Episode 24: Part 2

By the time Samandriel and the Black Ranger arrived, a battle had already begun raging within the eastern edge of the city's industrial district. The Herald Gardiel brought its large vibrating blade around and split a cargo container in half as the Rangers evaded and scattered into two groups to get clear. The six drew their blasters and opened fire but the shots only seemed to annoy the large burly Nephilim. As they circled around the goliath, the Rangers found the Nephilim's four faces gave it a 360 degree field of vision so it couldn't be surprised.

It brought its huge vibrating blade around and it took the efforts of the three male Advent Rangers to block it with their own weapons together. Even after planting their feet, they were driven back and knocked away from the sheer force of the blade's vibrations. The girls swooped around trying to angle in for a strike but they were chased away by the large sword as it went whistling around and created another crater in the ground nearby.

"Damn, we have to be careful," Danielle exclaimed in dread, "If we get clipped by that sword, it could be lights out."

As Gabby and Amber hurried over to help the boys back to their feet, they were surprised as a black jet of smoke raced onto the battlefield and coiled around the Herald to momentarily blind it. The Purple Ranger halted and watched in surprise as another Ranger burst from the smoke and clipped the monster with a slash of his bladed staff. "Logan?"

He landed nearby her, fully morphed and gave a quick nod, "I was on the way to meet you, but you looked like you could use a hand here first."

Danielle called on her chakram Halo Cutters and readied herself, "Fate is strange isn't it?"

"Let's try to wrap this up quickly. I don't know how long my powers will last," Logan called as he and his 'sister' dashed forward together.

The Black Ranger called again on his power of darkness and shadows and he coiled around the Nephilim like a serpent made of smoke. Danielle rode the wave and made a leaping strike against the goliath in tandem with Logan. Both Rangers landed a hard blow and evaded the counter before knocking back Gardiel with another combined attack. As the blinding smoke dissipated, the other Rangers regrouped around Logan and Danielle hoping to set up for a new attack. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be so lucky.

Gardiel recovered its footing and drove its giant vibrating blade into the ground causing a tremendous shockwave which rocked the entire district. A wall of sonic energy and gravel swept by catching the Rangers by surprise and they were all scattered in different directions. The sheer force of the attack laid them out and they struggled to get back to their feet while shaking the stars from their fields of vision. Amid the cloud of debris, Gardiel advanced and came across Danielle who was still trying to regain her senses. It saw a vulnerable target who had been separated from her comrades so it decided to strike.

The Herald set its blade vibrating again to a greater degree this time and brought it around for an overhand finishing strike, as if it were chopping wood with an axe.

Gardiel brought its greatsword down in a thundering blow and the slash carried the energy forward in a concentrated shockwave. The energy slash split the ground apart and raced toward the Purple Ranger. Danielle's eyes went wide and she gasped with terror before she saw someone leap in the way of the shockwave and shield her from harm. It had all been so fast, but the Black Ranger had gotten up and threw himself into her, using his body to take the hit of the oncoming wave.

Both Rangers screamed and were violently thrown backwards as the force and heat of the energy blast began to dissipate around them. They hit the ground hard and skidded several yards before coming to a stop in the dirt. Danielle gasped and rolled over to where Logan lay nearby. She looked on in growing dread as she turned him over and saw the extent of the damage he had endured for her. The Black Ranger's helmet was dented and the visor was cracked in several spots. His suit was scorched and the remains of his shattered armor mantle gave off small trails of smoke.

The Purple Ranger tore off her helmet and feverishly tried to prop Logan up, "Oh my god… Logan! What have you done? Why did you do that?"

The Black Ranger gasped as his powers failed and his suit's integrity gave out. His face was covered in grime and it looked like some patches of his skin had been burned. His suit had absorbed a great amount of damage, but it seemed not even that could have fully protected him from such a powerful strike. "Danielle… are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said while frantically trying to keep from crying and making sure he stayed conscious, "Just hold still. You're going to be okay. I'll get help and…"

"It's okay. You don't have to lie to me," he said grunting through the pain, "That was meant to be a lethal blow and we both know it."

Danielle looked up and saw her five fellow Rangers get back up and drive the Herald across the battlefield to keep her covered. She looked back down to the mortally wounded Black Ranger, "I don't understand… after everything that's happened. After the way we had fought… why did you do this?"

"We're supposed to be family, right? Isn't that something humans do?" he said sucking in air through his teeth.

"But you didn't have to do this," Danielle said, "We hardly knew each other. I'm so sorry about all this."

"Don't be," Logan answered gently, "Maybe my actions were a little selfish too. I wanted to be like you and know what it felt like to love someone enough to go to this extreme."

"As far as I'm concerned, that makes you as human as anyone of us… thank you," she said through tears as she grasped his hand.

Logan gave her a serene smile and sighed, "Then I'm glad I could finally make things right again."

"Yes… you did," she answered before Logan lay back and went still and Danielle watched as his face relaxed in an expression of peaceful contentment. The mourning Ranger gave an anguished whimper and continued clutching his hand before she lowered her forehead to his.

Samandriel stood in silence watching in the near distance while several hot tears fell from Danielle's cheeks onto Logan's face. After several moments, the deceased Black Ranger's artificial body began to glow with a gentle light as the last of the power from his ruined morpher reacted with his alchemical physiology.

Danielle raised her head and felt Logan's hand dematerialize in hers as he gently disintegrated into golden motes of light. The Purple Ranger remained silent as she helplessly watched the mist of golden light dissipate around her. The only objects that remained lying on the ground were Logan's weapon and a fragment of his morpher. Danielle picked up the morpher fragment and clutched it tightly before stowing it away in her belt. She took a moment to regain her composure and wipe her red puffy eyes before she took up the fallen blade staff of her 'brother.'

Danielle rose to her feet and glanced over to see Samandriel watching nearby. The Purple Ranger chose to ignore her and turned back toward the fierce battle that her other friends were currently embroiled in. She clutched the Black Ranger's weapon and left her helmet discarded on the ground as she charged forward giving a rising shout to let loose some of the pain and fury which was now boiling over within her.


The other Rangers continued circling and feinting against the goliath warrior Gardiel, seemingly unable to close for an attack. With its four faces around its head, it was nearly impossible to sneak up on the lumbering brute and the reach of its giant heavy sword did not seem to help matters either. From one flank of the battle, Ethan and Tyler both did a flying backflip to leap clear of a sword swing that cut a nearby truck clean in half. The Green Ranger gripped his weapon and turned to his roommate, "Damn! How are we going to outmaneuver this guy? We can't even get close!"

Tyler turned in surprise to see the Purple Ranger charging into battle going at a full on sprint. She had brandished her borrowed weapon and in a purple flash, she called upon her own Exalted power-up form. She used her sheer momentum to take a flying winged leap as her two multicolored tail ribbons fluttered behind her leaving a glowing energy trail from her wake.

"What the hell?" Gabby gasped in shock as she backed off with Amber to get clear. The momentary confusion with all the other Rangers around it caused Gardiel to take its eyes off Danielle allowing her to strike. The super powered Purple Ranger hammered its chest with several punishing slashes followed by a forceful kick to the chin which drove the monster back several feet. It made a desperate swipe at her to try and brush off the attacker but Danielle dispelled her wings to drop down and dodge the swipe. She hit the ground and rolled clear under the Herald's legs before whirling around to wound its ankles and heels with a slash of her blades.

Gardiel staggered again and thrashed about trying to trample the nimble Ranger underfoot. As the other Rangers regrouped, they looked on in amazement at the furious efforts of a single Ranger as she outmaneuvered and bested the small giant. Eli shook his head and blinked, "I'll be damned... what's gotten into her?"

Meanwhile, Danielle harried her larger foe changing different elements at will between attacks to throw her foe off balance. As she tumbled clear, she pulled her twin chakram blades and hurled the weapons in wide arcs. They curved through the air with a deadly whistling sound and went wide. With that, Gardiel turned on its enemy and raised its giant blade to crush her. Danielle simply smiled and pointed to the air, "Don't keep your eyes off the discus."

The two chakram arced back around and slashed deep into the two faces at the side of the Nephilim's head. They left deep vicious gouges in the mask and it wounded the Herald enough to make it recoil in pain. Danielle caught her two weapons and turned back to her teammates, "Hey! Think you can give me some covering fire?"

"You heard her. Let's do it!" the Red Ranger called as the others quickly assembled their Halo Cannon and took aim at Gardiel.

As the Herald recovered its senses, it turned just in time to meet the Rangers' attack as they fired their cannon. Gardiel raised its giant heavy blade just in time to block the cannon shot and a large explosion of energy and force rocked the entire industrial district. Several light poles were knocked flat and a handful of smaller construction vehicles which had been parked nearby were knocked sideways. Some glass windows of the nearby warehouses blew out and the shards rained down along with the dirt and gravel where the shot detonated.

As the smoke and flames began to clear, the Rangers watched in surprise as the large Nephilim Herald fell to one knee and dropped its blade. The sword had absorbed the majority of the blast but it was now scorched and ruined leaving its owner momentarily stunned from the force. Before any of the other Rangers could fully process the scene, Danielle darted forward with Logan's weapon fully charged and she made one last aggressive leap forward. She brought the blade staff down and struck as hard as she could, delivering a blow to the forehead of the goliath. As Danielle landed on the ground, her hammer-blow seemingly bisected the Nephilim's marble skull clean down the center and it fell to its knees while its stone head shattered. As the giant toppled forward, it exploded into a cloud of golden fire and feathers which rained down upon Danielle as she watched with a solemn expression.

With the heat of battle subsiding, she began to catch her breath and her limbs suddenly felt like jelly as she dropped her weapon to the ground. Amber came over to put a steadying hand on her friend's shoulder, "Dani? Are you okay?"

"No Amber... I'm not okay. Logan is dead and there's nothing I can do about that now."

The other Rangers stopped and fell into a stunned silence. They had seem him take that terrible hit when he saved Danielle, but in the heat of the battle, they didn't have time to see what had happened. The fact that Danielle was still without her helmet now also meant something was definitely off. As the boys wore a somber look, Gabby put a hand to her mouth and came over to comfort her fellow female comrade, "Oh Dani... I'm so sorry."

Danielle gave a numb shrug and continued to survey the ruins of the battlefield while trying steady her breathing. Tyler came over to offer her back her purple helmet, "Come on Dani. Let's get you out of here and head back to the tower. You can rest and we'll talk a little more there, okay?"

She silently took her helmet and put it back on before joining the others as they took off leaving the battlefield one ally short. Once the Rangers had departed, Samandriel stood watching them from the top of a tall smokestack of a derelict factory. She heard a brief flutter of wings from behind her and then heard her brother's voice. "It seems congratulations are in order Samandriel. My experiment has been eliminated and you have my gratitude."

She turned slowly to see Ithuriel walk up beside her and survey the scorched earth around them. Even if she had not been the one directly responsible for the Black Ranger's demise, she still felt responsible for not having intervened in some way. Of course, she didn't want to openly state that either. "Was this some kind of loyalty test?"

Ithuriel's lip curled in amusement, "In part... and for the moment it puts my mind at ease that you can still be trusted."

He didn't actually mean those words but he didn't want to let on either. His carefully laid machinations still had a ways to develop. "If we are going to remake this world and bring humanity to heel, we need to be ready to accept the possibility of great death and destruction. This was just a reminder to steel our hearts."

Samandriel nodded solemnly as she finally made up her mind in her heart. "I understand. Excuse me brother, I'd like to return home and take care of a few things."

She took off into the skies and tried desperately to steady her heart. Something had to give and she knew exactly what had to be done now.


Late that evening, the Rangers reconvened in the office of their mentor in the Rookery Building. The mood was quiet and somber as the Rangers recounted the events of the recent battle to Kara who sat behind her desk with a grim expression. Outside, the evening weather had seemed to match the current mood as a cool front set in from over the mountains. Clouds had set in over Hyperion Falls and the evening became darker and cooler with a light misting rain in the air.

Tyler had started a fire in the fireplace to provide some extra light and warmth in the room while Amber offered everyone some tea to drink. As the Red Ranger poked at the coals to stir the fire, Amber offered a cup of tea to Danielle who sat in a quiet stupor watching the flickering embers. "Have something to drink Dani. You'll feel better."

"The only thing that will make me feel better right now is to make the Nephilim pay for what they've done," Danielle replied darkly.

"Be careful about going down that road Danielle," came the voice of Kara from behind her desk, "What happened to Logan was tragic, but with everything else going on, now is not the time to be blinded by personal desires for vengeance."

A brief silence fell over the room as the light pitter pattering sounds of rain were heard washing over the little stone tower. Eli came over and sat down besides the Purple Ranger, "Dani… at the risk of sounding insensitive, maybe in a strange way it was a good thing that you didn't get to know Logan more. If you guys had gotten closer, the loss would've hurt even more."

"I know, but it doesn't change the fact he was still sort of my brother," she answered while wringing her hands, "What upsets me right now is what could have been. There was so much potential lost… for all of us."

Ethan and Amber exchanged a somber look and quietly squeezed each others hands before Gabby turned to her aunt. "What do you think Aunt Kara? Where do we go from here?"

The Gold Ranger folded her hands and gave a pensive look, "I can't be sure right now. I have a feeling that the Sanctum is still holding back but I think we might have to…"

She was interrupted as everyone heard a slow knock at the door. Everyone went quiet and looked to each other with unease. Gabby tensed as one of the burning logs gave off a popping noise. "Who the heck is out at this hour, and in the rain?"

Ethan looked to Kara, "You weren't expecting any visitors were you, Ms. Bishop?"

"No," Kara said as she stood up and headed for the door. Her features were dark and her muscles went taut as she prepared for a possible threat at the door. She opened it and saw a familiar young woman in a grayish white hooded cloak. Everyone froze in shock as the woman removed her hood and reveled herself to be the Nephilim lord Samandriel.

"What the… what are you doing here?" Tyler demanded as he stepped forward preparing to back up his aunt.

Samandriel shook out some rain from her cloak and extended her hands in a pacifistic gesture, "Please… do not be alarmed Rangers. I didn't come to fight. I needed to speak with you on an urgent matter."

"You have a lot of nerve coming here after everything that's happened," Danielle growled as she began to rise from her chair but she was gently restrained by Amber.

Samandriel shook her head, "You don't understand. That's the reason I came. I had nowhere else to go... I've fled from the Sanctum."

"She's joking! This has to be some sort of trap," Gabby scowled as she stood beside Danielle in solidarity.

Eli surprised everyone by speaking up, "Ms. Bishop? Could you let us hear her out, please?"

Kara maintained her stony frown and slowly stepped aside to allow the Nephilim to enter the room. Samandriel came over and took Eli's hands in relief, "Oh Eli… thank you."

The Blue Ranger felt his face grow warm but he took a minute to study her closely, "Sam… is this true? What's going on?"

Samandriel sighed, "My brother Ithuriel is a true monster and Umbriel is deluding himself. I don't want to fight humanity anymore and I don't want to fight you either. Seeing what happened today made me realize that it could have been you… that I could have been the one responsible for a needless death... of someone I care about."

"And what makes you think we should believe you," Kara cut in as she crossed her arms and fixed the Nephilim with a suspicious scowl.

Samandriel reached into her cloak and surprised everyone by producing an object. It was an ornate golden gauntlet of Celestial design. It was the Legate's Hand. She walked over to Tyler and offered it to him, "Because I come offering a powerful Celestial weapon stolen right from my brother's laboratory."


A/N:
And on that little cliffhanger, we'll take a pause for the cause so I can get the penultimate plot arc all set up. Thanks for reading!