Episode 26: Part 2
Early the next morning, the Vanguard Rangers met in their dormitory cafeteria to eat breakfast and discuss their experience in the forest. After hearing their differing accounts, Claire frowned thoughtfully, "It's very strange that the three of you each saw something different. Do you really think that thing was malicious?"
"Well it nearly dropped a tree on Izzy," Danny replied flatly as he took a bite of his pancakes, "And it tried to keep the two of us away with some force field too."
Kara stirred the remainder of cereal in her bowl before speaking up, "Demon or not, it sounds like some sort of shape shifter. I suspect that it's taking on different appearances to lure victims in, or perhaps in your case, project the fears that were in your minds."
"It makes some sense," Nick conceded with a shrug, "You each saw an image of what you were expecting to see. If those grade school kids got hurt looking for trouble, there's bound to be a really juicy rumor going around there to tempt more kids into going to look for themselves."
"We can't let that happen!" the Pink Ranger protested firmly.
"And we won't," Joe nodded quietly as he put down his fork, "If that's the case, then we'll all go ghost hunting again after classes today. In the mean time, Kara maybe you can go try to go dig up more information about what this thing could be, and hopefully Professor Bishop can help."
"And since I'll be student teaching today, I'll keep an eye out at the school to make sure no other kids wander off into the forests," Izzy added, "It's the least I can do from my end."
Another day at the elementary school passed without incident as Izzy helped clean up the classroom and the children left for the day. As she began erasing the chalkboard, she was surprised to see Laurel come back bundled up in her coat along with a pink backpack decorated with butterflies.
"Laurel? Is something wrong?" the Pink Ranger asked glancing over curiously as she cleaned.
The little girl shook her head, "No Miss Herrera. My dad is coming to pick me up a little later so I'm going to be with some of the other kids on the playground until then."
"Well, just make sure you don't go off into the woods looking for that fairy ok?" Izzy said putting some books back on the shelf, "You know that some of the older kids fell and got hurt doing that recently."
"Ok. I won't," Laurel said as Izzy gave a warm smile and nodded.
"Great. Now go run along and play. I've still got some work to do here."
Laurel hurried out of the school and onto the playground where some of the other kids were waiting for their rides home. After a short while, one of the kids called the others over and pointed to the treeline. "Hey look! Do you guys see that light?"
The other children stopped and watched as a flickering ball of light bobbed and floated around the edge of the trees.
"Hey! That must be the magic fairy!" one of the other girls exclaimed, "Do you think we should go try to catch it and get a wish?"
Laurel frowned for a moment, "I don't know guys. Miss Herrera said we shouldn't because it might be dangerous."
"Ohh, Miss Herrera said so," some of the other children called beginning to mock her, "Teacher's pet. Teacher's pet. I'll bet you're just a big chicken."
"I'm not scared!" Laurel huffed back angrily at her classmates.
"Then prove it," one of the other girls challenged her.
Laurel stopped and thought. Didn't Miss Herrera say that she could grow up to be big and strong and brave just like the Pink Ranger? There's no way she or any of the other Power Rangers would be scared of a little fairy, right? She would show the other kids and prove that she could be brave just like her favorite Ranger.
Taking a deep breath, the little girl began to walk toward the trees and follow the glowing orb of dancing light into the edge of the woods. As she did, the ball of light stopped and began to take a physical shape. Laurel stared in wonder at the mysterious creature before her eyes went wide in fear and she gave a loud shriek.
After finishing her chores in the classroom, Izzy walked outside the school just as the other Rangers arrived to begin their second investigation. As she joined them, she saw the others pull out flashlights and extra batteries from their backpacks just in case. Walking up to Joe, she gave a little laugh, "Hey, didn't you dress up as a Ghostbuster for Halloween last year? No jumpsuit this time?"
Joe gave a sly grin and flipped open his messenger bag revealing a Feather Stinger pistol inside, "No proton pack either, but I think this may work just as well."
As he tucked his gun away, the Rangers saw a group of panicked school children run up and gather around Izzy. "Miss Herrera! We need your help! Laurel's in trouble! Hurry!"
The Rangers exchanged worried looks as Izzy frowned, "Hold on a minute. Slow down. Tell me what happened."
"It was the fairy!" one of the girls cried frantically, "We saw it again and we dared Laurel to go look at it. She walked into the trees and then we heard her scream so we ran back here!"
The Pink Ranger glanced to her friends before giving a nod, "Ok, my friends and I will all go looking for Laurel. In the mean time, I want all of you to stay here in front of school and don't move. Kara, do you think you could stay here and look after the children for me?"
The Gold Ranger nodded and gave a stern look to the kids making them all immediately fall into line. Grabbing Danny by the arm and pulling him along, Izzy called, "Come on everyone! We've got to hurry and find Laurel!"
The five Vanguard Rangers rushed across the street and charged into the woods as it began to grow darker and more ominous looking. Spreading out into a search party line, the Rangers hurried along, crunching through fallen leaves while overturning small rocks and clumps of foliage looking for the lost girl.
As the skies grew dark and the Rangers lit up their flashlights, Joe stopped and called out to the others, "Everyone! I found something!"
The Rangers gathered around with worried looks as he bent down and picked up a pair of familiar purple mittens from the ground. "I remember these gloves. These are Laurel's."
Claire stepped closer in concern, "Do you think she's still ok?"
Everyone turned again as Izzy cast her flashlight forward and spotted another clue. A small pink backpack with butterflies lay on the ground over a tree stump.
"This is her backpack too," Izzy said inspecting it quickly. To her relief, she didn't see any blood or signs of violence on it. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she might be leaving us a trail."
"Laurel's a smart little girl then," Danny nodded grimly helping Izzy stand, "Better than leaving us breadcrumbs too. This must mean we're getting very close."
As the Rangers pressed on in the growing darkness, Nick stopped the others as a bright will o the wisp appeared in the near distance as if taunting the Ranger. "Look! There it is!"
The five gave chase and began racing up an inclined path in the forest. Izzy dashed to the front of the group and saw what looked to be the figure of Laurel break free of the light and run over a wooded hill up ahead. As she reached the crest of the dark forest hill, the Pink Ranger gave a gasp as she ran straight off a steep slope and found herself flailing in midair. It had been another illusion.
The glowing illusion of Laurel floated, hovering away from the edge of the slope as the other Rangers skidded to an abrupt halt.
"Izzy!" Claire shouted out in alarm rushing to the edge of the steep forested plateau. The Pink Ranger thought quick and gave her Keyrune a wave, creating a swirling pocket of air to slow her fall and land safely on the ground below.
At the bottom of the little ridge, Izzy heard the sounds of a little girl crying and whimpering in the dark. Using the light of her Keyrune, Izzy saw Laurel stuck to a nearby tree, tied up in the vines and ivy, no doubt the work of that illusionary creature.
"Miss Hererra? What are you doing here?" the little girl sniffled in surprise.
"Hang on kiddo. I'm gonna get you out of here," the Pink Ranger said quickly calling her gladius and chopping apart the vines to free her student.
"Wow! How did you do that?" Laurel asked in awe but Izzy scooped her up with one arm and turned to look back up the ridge. She could see the illusionary creature had now taken on a physical form, not that of a fairy princess, but one of an ugly Cambion hag.
"Ok Laurel, I'm going to need you to hang on tight and be brave for me. Do you think you can do that?"
The girl nodded fearfully and grabbed tight as the Pink Ranger called her wings and took a short running leap back up the ridge to join her friends in battle. As Izzy touched down and got her student clear of the battle, she could see her friends dodging the hag as she swooped about cackling maliciously.
"You foolish humans! Always groping blindly though the darkness. Do you really think you can trust your senses? I am everything you fear!"
For a moment, the demon used her dark illusionary powers to project a terrifying aura that took on the forms of various primal human fears. The Cambion witch cackled again as the four startled Rangers staggered backwards, recoiling in fear for a moment.
"Laurel go take cover and hide. My friends and I will take care of this monster," Izzy said hurriedly raising her Keyrune.
The little girl ducked behind a large tree stump and watched in wonder as her student teacher called upon a bright pink light and transformed into the Pink Ranger. Was she imagining things? Her hero and favorite Power Ranger had just saved her and was now standing right before her?
She didn't get much time to think about it as Izzy called up a powerful swirling wind that kicked up the fallen leaves and momentarily blinded the witch. "Everyone! Now's your chance!"
"Vanguard Ascend!" the other four Rangers echoed using the opportunity to get a grip and quickly morph, regrouping with the Pink Ranger.
"Are you ok Iz?" Nick asked in concern as the Cambion hag growled and blew away the last of the leaves.
The Pink Ranger called up her rapier and pointed it toward the demon, "No, I'm not! This rotten hag is going to pay for harming the children!"
Joe pulled his pistol and nodded, "All right. Nick, take that demon from the flank. Danny, back Izzy up. Claire, covering fire with me!"
The Red and White Rangers leveled their pistols and laid down and barrage of golden blaster fire while Izzy and Danny charged forward and Nick split off wide.
The hag raised her bony arms in response and called forth a magic barrier to shield herself from the oncoming bolts of blaster fire. As the witch deflected the bolts away, the distraction bought Nick just enough time to call his warhammer and charge in from the flank.
The hag gasped and turned her force field toward Nick, who took three mighty swings with his hammer, battering away the magic shielding and shattering it. Having pushed the enemy off balance, the Green Ranger took a winged leap backward as the defenseless demon looked to Izzy and Danny charging her.
In a heartbeat, the Pink Ranger suddenly pivoted on her heel and took a high winged jump directly upward leading the witch's gaze away for one critical moment. That moment allowed Danny to follow up the charge and skewer the demon's midsection with his spear. The hag howled in rage as the Blue Ranger pinned her in place, allowing the descending Pink Ranger to bring down a fully charged rapier blow to finish her.
"Nice assist there caballero, (gentleman/knight)" Izzy smiled putting a lingering hand on Danny's arm, "Thanks."
The other Rangers gave a cheer as the Cambion witch exploded into ash and brimstone, hurrying over to congratulate Izzy.
"Way to smoke that hag Iz," Nick grinned giving her a high five as the Pink Ranger turned and saw Laurel peek out from her hiding place.
"No, this was a team victory. And that includes the efforts of a very brave little girl."
The Rangers powered down as the little girl approached, staring in wonder at the five heroes.
"You're the Power Rangers... Miss Herrera... are you really the Pink Ranger?"
Izzy knelt down and put a finger over her lips with a wink, "Shh. Don't tell anyone."
The girl beamed again and nodded her head before Joe stepped forward with a kind smile and handed her back her purple mittens for the second time, "Hey kiddo. Remember me? I thought you might need these back. It's getting a little cold out here."
Overcome with relief, happiness, and fatigue, Laurel simply ran into Izzy's arms and let the Pink Ranger scoop her up.
"All right everyone," Izzy sighed, "We busted our ghost. Now I think we'd better get back before Kara scares all the other little kids away."
Later that week, Laurel and her schoolmates walked into their classroom after recess for their class Halloween holiday party. The room had now been fully decorated and Mrs. Pierce, now dressed as a good fairy godmother, laid out some candy, juice, and other fun little games for the children to play. To the children's surprise, they also saw six fully morphed Vanguard Rangers standing at the front of the class talking with their teacher.
"Wow! Are those really the Power Rangers?" one boy asked in excitement. "The ones who are always flying around and saving the city?"
Laurel smiled to herself and stayed silent while the Pink Ranger turned to them and removed her helmet letting her brown hair cascade down.
"No. Sorry kids, it's just me," Izzy smiled brightly eliciting giggles from the class. "Since we're having a Halloween party, I invited some of my own friends and we thought it would be fun to dress up. Everyone here thinks the Power Rangers are pretty cool, right?"
The children cheered and voiced agreement as the other Rangers removed their helmets and smiled at the class too.
"Wow Miss Herrera! Your costume looks amazing!" one of the girls called out in awe. "It's so pretty, and you look just like the Pink Ranger!"
Izzy laughed gently and stepped forward, "Well, pink is my favorite color. Plus, all the bravest girls wear it too. Isn't that right Laurel?"
She gave a little wink toward Laurel and the little girl's face lit up with a bright smile, "You bet!"
"Hey now… let's not forget about her best friend the White Ranger," Claire laughed giving her friend a gentle poke in the side, "She's still pretty brave too."
The class laughed again and began to celebrate while chatting over games and snacks. Izzy smiled to herself as she watched the children begin climbing on top of Nick or taking pictures with Danny, Claire, and Kara. Nearby, Joe was doing his best to be modest as a group of the boys crowded around and started arguing why they thought the Red Ranger was the coolest Ranger of all.
To the Pink Ranger's surprise, Laurel hurried up to her and gave her skirt a little tug, "Aren't you going to come have fun too Miss Herrera?"
"I will," Izzy said kneeling down to her level for a moment, "I was just thinking how glad I was that everyone was safe and sound again, especially you."
Laurel smiled, "Thanks for saving me again. The Rangers are all my heroes now, especially you."
"Aww, thanks kiddo," Izzy laughed giving the girl another gentle hug.
As she let go, Laurel stopped a moment and frowned, "Um, Miss Herrera? You're still going to be student teaching here right? You're not going to be leaving us yet?"
Izzy rose and took her hand, leading the little girl back to the party with a gentle laugh, "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. As long as I'm around, I promise this will be the safest classroom in the whole city."
Laurel smiled while watching the other Rangers play with her classmates and she knew that if a Power Ranger was saying it, then it was sure to be true.
As the fading light of the day clung to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, four spectral horsemen took their rest after having arrived. While looking out over the lights of the distant city of Hyperion Falls below, the lead rider in pale robes trotted forward. "Come brothers. We've made our deal with Lord Gideon's emissaries. It would seem that there's much left to be done."
With that, the Four Horsemen began to slowly make their way down the mountains, intent on inflicting misery upon the people of Hyperion Falls as well as bringing forth the beginning of the End.
