Episode 23: Part 1
It was a busy late afternoon at the Mugshot café as Ethan Larson finished wiping down the counters and prepared to hand things off to the next shift. He prepped another pitcher of house brewed ice tea which had been a popular special during the hot month of August. He also noted that more students were coming back to patronize the café as school would be starting up again in just a couple weeks. It had been a busy summer and a lot had happened so he decided to enjoy it while he could and that would start with serving two of his friends at a corner table.
He came over and refilled the ice tea glasses of Danielle and Amber as the two girls sat chatting and passing the time. He flashed a grin and gave his new girlfriend Amber a quick kiss on the cheek as he went about his work, "Hey, are you really waiting up here until I get off?"
"Sure. Why not?" the White Ranger replied, "We were going to go out and hit the town afterward."
"I don't know about you two, but it's still a bit too hot outside for me," Danielle said taking a sip of her drink, "I can't wait for the cooler autumn weather to come through."
Ethan gave a chuckle to Amber as they squeezed hands, "That's fine too. Good weather for cuddling, right?"
Danielle rolled her eyes before seeing Tyler enter the café. She waved the Red Ranger over to the table and offered him a chair, "Hey Ty. What's up? Maybe you can save me from all the mushiness going on here. It looks like our two lovebirds are still in the honeymoon phase."
"Oh, trust me. When it wears off a little, that's when things get interesting," he said in bemusement, "That's probably why I'm here right now."
"Oh? Trouble in Paradise?" Ethan ribbed his friend while handing him a drink.
Tyler gave a mild snort, "Recently Gabby brought up this whole deal about a sixth month anniversary and asked me what we were going to do for it. I didn't even know those were a thing!"
"Well some girls place importance on it," Danielle said thoughtfully, "Personally, I've always thought unless it was celebrating a year, those occassions were kinda dumb and pointless."
"I know, right?" Tyler sighed, "Anyways, I asked her if it even mattered since we've been hanging out since we were toddlers."
Amber winced, "Ouch. Bad move. I take it you're in the doghouse right now?"
"Unless I can plan a fun date activity to make up for it by next weekend," Tyler mumbled in dismay, "I was thinking we could try out a new dance club across town and go salsa dancing. The only problem is… I suck at dancing."
"Well you're in luck," Danielle said rising from the table, "It just so happens I know a thing or two about Latin dancing."
The others laughed as she shook her hips a little and starting to half-sing the Cuban Pete song, "Just give me a few days and I will teach you to chic-chicky-boom, chic-chicky-boom, chic-chicky-boom."
After the laughter died down, Amber scratched her chin, "Speaking of, where is Gabby anyway?"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Gabrielle Winthrope stood the gymnasium of a local elementary school while a small crowd of school children were busy enjoying the activities of a "Fun Fair" that had been set up to welcome the kids back to school. As Gabby's mother was a teacher at the school, she had been one of the organizers and was busy looking after things. Not surprisingly, the Pink Advent Ranger had been "volunteered" by her mother to work one of the booths. While she didn't mind doing something nice for the kids, she grumbled a little bit at it consuming one of her free days when she wasn't working.
On that particular day, she asked for Eli's help to come along and supervise their booth which was a miniature shooting gallery where kids could take aim at targets with nerf guns that fired suction cup darts. Unfortunately, the kids often couldn't wait to let Eli reset all the targets and had some fun taking target practice on the Blue Ranger instead. As he came back to the edge of the stand where Gabby was taking tickets, he sighed in annoyance and pulled off a few suction darts from his face, "You know, credit where it's due but those little monsters have surprisingly good aim. Tell me again why you dragged me here?"
"Because everyone else was busy today and I'm still kinda mad at Tyler too."
"Which is a nice change of pace," Eli agreed pulling the last sticky dart off his face, "Whenever I make jokes, I catch enough heat from you girls anyway."
Their mutual gripe session was broken up as a youngish woman in her early thirties approached. She wore a pink summer blouse over some light jeans and her long dark brown hair was tied up in a neat ponytail. Her overall look was accented by a pair of stylish eyeglasses giving her a smart appearance. She smiled as she watched some kids run by before she approached the Rangers. "Excuse me. Hi. Are you Gabby Winthrope?"
The Pink Ranger paused and turned toward her in surprise, "Yes. I'm sorry, do I know you?"
The woman laughed and extended a hand, "No. But your mother would. My name is Laurel Coleman. I'm going to be starting a new teaching job here this year."
Gabby exchanged a polite greeting and introduced Eli before he went back to tangling with the kids, "So Ms. Coleman... you said you knew my Mom?"
Laurel laughed, "To be honest, she and the other Vanguard Rangers had been my heroes since I was a little girl growing up here. Your mother was responsible for saving my life from a demon a long time ago, and she also inspired me to become a school teacher just like her."
"Oh wow! That's awesome," Gabby smiled with pride for her mother, "You think you'd ever want to take up wearing some pink spandex too?"
Laurel laughed, "Oh gosh no. I'm a lot of things, but a warrior I am not. I was hoping I could say hello to your mother again when I learned she taught here. It's been several years since I went off, got married, and took a job back here."
Gabby looked around and pointed toward the other end of the school, "Ah... well, I'm sure she's probably around somewhere that way. It was nice to meet you and I'll definitely let her know you came by."
As Laurel departed and gave a friendly wave, Gabby turned back to the booth and came over to help her teammate when she heard him yelp from being pelted again by a fresh volley of sticky darts from the impatient children.
Up in the halls of the Sanctum, Umbriel stood in the great throne room pondering over the condition of the Eternity Gate. The giant ornamented relic shimmered in the ambient light with its colorful encrusted jewels and its gilded edges. The Nephilim lord continued to look over the central structure ringing the portal of the gate. Lining that gold plated fixture were six shattered seals all save for one. That one last seal was the only thing standing in the way of the Nephilim carrying out their final plan to subjugate the mortals of earth. As he studied the seal, he heard his brother Ithuriel speak from somewhere nearby, "It seems this final lock will not be so easy to open, brother."
Umbriel turned around slowly and calmly regarded his other peer as he entered the chambers, "Oh? Pray tell brother. Have you made any other breakthroughs in your lab?"
Ithuriel came to study the last remaining seal as is glowed and shimmered in the ambient light, "Nothing substantial anyway. You were clever in unlocking the last two seals with relative ease, but I feel this one will be the real challenge."
"I'm listening."
Ithuriel sighed and crossed his arms, "From what I've gathered so far, this last seal will require a few added conditions. It would seem to require an unusually large amount of power but there may also be a bit of a sacrificial component to it as well, to test those opening the gate to see if they are really prepared to go all the way."
"Sacrifice? Like what?" Umbriel asked curiously, "Can we just sacrifice a Herald? Or maybe offer some precious metals and incense?"
"I can't be certain yet," Ithuriel admitted as he kept his eyes fixed on the prize. If there was a way he could seize the power of the gate and usurp Umbriel at that moment, he would have been more that willing to do so. But now was not the time. For now, it would be best to bide one's time and be patient. "I believe I will go back to my lab and study this some more."
Umbriel grimaced in slight impatience, "Fine. But what are we supposed to do in the mean time? Shouldn't we be keeping those Rangers on the defensive and not give them a chance to really regroup?"
"I believe I can help you with that Umbriel," said another voice as the female member of the Trimvirate arrived to make her appearance. Their sister Samandriel had overheard her brothers' conversation and decided to make herself useful. "I think I've got a Herald who should be able to handle such a task. He may be able to provide us with a little bit of sport too."
"Really? And what angle are we going with here?" Ithuriel scoffed dismissively, "Shape shifting? Mind control? Infiltration?"
Samandriel smiled and held up what looked to be a large empty leash, "No. Just pure destruction... targeted toward our enemies of course. Raziel seemed to be a bit restless so I thought I'd let him get some exercise and go hunting."
The two other males of the Triumvirate exchanged a curious look before Ithuriel frowned to his brother, "Umbriel... you do realize you're indulging our sister's frivolous whims here. Surely you'll recall that Herald."
Instead, the first lord simply shrugged, "Perhaps, but I don't see the harm in letting her have some fun today."
Umbriel looked to Samandriel and then turned back to the Gate, "I leave things to you today sister. As for you Ithuriel, keep me updated when you make any further progress on your research."
The scholar gave a little bow of his head and walked off wearing a mild sneer, "Oh you can bet that I will, brother."
Later that day as the Fun Fair began to wind down, Eli joined Gabby as she met up with her mother and the new teacher Laurel by some of the outdoor booths on the playground. By now, some of the other event volunteers began to clean up some of the booths and gather the kids so that they could wait for their parents to pick them up. The four took that time out to relax a little bit and chat over some spare cans of soda pop. After a few minutes of small talk, Laurel sighed and looked around, "You know, in some ways, I think I must be crazy coming back here right now. When I was a little girl, there were regular demon attacks and now I heard there are more monsters who've been showing up lately."
"Oh, well you shouldn't worry," Eli said trying to sound offhanded about it, "We've got a new team of Power Rangers who have been keeping the peace around here."
"I've heard that too," Laurel nodded, "I'm guessing you're a fan of them, like I was?"
Eli smirked, "Well... if I have to be totally honest, I kinda think the current Blue Ranger is the coolest one of all."
Gabby gently rolled her eyes to herself but Laurel didn't seem to notice and turned to address her childhood hero, "Isabel, do you think everything will be okay? I mean, I know you and your old team are semi-retired from going off and fighting monsters, but I'm curious to know what you think of this new team that seemed to come out of nowhere."
Izzy gave a kind smile and came over to put an arm over her daughter, "Well... so far I think they've been doing a great job and I don't really mind them taking the lead either. Better that the younger generation step up now but if they ever came and asked for my help, I'd be happy to give it."
"I guess you're lucky you don't have the same kind of weight on your shoulders as your mom, did? Right?" Laurel asked, oblivious of the real truth.
"Well, that's one way of putting it," the younger Pink Ranger said, "I wouldn't be sure I could fill those shoes exactly the same way Mom did."
"Oh I don't know about that," Laurel said with a kind laugh, "For one thing, I can tell the strong resemblance you have with her, just by looking at you."
Eli gave a sigh and turned away for a minute fearing that with all these girls gathered around, they might start talking about more boring girly things. In a way, his prayers were suddenly answered for some new excitement, but it wasn't quite what he was expecting or wanting either. To his surprise, he heard several people and children cry out in terror as the remains of a wooden booth went sailing by overhead. They crashed several yards away and from the opposite direction, the Blue Ranger spied a large supernatural beast that almost looked like it was some kind of Celestial chimera.
The Nephilim Herald Raziel had the body of a griffin-like creature with large powerful leathery wings and lion paws with sharp nails. It's tail looked to have a sort of scorpion stinger while the beast had multiple heads. The center bore the humanoid Nephilim mask while the other two were that of a ram and reptilian creature. Despite its abominable visage, the creature was draped in an armored carapace to protect its body and it was stylized with Celestial runes, filigree, and ornaments. Eli gawked a moment, "What the hell is that thing and what is it doing here?"
"We'll figure that out later Eli! Come on, we've got to stop it!" Gabby called as she joined her comrade and brandished her morpher. The two instantly morphed in a swift motion and drew their weapons to join the battle.
Nearby, Laurel stared in utter shock at the surprising development. Izzy's daughter was a Ranger too? Izzy whirled around with a deadly serious look while she pulled her own morpher from her purse, "Laurel! Gather the kids and try to get clear of the area, now!"
As the younger teacher hurried to direct some nearby children to safety, she halted as another figure descended from the skies to cut off their escape. Eli blinked in surprise as they saw Samandriel hover nearby and drop a handful of stones which formed into a platoon of Sentinel warriors. She had come to supervise the mayhem but was surprised the Blue Ranger was present there. "Eli? This wasn't part of the plan. What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question!" he shouted as he and Gabby both leapt away from the chimera monster that barreled past them.
"You can chat with your girlfriend later Eli! We've got other things to worry about!" Gabby called as she raised her weapon and prepared to engage the bestial Herald Raziel. Meanwhile, the sanctum foo-tsoldiers were already swarming the other end of the carnival ground and began taking prisoners starting with Laurel and several of the kids.
As the two Advent Rangers hesitated and saw that their attention was split, Izzy raised her Keyrune as the chimera charged forward and tried to run her over. While the older Pink Ranger didn't have time to morph, she called up a hasty wall of wind just in time to throw the monster off balance. As it tripped and fell, it lashed out with its paws in a wild flailing swipe which batted Izzy away. She tumbled hard to the ground and fell on her shoulder causing Gabby to cry out in fear for her mother.
"Mom!"
Izzy rolled over and turned to her daughter while wincing in pain, "Gabby! Go save the kids!"
Without a second thought, the Pink Ranger threw herself at the chimera instead and began to attack it furiously with her rapier. The monster howled as it backed away from the prone Izzy and recoiled from the Pink Ranger's onslaught as she was determined to defend her parent first. While his teammate went berserk, Eli turned and decided to try and do something about the civilians giving a low curse under his breath.
He charged into the Sentinels and smashed several of them apart with his mace and a few martial arts moves, but there were still too many to cut through. Although he could hold his own, he doubted he could reach some of the hostages in time as they were being dragged off. He decided on another strategy instead. "Samandriel! Call off the attack! I don't want to fight you!"
"Nor do I want to fight you," she replied from midair, "But there's still the business of killing the other Rangers, and my mission..."
"Forget the Nephilim's mission! Do what we humans do and make your own!'" he pleaded.
She grimaced, "But the seals... we are so close. We can change the whole world."
"But you'd have to destroy it in the process. Would you really want to erase all this? Along with me?" Eli asked as he fought off a few more Sentinels.
Samandriel hesitated and wore a conflicted look before waving her hand and whisking away the remaining Sentinels along with some of their captives. Eli gave a frustrated groan and turned to help Gabby as he saw her dodging some pounces from the chimera. The two Rangers made a leaping attack but were swatted down by the Herald's scorpion tail, then thrown aside as its three heads unleashed jets of different elemental breath weapons. As they struggled to get back up, the Herald was bombarded by a rain of blaster fire from above as the other Advent Rangers swept in to assist their comrades.
Raziel snarled and fired off one more cloud of fire and ice to create a smokescreen before retreating the field. Once the ground was clear, Tyler holstered his blaster and helped Eli stand up again, "Eli? What happened here? Are you guys okay?"
The Blue Ranger pointed over to where Gabby was tending to her mother. Izzy lay on the ground clutching her arm wondering if maybe she had broken something or popped the arm from it's socket. Gabby powered down and helped her mother sit up, "Mom! Are you okay?"
Izzy grimaced and gave a nod but regarded her daughter with a degree of disappointment and frustration, "Gabrielle! What were you thinking? Why didn't you listen to me back there?"
"I wasn't going to let you get killed, Mom!" she protested.
Izzy shook her head, "We're Rangers, mija. We all know the risks. Remember, our duty is to always protect the lives of others first. Now the enemy have taken some of them prisoner."
"But Mom..." Gabby argued but Izzy admonished her.
"Not now Gabby. We'll talk about this later."
The Pink Ranger gave a deflated sigh as the others gathered around and prepared to make some calls for a little extra help in this troubling situation.
A/N:
To anyone who has read my Vanguard series, yes. The guest character here is in fact the same minor character Laurel, except she's all grown up now. :)
