Episode 27: Part 2

In the roiling darkness of the Abyss, the Cambion Lord Gideon stood by his tower's throne room window, looking out over the chaos as his two generals finally returned from their diplomatic mission. Without turning around, the fallen Archangel spoke, "General Abaddon, Lady Shemhazai... you've both done well. I understand the Horsemen have agreed to work with us."

Both of the generals fell to one reverent knee.

"Yes Lord Gideon, but they are... fickle minded," Shemhazai replied carefully. "I doubt we will be able to exert much control over them in the long term."

"No matter," Gideon smiled turning around, "As long as they are indifferent toward our Cambion army they will still be useful to me."

Now it was General Abaddon's turn to look up in confusion, "My Lord?"

"The Great Seal that is keeping us trapped here is on the verge of collapse. I've been watching it fail and I am certain that it can be breeched any day now."

"What does that have to do with the Horsemen?" Shemhazai asked curiously.

Gideon walked slowly back toward his throne and sat down, "The Horsemen are driven to inflict death, destruction, and misery on wide scales... perhaps even greater than ours right now. The more suffering we allow them to cause, the quicker our own seal breaks. If they destroy the Vanguard Rangers while doing so, then so much the better for us."

"What would you have us do in the mean time Lord Gideon?" Abaddon asked.

The fallen Archangel's lips curled into a devilish smile, "We will wait patiently... but there are many preparations I'd like you to make in the mean time."


Early the next morning, the Vanguard Rangers gathered at Professor Bishop's townhouse and sat down glumly in his living room. After briefly telling their mentor about having been badly trounced the previous night, the five Rangers were feeling sore, bruised, and demoralized. While they were surprised that Famine had let them live, it didn't help make the humiliating sting of defeat any less.

While Kara remained in the kitchen, Bishop entered the living room with a pitcher of hot tea and several mugs for his students. As he set them down on the coffee table, none of the Rangers moved to take one.

"Is everything ok?" the professor asked pouring himself a cup and sitting down in his own armchair.

"Not really," Nick grumbled, "We got our asses kicked last night professor... badly."

Joe nodded, "He's right. Whatever we were fighting last night, we barely scratched him... and he's just one monster. The fact there are apparently three more running around doesn't help either."

Bishop nodded, "Yes. You mentioned these Horsemen have taken on the forms of the biblical harbingers of the Apocalypse... and that they seem to be in league with the Cambion demons. If you say you came across the Rider of Famine, then that explains the eating curse that's been spreading through our city. He must have tainted or cursed the food somehow."

As he spoke, the Rangers looked over and saw Kara enter the living room with a plate full of miniature hamburgers she had warmed up in the microwave. As she sat down, she began to eat them hungrily causing everyone to stare.

The Gold Ranger stopped for a moment, looking at them before saying with a full mouth, "What?"

"Kara! Not my frozen White Castle sliders!" Bishop cried in dismay. "I was saving those! Do you know how hard it is to come by them out here?"

The Rangers turned their curious looks toward the distraught Professor causing him to sigh and shake his head, "Just... trust me everyone. It's a Midwest thing. You wouldn't understand."

Kara simply shrugged and continued eating "Delicious. These make me... very happy."

Izzy looked back to the others, "Famine did say that Kara was cursed too... probably when she ate that salad at the Union, but how come she hasn't completely lost control like the other victims?"

"Remember, I am only half human," Kara answered in between bites of food, "For now, I'm resisting the curse, but it is becoming increasingly... difficult."

Claire clenched her fists in frustration, "Well, whatever is going on with Kara, we've still got to find a way to drive those Horsemen back."

After a long pause, Joe spoke up, "You know, I remember Famine saying that he had the power of the masses to protect him. What do you think that was all about?"

"Maybe it has to do with the people he cursed," Danny said thoughtfully, "I mean, think about it. He began targeting and absorbing energy from people who were already cursed. Maybe that's how he's drawing his power."

"Of course!" Claire grinned, "That makes sense. Famine became bigger and stronger after he fed on those people. He's basically using all those cursed people as different mouths and he's the final stomach."

"That means the way to weaken Famine will be by starving him out," Bishop concluded with a grim smile, "Ironic, isn't it?"

"I don't get it," Nick said, "How are we going to beat Famine that way?"

Joe crossed his arms pensively, "Attrition. We'll have to keep moving and stop Famine from feeding on more victims. Over time, he'll grow weaker and weaker until we can wear him down through battle."

"That's not going to be easy," Izzy commented with a worried look.

Beside her on the couch, Danny sighed, "We're facing down a Horseman of the Apocalypse Iz. No one's expecting an easy fight."

Bishop sighed, "In the mean time, I did some digging and it seems that the tainted food all came from the same food distribution center located in the Westown district of the city. I've already phoned in an anonymous warning to them but if wort comes to worst, perhaps Famine will return there to strike again.

The Red Ranger nodded, "No, that's where we'll set our trap. We've got our game plan so let's get ready to move again. In the mean time, Kara... are you going to be ok?"

The Gold Ranger nodded and reached over taking the pitcher of hot tea. To everyone's shock, she tipped it back and chugged the liquid down quickly and easily. After finishing it, she put down the pitcher and gave a dainty little burp causing Nick to raise an incredulous eyebrow, "Um, Kara... you do know that tea was super hot, right?"

"Indeed," she said as the others continued to stare, "It could have used a little twist of lemon though."


That afternoon the Horseman Famine smiled to himself as his dark spectral steed leapt across the roofs of several buildings in the city before he stopped at an open plaza. Down below, the Black Rider could see a cultural festival going on with several ethnic food and refreshment stalls opened. He had made a pass there earlier and now returned to the sight of chaos erupting as the food stands were torn apart and several customers devolving into a feeding frenzy.

As the Rider dropped down to the plaza, other bystanders took one look and fled in panic while the cursed people froze, affected by the Horseman's aura. Again, Famine tilted his head back and prepared to absorb life energy from the cursed people when a powerful bolt of fire struck him from above.

Famine shrugged off the magic blast of fire, protected by his own stored up energies before glancing up in fury to the sight of the morphed Red Ranger.

"Your horse looks a little weighted down there Famine," Joe smirked putting his Keyrune away and spreading his wings, "I think you should go on a diet."

The Horseman snarled, "How dare you interrupt me boy! I'll make you regret ignoring my warning!"

The Red Ranger took off into the skies as the Horseman swiftly gave chase, following through the city before losing sight of him behind some taller buildings. Famine growled again at having burned away some energy in a pointless chase before he turned back to another area he had cursed nearby, a local soup kitchen. As he galloped toward the building, he could already hear the panicked cries of several volunteers watching as the people eating in the soup kitchen became extremely hungry… and violent.

As the horseman passed several raggedy people still standing in line, one of the people tore off their blanket around them revealing themselves to be the Pink Ranger. In a flash, she landed a flurry of charged rapier thrusts into Famine, again drawing his attention away.

"You insolent girl!" the rider roared taking a wide swing with his flail, furious that he had expended even more power to absorb those blows. Izzy ducked under the flail and darted out a side door of the soup kitchen taking flight with the furious Horseman behind her. She watched as Famine followed her into the Westown district and neared the food distribution center where the others were waiting. As long as they kept the Rider chasing or defending himself from attacks, he would burn more energy and grow weaker still. Finally, they reached the open warehouse doors and Izzy swooped into the darkness making the rider pause for a moment.

"Where did you go Ranger?" Famine growled furiously as he cantered his dark steed toward the large loading dock doors of the food distribution center.

Just then, Izzy popped up from behind some crates and gave a mocking wave, "Hey! You should really eat something. You're all skin and bones!"

"Of all the impertinence..." the Horseman snarled as he gave chase to the Pink Ranger. As she scurried deeper into the dark warehouse, Nick pounded his warhammer into the ground nearby causing the earth to shake and erupt into uneven patches, surprising the rider.

Famine gave a surprised cry as his horse whinnied and stumbled forward on its face, pitching its rider forward. In an instant, the rider turned his head again and saw the Blue Ranger drop from the rafters of the high warehouse ceiling with his spear aimed downward.

Famine watched in curiosity as the Ranger fell and drove his spearhead clean into the dark steed's neck. Giving a triumphant cheer, Danny twisted the spear and felt the demonic horse thrash once before dispelling into a cloud of inky black smoke.

As he rose to his feet, Famine laughed and gently clapped his bony hands, "Well done Rangers. I'm impressed. You're already fighting smarter than the last time we met... but it still won't be enough. There is never enough for me."

"We'll just see about that," the Red Ranger called as he and the first five Rangers revealed themselves from their hiding spots, encircling the Horseman. "Everyone, you know what we have to do."

The five pulled their Keyrunes and summoned their golden armor. As the Rangers lashed out with their weapons, Famine roared in fury and began to intensify the dark aura he radiated. Amid the frenzied close quarters melee, the Rangers struggled to hold their Archangel forms against the Horseman's weakening aura that slowly sapped their own strength away.

Meanwhile, Kara watched from her hiding place, preparing to land a finishing blow, but it was getting harder to focus as Famine's curse continued gnawing at her mind. Instead, she tried to focus on the battle, looking for a clean opening.

By now, she could tell Famine was going through a lot of energy, absorbing blows from the Rangers while continuing to exert effort through his aura. She could also see the Rangers begin to shift tactics and fight defensively, prolonging the fight to exhaust the Horseman through sheer attrition.

Giving one more roar, Famine exerted a great burst of his energy and threw off all five Rangers around him, causing them to demorph.

"Not enough," the Horseman panted with a tired laugh, "You may have exhausted my own energy reserves, but it will still be more than enough to finish you."

As he raised his flail to strike at the exhausted Rangers, Kara sprung from her spot and parried the blow, landing one of her own. Famine staggered a moment showing the first sign of true injury before raising his weapon to block Kara's follow up blow. As Kara struck, Famine used the chain to snare her wrist and use her momentum to flip her to the ground.

Before the Gold Ranger could react, the Horseman grabbed at her neck, pinning her down and leaning forward with a grin, "You've collected some energy for me little girl. I can smell it on you. After I feed on you, I'll use that power to destroy the rest of your friends."

Kara thrashed again making the Rider laugh.

"Give up already girl," Famine hissed clutching at Kara's collar in a tight grip, trying to pin her down further , "You've run long enough... and now I'll feed on you too."

With that, the Horseman began to open his hideous mouth into an unnatural size. As he did, he began to give off his dark psychic aura that pulled at Kara and tried to violently suck at the vital energy she had already consumed from her curse.

The Gold Ranger grunted and struggled back with all her might, feeling her head swimming and her ears ringing. Still, she forced a small sardonic smile on her lips as she looked right into the wide gaping mouth of Famine. He was severely weakened and desperate now.
"Oh, you will feed," she said, "On Empyrian steel!"

Just like lightning, Kara brought her scimitar around and plunged it straight into the Horseman's mouth. Giving a shout, she charged her blade with her thunder element and the blade lit up with surging lightning that crackled inside the Horseman's throat.

Having been caught off guard, the severely weakened Horseman gave a surprised gurgle as the lightning lit up his entire skull and coursed through his skeletal body. The Gold Ranger fell over gasping as the Horseman lurched backwards and crumpled to his knees, completely burning away into black dust while still feebly clutching at the blade in his throat.

As Kara staggered to her feet, she gave a sigh as she felt the hunger pangs and darkness of the curse leave her. Moments later, her other Ranger friends weakly stumbled over and gathered around her, enveloping her in a relieved group hug.

"Kara! Are you ok?" Nick asked in concern, letting go for a moment.

The Gold Ranger nodded and powered down, gracing her friends with a small relieved smile, "I am unharmed... thank you everyone."

"Damn," Joe muttered tiredly as he reached down and handed the fallen scimitar back to Kara, "I can't believe that plan actually worked. We barely pulled it off."

Danny grinned and put an arm around Kara, "He's right. Plus you really took to that Horseman there. Who knew that all he was lacking in his diet was a little, Iron?"

The others rolled their eyes and groaned. Turning to slowly walk out of the warehouse, they left the Blue Ranger standing by himself.

"Oh hey! Come on guys!" he called hurrying to catch up, "It was a good pun! At least I thought it was funny!"


Late the next afternoon, the Vanguard Rangers gathered for an impromptu dinner at Nick's farmhouse just outside the city. With the recent food scares and inspections going around the city, Nick's parents extended an invitation to him and his friends to have a meal with food straight from the fields.

As they sat around the large table chatting with members of Nick's equally large family, they were stunned and excited by the impressive spread that was prepared. Ironically, Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away, but it looked like the holiday came early as a small turkey was served along with biscuits, gravy, garlic potatoes and a casserole of candied yams.

"Nick, this food looks amazing," Danny grinned preparing to reach his fork into some potatoes but his hand was caught by Izzy sitting beside him.

"Not so fast. We say grace first," the Pink Ranger reminded him, taking his and Joe's hands

Claire sighed reluctantly, "Must we?"

The Red Ranger gave Claire a patient smile and nodded as he took her hand too, making her go along.

At the head of the table, the big blonde farmer Mr. Adler folded his hands and wore a solemn face as he began to pray, "Lord, bless these sinners while they eat their dinners… Amen."

Izzy sat in stunned silence while the other Rangers laughed and the younger Adler kids cheered.

"Like father like son. Straight to the point and doesn't waste time with formalities," Joe grinned toward his roommate as Nick laughed aloud and passed him some biscuits.

To everyone's shock, they stopped as they saw Kara ignore the turkey and potatoes and instead load her plate with vegetables like corn, squash, and green beans.

"What?" the Gold Ranger asked in confusion as she froze and looked up toward the amused faces of her friends. "I thought I would give these vegetables a second chance."

She could only give a puzzled frown as she watched her friends erupt into another gale of good natured laughter.


Later that night, the Red Ranger lay in his bed sleeping peacefully until he felt small pinpricks of something light and cold on his face. Joe shook his head and slowly opened his bleary eyes, only to find himself lying outside on a now snow covered ground.

The surprising change of scenery and the sudden feeling of cold snow underneath made him shoot upright and look about in a disoriented panic. He was out on a deserted mountain plateau, at night, in the dead of winter. What happened? How did he get here? Why was he here?

As gently falling snow continued to sprinkle down from above, Joe blinked and realized there was a warming presence over him, giving off light with a gentle red glow. The Ranger turned around and was shocked to see a familiar winged angel wreathed in fire hovering behind him, as if keeping watch over the young man. For some reason, the image of the fiery angel was blurred, but there was no doubt it was Archangel Auriel.

"Auriel? What's going on?" Joe frowned in confusion, "What's happened? Why are we here?"

As if in a dreamlike state, the angel spoke, but its words were muffled and unintelligible.

"What? I don't understand."

With a slow movement, the fiery Archangel raised his hand to his own chest and placed it over his heart as if trying to convey a direction with its body language.

In an instant, a powerful gust of blinding snow gusted and obscured Joe's vision. When it faded, the Ranger found himself sitting upright in his bed, as if risen from a waking dream. Despite feeling cold sweat run down his neck, he was back in the safety and warmth of his own dorm room.

Nearby, his Red Keyrune lay inert on the nightstand and his alarm clock read 4 AM. From the other side of the room, Nick was curled up in his blankets sound asleep, snoring softly.

The Red Ranger rubbed his eyes and looked outside the window to see that a light snow had begun to fall. Picking up his Keyrune, he sat in the dark gazing upon the artifact.

"Where are you Auriel? What are you trying to tell me?" he whispered in the dark. He was unsure whether to feel more awe or dread, so he could only continue to sit in silence hoping in vain that somehow the Archangel would return and answer his questions.