his staff with its front hooves. Bringing its head down, the zord bit the demon in the neck and hurled him roughly to the ground. As it reared up, the Pegasus gave another angry cry and spread its wings causing the clouds above to darken and swirl. With the wave of its head, the zord brought down a powerful thunder strike that rattled the ground and incinerated the giant Cambion sorcerer.

Back down on the ground, Kara gave an approving smile and waved a thank you to her zord as the other Rangers rushed up to join her.

"Kara! You came back! That was amazing!" Danny cheered giving her a thumbs up.

The Gold Ranger nodded and looked calmly toward Nick and Izzy, "Yes... it seems that you two were right after all. Maybe there is a place for me here, with you five."

"Thank you Kara. We're glad to have you with us and we hope you'll stay," Joe added putting an encouraging hand on her shoulder... one that she didn't push away.

Kara looked to the Red Ranger and gave a nod, "The five of you still have a lot to learn, but you each have admirable qualities. Joseph Hale, you may not be the equal of Commander Auriel, but I will be proud to fight alongside you and your Rangers."

At that moment, Moloch regained his footing and fought off his electrical paralysis. "I'm not through with you Rangers yet... not by a long shot," the demon snarled furiously.

"All right everyone," Joe called out to his friends, "The spell is broken. You know what we have to do!"

With one unified motion, all six Rangers held their Keyrunes high and shouted in one voice, "Vanguard, Ascend!"

In a brilliant flash of light, all six Rangers stood together, fully morphed and ready for combat.

"Is that it? Am I supposed to be scared?" Moloch jeered, "What are you going to do now? Tell me who you are so that I'll remember it?"

Turning to the others with a smile, the Danny laughed, "Wow, it looks like he's really asking for it now."

"Then let's give him what he wants," the Red Ranger smiled stepping forward and leading their roll call while the wind picked up and skies cleared:

"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!"
"The Surging Thunderbolt, Vanguard Gold!"

"The Light of the Past, and the Hope of the Future!" they chorused together, "Power Rangers!"

To his surprise, Moloch recoiled backwards and raised his hand to shield his eyes from the radiant glow that seemed to shine from the angelic Rangers as they lit up the entire battlefield with their celestial light.

As they drew their weapons, Kara nodded to the Red Ranger beside her then called out to the monster, "The wrath of the heavens will strike you down!"

Giving a confident twirl of his saber, Joe leveled his sword at the disoriented demon, "Vanguard, Take Flight!"

"Come on! I'll take you all on!" Moloch roared hurling a barrage of dark magic projectiles from his blade.

With a cheer, all six Rangers charged forward dodging the energy blasts and deflecting them aside with their weapons.

"Whitesteel, Armor on!" the first five Rangers called summoning their silver arm guards and shields while they continued to advance.

The demon warrior took a few steps back in surprise as the Rangers charged straight into his attack and deflected the rest of the projectiles with their shields while bringing their weapons to bear. Using their armor to block Moloch's sword swing, Danny and Nick dropped their guards together and counterattacked, stunning the warrior with a spear thrust and hammer strike.

As Moloch staggered back blindly swinging his weapon, Claire and Izzy tumbled in low from the sides and drove their Feather Stinger gladius swords into the demon's boots, pinning them to the ground.

Moloch roared again as all four Rangers shifted off sideways allowing Joe and Kara to make a coordinated leaping attack with their own swords. Before the Cambion warrior could react, he was pummeled by a storm of sword blows laced with fire and electrical energy. As Moloch struggled to rise from the ground, the Rangers regrouped and faced him together again.

"You know why you demons are never going to win, right?" Nick called out.

"Six Rangers who fight as one, always beat a divided enemy!" Izzy added giving Kara a nod.

Across the battlefield, the demon in smoking ruined armor tossed his sword aside and growled, continuing to weakly stagger forward, "I'm going to tear you apart."

The Red Ranger shook his head toward their pitiful enemy , "Everyone? Let's bring it together."

In an instant, the five Vanguard Rangers called upon their Radiant Arbalest and took aim. Beside them, Kara fused her blades and ignited them into a crackling lightning bolt. Stepping beside the Red Ranger, she loaded it into their Arbalest and helped to take aim. "Ready?"

"Fire!" all the Rangers called together unleashing a super charged bolt of crackling white hot light from their combined weapon. In a heartbeat, Moloch was engulfed in white light and vaporized in a brilliant fiery explosion that rocked the entire battlefield like an earthquake.

As the fires died down, the Pegasus zord reared up and gave a victorious cry to the Rangers as it spread its wings and took off into the sky, ready to return when they needed to call on it again. The Rangers gave another cheer and waved goodbye to the new zord before turning to their newest ally.

"Wow, you really came through for us today Kara," Claire grinned holding up her hand for a high five, "you were definitely awesome back there!"

The Gold Ranger tilted her head slightly in confusion at the gesture, unsure of how to respond while leaving Claire hanging. "Um... thank you."

Nick gave a laugh and patted Claire on the head while grinning toward Izzy, "Don't sweat the high five Claire. Kara's still got some adjusting to do, so baby steps."

The Pink Ranger joined in his laugh at having been quoted while Joe and Danny exchanged an amused shrug with each other. Amid the laughter and confused amusement of her new allies, Kara couldn't help but smile slightly behind her visor. These were odd warriors to say the least, but ones with good hearts. She guessed that given enough time, she might actually start liking them.


The next day, all six Rangers gathered again in the office of Professor Bishop. After retelling the events of the battle yesterday, Bishop smiled to Kara, "It seems we have to keep thanking you for coming to the rescue Kara. But we're all glad you've finally decided to join us."

The Gold Ranger gave a reserved smile and nodded slightly toward the Pink and Green Rangers, "No need to thank me Professor. It was... the right thing to do."

Izzy and Nick exchanged a grin as Kara echoed their own words.

Nearby Joe added hopefully, "Hey Kara, since you'll be around more, would you be willing to teach us some of your martial arts moves, or how to heal each other with our Keyrunes?"

The young blonde woman graced him with a small nod as well, "If you five are truly willing to learn, then that arrangement will be acceptable."

From the couch, Claire piped up from beside Joe, "Uh, Professor? If Kara is going to be a permanent fixture around here, that does raise some issues. Where is she going to stay and how do we introduce her to people?"

Bishop smiled and laughed gently, "Don't worry Claire. I've given it some thought."

Turning to the Gold Ranger, Professor Bishop said, "You have to be a student to live in the university dorms or apartments, but I live in a two bedroom townhouse just outside of campus town. If I clear out the second bedroom, you're free to stay there if you'd like Kara."

Kara gave a surprised look before bowing her head slightly in gratitude, "I... thank you Professor. That is most kind of you."

Joe gave an amused smile, "And what about her cover story professor? The rest of us can't exactly go around introducing her as a warrior from an ancient floating continent."

Bishop leaned back in his seat thoughtfully, "I was thinking Kara could be my younger distant cousin from abroad... maybe from some remote part of Scandanavia?"

"Well, I guess that works," Danny laughed sitting down beside Kara, "Blonde hair, bluish eyes, and she's as tough as a Viking warrior,"

He put a friendly arm around her shoulders and gave her a wink, "Except much more pretty, am I right?"

To the Blue Ranger's surprise, Kara whipped her hand out and clamped down on his wrist in an iron grip, making him yelp. Like lightning, she swiftly twisted the arm and dropped him roughly to the floor. "Your courage in battle is admirable Daniel, but I will not tolerate you being unfaithful."

"What? Ow! What the hell is she talking about?" Danny cried trying to keep Kara from breaking his arm in half.

"Oh... I can answer that one," Nick said with a grin, "She seems to be under the impression that you're Izzy's beloved so you probably shouldn't cheat on her."

"Nick! I can't believe you said that!" Izzy cried in sudden outrage jumping to her feet, "Kara, ignore him! He's an idiot!"

"Wait... beloved? Really? What's that all about?" Danny asked curiously from the floor while still being pinned.

Joe, Claire, and Bishop sat off to the side stifling their laughter as Nick shrugged to Danny, "It seems Izzy and Kara were having a pretty involved talk before I arrived. You'll have to ask them."

Kara stood in confusion as Nick began to roar in laughter and jump around the room as a furious Pink Ranger chased him trying to slap him in the head.

"Come back here Nick! You're such a liar!" Izzy shouted chasing Nick out the door rattling off a string of curse words in Spanish.

"Wait! Iz! Don't go! What were you talking about?" Danny called jumping up and chasing them outside.

Following close behind, Claire hurried from the couch while trying to grab his sleeve, "Hey, come on Danny! Stop teasing her already! Come back here!"

Bishop continued to roar with laughter as Kara stood in stoic confusion turning to Joe. "These are your friends? The Rangers that you lead? Such madness. I don't envy your position."

Joe smiled and continued to laugh at the scene that just unfolded, "I still wouldn't trade them for the world."

"Are they always like this?" Kara asked hesitantly.

Giving a gentle smile, the Red Ranger put a hand on her shoulder and led her out the door with another laugh, "Trust me Kara. Just give it some time and I'm sure they'll grow on you. We all will."

It seemed these five Rangers still had a lot to learn, Kara thought to herself in bemusement as she followed behind the other boisterous Rangers, but at the moment... apparently so did she.


A/N:
And that closes out the 6th Ranger arc. It's been a lot of fun to write so far and I think things can only get more interesting from here. Thanks again to everyone whose been supporting the series so far. I couldn't ask for better readers!