Episode 15: Part 2
A chain of explosions ripped through the industrial yards as Eli, Ethan, and Amber tumbled through the storm of energy laced feather darts thrown by the Nephilim Herald named Hofniel. Upon drawing near, Ethan pounded the gravelly grounds with his axe and raised a bunker of soil that protected his comrades from another volley. Hofniel scoffed and threw several more darts which completely leveled the earthwork. As the dirt and smoke cleared, the Nephilim paused in surprise finding that the Rangers had seemingly disappeared and were not in the rubble.
The Herald floated over and surveyed the blasted ground for any sign of its foes. To its shock, the three humans burst up from the grounds behind it having used Ethan's earth element to tunnel underneath to a more advantageous position. The Green Ranger took a great swing with his axe and crippled the Herald with a devastating hack.
As Hofniel spun sideways and reeled from the punishing hit, Eli made a leaping strike with his mace, flipping over his enemy's head and smashing the weapon against its wings. Several of the eyes on the Herald's wings blinked and flinched as Hofniel landed on the ground to temporarily recover. That set Amber up for her own strike as she swooped in and brought her icy lance to bear as if she were in an aerial jousting match. Her icy weapon connected and threw back the Herald several yards in a shower of sparks and ice crystals while the two boys regrouped around her to praise her maneuver.
Hofniel grunted in pain and drew some more feather darts before rising to its knees, "You irritating children! You'll pay for that!"
A hail of golden blaster fire suddenly rained from above and knocked the Herald down again as three more Advent Rangers glided in to the battlefield and rejoined their friends. Tyler, Gabby, and Danielle all touched down and holstered their blaster pistols as the others gathered around them in relief. Amber was the first to rush over and greet her roommate with a big hug, "Gabby, you're okay! I'm glad you're back!"
"It's good to be back," the Pink Ranger smiled as she returned her friend's hug to comfort her.
Tyler gave a quick nod to the boys, "Sorry we're late guys. We had a little score to settle with the Black Ranger. Is everything okay here?"
Eli flashed a thumbs up, "We were just about to put this guy away, but you're free to join us if you want."
"All right! Let's put it together," Danielle suggested before the other Rangers combined their weapons into one as their Halo Cannon. Once it was formed, Danielle fitted her two chakram on the end to form an extra wide muzzle at the end of the gun barrel. While the Rangers grouped up to prime the cannon, Hofniel staggered to its feet and feebly pulled out a last handful of explosive feather darts hoping to get off a few more desperate shots first.
By now, the six Advant Rangers had already formed up and braced themselves in firing positions. This time, Gabby took the spot to hold the trigger and make the final adjustments. "I owe the Nephilim a little payback today so this one's on me. Everyone ready?"
She made the final adjustment and zeroed in on the Herald as it began to raise its explosive feathers for a final volley, "Fire!"
She pulled the trigger and the Halo Cannon fired unleashing a powerful burst of searing radiant light. Hofniel threw its feather darts forward but it was no use. They were completely incinerated moments before Hofniel was also engulfed and obliterated in the burst of energy. A great plume of fire and light erupted from the blast and the windows of the nearby factories rattled from the force of the explosion.
After having immolated their foe, the six Rangers lowered the cannon and let out a mixture of relieved cheers and high fives. As the others gathered around Gabby once more to welcome her back, Tyler stood off to the side quietly watching his friends. Amid the cheerful greetings and hugs, she looked over to him and saw him give a quiet nod of contentment before he turned and walked off to survey the damage and make sure no other civilians had been hurt. She hesitated a moment to call out after him, but decided to wait. There was still a lot to say and at the moment, she probably needed a little bit of time herself.
Some time later that day, Ithuriel sat on his large hair in the Sanctum's throne room mulling over the most recent defeat and taking stock of the situation. Admittedly, he was not very happy about the outcome as it had cost another Herald as well as his own pet project of a human-like Ranger. It did seem a bit hard to believe that his warrior would have been so defective and sabotaged his scheme like that. Then again, he didn't have enough reason to really doubt Samandriel's theory either. Even more curious was the fact that she seemed surprisingly neutral about the whole thing. She had not been too fond of his creation, but to his knowledge she had not openly defied him either. The Nephilim lord furrowed his brow and folded his hands thoughtfully while he contemplated his next move.
To his surprise, the doors to the chamber opened and the form of his brother Umbriel appeared. The other member of the Triumvirate hobbled slowly into the room, occasionally grunting while several rolls of balms and bandages plastered his torso and arms. Umbriel was still far from fully recovered, but it was surprising to see him up and about so quickly either. He had always been strong willed and Ithuriel quietly hid his displeasure at the sudden development. Umbriel neared the throne and looked up, "You look unwell brother. Sitting and scheming as usual?"
Ithuriel held back a sneer and instead gave a thin smile, "I was just about to say the same to you Umbriel. I've actually been busy of late, attempting to finally rid ourselves of those pesky Advent Rangers."
"With little progress it seems. It would appear that you too are learning that they aren't to be underestimated either," Umbriel smiled while getting his own jab in.
"I didn't expect to see you up on your feet again after your battle. I thought you still needed more time to recover."
Umbriel nodded, "I do, but this is no time to stay down and lay idle. We still have our campaign to run and the Eternity Gate to open. Now is the time to focus on getting stronger and preparing the next phase of our plans. Where is Samandriel."
"Off doing an errand on earth I believe," Ithuriel said offhandedly, "I find it troubling how much time she seems to be spending down there."
"We will be our sister's keeper then," Umbriel said calmly, "When she returns, we will start our work and you can guarantee things will begin to change around here... for all of us."
Meanwhile down in the wooded hinterlands of the city, the Nephilim Ranger calling himself Logan sat alone by his campfire, nursing his injuries and taking in the light and heat of the fire. It was ironic to him that the same flames which now warmed and comforted him reminded him of the flaming elemental strike of the Red Ranger that had laid him low earlier today. Part of him still held a strong vitriol against the Ranger for dealing him such a decisive and humiliating defeat. Aat the same time, Tyler had shown him mercy by letting him live. For now, Logan could not be sure if it was truly mercy. It seemed Ithuriel had forsaken him and now Logan had all the time in the world to reflect on his failures too.
He reached down and touched the morpher device which was fused to his chest. He winced as he looked at it. The medallion device had been seared and showed a gash through three quarters of it. What was left of the black gemstone at the center had been cracked and he could feel only a fraction of the original power coming from it now. Perhaps he would just have to figure out what to do about this later. The Nephilim Ranger gave a sigh before he felt a slight ripple of wind behind him and saw the campfire flicker for a moment.
He turned around and looked in surprise at the form of Samandriel as she made her appearance from the shadowy treeline. He tensed and eyed her cautiously, "What are you doing here?"
Samandriel carried a large bag with her and tossed it down before the Ranger, "Giving you something. Provisions and equipment to survive in your camp."
"Why are you doing this? I've been disgraced and forsaken by the Sanctum," Logan frowned as he hobbled over and took the large bag to examine its contents, "Are you doing this because you feel sorry for me or something?"
"Perhaps..." Samandriel shrugged as she turned and quietly walked back into the woods, "Perhaps I thought it was the human thing to do."
The Nephilim Ranger stared in confusion as she disappeared into the thicket before being left alone in silence with his crackling campfire and the bag of supplies sitting in his lap.
As early evening set in over Hyperion University, a gentle breeze gusted over the lawns of the main quad causing the grass to sway. Serene orange and gold sunlight hung over the horizon as the dying rays of the sun began to stretch in the skies and grip to the distant mountain peaks. From his vantage point in the top floor study of the university clocktower, Tyler watched the sunset by himself reflecting on the events of the last several days. It had been a bit of a whirlwind and he wasn't sure exactly where things stood or what to expect in the future either.
Despite the Rangers' victory against the Sanctum, there were several elements of uncertainty lingering from the battle. What if any side was Samandriel on and could they count on her as a sort of ally in the future? Even more, what would become of the Nephilim construct named Logan? He had been soundly defeated and possibly disabled permanently… but he was still on the loose after having been spared in battle. It hadn't been Tyler's preference to do so, but killing him in cold blood didn't seem right either. Despite Danielle's acceptance of the situation, he had a feeling she wasn't totally happy about it either and he decided he'd just have to work that issue out with her later. No doubt Tyler's unlikely change of heart had been influenced by the wishes of Gabby in some ways.
He gave another long sigh as he spared a moment to think about her. The important thing was that she was safe again. She had been rescued and reunited with her family, but it was uncertain if his own friendship with her could be salvaged. He had taken a great risk by expressing his feelings for her in a heated moment and it seemed to have completely bewildered her. Then again, he was always awkward and terrible about those kind of relationship things so he couldn't exactly blame her either. How that all might affect the team dynamic or even his friendship with her after all these years, it was almost something he didn't want to consider right now.
He heard a knock at the door and turned to see someone enter. He stopped in surprise and blinked, "Gabby… I…"
"I figured I'd be able to find you here," she said hesitantly while giving a gesture to silence him, "I uh… figured that we should probably talk especially after everything that's happened."
He nodded quietly as she approached the windows where he was standing, "You kinda just up and left after the battles… kinda didn't say much, you know?"
"Sorry, I wasn't sure what to say. I had a lot on my mind. I guess I still kinda do."
"Ah… right," she said shifting her weight on her heel a little awkwardly, "Well… I still wanted to come and thank you for everything. For coming to rescue me along with Danielle."
"Don't mention it," he said with a modest shake of the head, "I would've done the same for any of you."
Gabby gave him a curious look as if she was going to challenge the assertion before clearing her throat, "I… I also wanted to apologize to you for everything. You were right about Logan and I should have listened to you before. It was really immature of me and I wouldn't blame you if you were still angry at me either."
He graced her with a quiet look and shook his head, "It's okay. I'm not mad. I'm just glad you're okay. To be honest, I wanted to say that I'm sorry to you too."
"What? Why?"
Tyler grimaced slightly, "Well... you were also kinda right that I may have been a little judgmental towards Logan too. I may have been right about him, but that doesn't mean the way I acted was right either. I let my emotions get the better of me and it probably didn't help. If anything, it probably confused you more and now I can't help but worry that I screwed up everything between us. I mean... what I said to you before... that's not something you can easily walk back."
"I guess not," Gabby agreed quietly, "Are you saying that you're taking back what you said before? About you being in love with me?
"No. I still stand by it."
A long silence hung in the air before Gabby spoke again, "While I was being held captive, I was thinking a lot about what you said and..."
"Gabby, it's okay. You don't have to..."
"No. I do," she interrupted, "Can you please just let me say something here?"
After another pause, she spoke again, "There's a reason I kinda freaked out before. We've always kinda been in this weird place between dating and friends. I got scared and confused and even when I was out on that date, I couldn't stop thinking about it... about you."
She continued, "It's because I have feelings for you too... feelings I've had for a long time but couldn't really understand either. I've done everything I could to convince myself otherwise and make them go away because let's face it, I never thought you were my type. You're a complete boy-scout. You're always following the rules and you drive me nuts at times... but you're also the best person I've known... and the best friend I've ever had. I didn't want to mess up what we had either, but I needed to tell you that you're so much more than that to me too."
Tyler smiled quietly, "Thank you Gabby... for being honest with me. I appreciate that."
"So... what now?" she asked with a tone of uncertainty in her voice, "I mean, what do we do?"
Tyler thought for a minute, "Well... my Dad told me that when he was our age, he decided to put any thoughts of love and relationships on hold until the battle with the demons was over, much to my Mom's dismay."
Gabby gave a gentle laugh, "Well Uncle Joe was always pretty sensible and wise. He did what he felt was right so we probably should too, don't you think?"
"Yeah."
Gabby turned away for a minute seemingly weighing some things over in her mind. After a moment, she took a deep breath and turned back around before marching right up to Tyler. To his surprise, she reached up and pressed her lips to his. After the initial shock, he put his arms around her and they held each other close sharing in a long warm kiss that seemed to make the entire world take pause for just the briefest of moments.
After they parted and took a little breath, she said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you that I loved you too."
"That's okay. You just did."
Gabby simply smiled as he drew her close to share another passionate kiss, "Te amo."
Despite all the chaos and hardship that the Rangers had faced up to that point, despite the dangers and peril yet to come, none of that seemed to matter at the moment. For now the city was at peace. The threat of the Nephilim had been stopped and the conflict between two friends turned lovers had been finally resolved. As far as Tyler and Gabby were concerned, all was right in the world and at least for now, that's the way they hoped it would remain.
A/N:
I know I left a couple hanging plot points here, but those will carry over into the rest of the series second half and make things fun now. Thanks to everyone for making it this far and I hope you'll enjoy the adventures left to come here. Looking ahead, I'll be taking a brief pause to get another writing project off the ground but when I return to this, you can expect a fun little breather episode next followed by a crossover with another team. Hope to see you then! :)