Episode 5: Part 2
The next morning, Quinton Wallace gave a deep sigh as he sat down on a wooden bench in Ivy Lane Plaza. The outdoor garden plaza located on the other end of town was a popular spot for many citizens of Somerset Valley to come and relax, especially during the summertime. Despite the chilly approach of winter, some shoppers who were headed out of the nearby commercial district still lingered to admire the ornate sculptures and large stone fountain at the center of the plaza.
As Quinton sat glumly in the sunny square, he took a sip of coffee from a to-go cup, enjoying the warm feeling to his hands and throat. He was still a little upset about yesterday and was feeling a little sore at his friends. He knew they probably weren't trying to take advantage of him, though he could also understand why they'd unconsciously be pushing ideas on him too. They probably thought he'd be second guessing his own wishes and unable to make a decision by himself. In a way, he always tended to follow others' leads and didn't assert himself too much in a lot of situations. A good example of that was when he'd hang out at social events with Connor. The Summer Knight was always so confident and self assured around others, Quinton just naturally trusted him and got comfortable falling into line. As much as he hated to admit it, Quinton's own weakness made him a little upset at himself.
His thoughts were interrupted as another handsome young man in a stylish gray wool coat sat down at the other end of the bench with him. He had striking blonde hair with cold blue eyes and looked to be another student from the university. Around his shoulder was a large sports bag and a quiver of metal arrows.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" the stranger asked and Quinton shrugged.
"Sure... why not? It's a free country... though, what's with the bag?"
The blonde young man placed his load down and sighed, "It's just an old sports bow and arrows. I was just coming back from the local forest preserves and decided to take a breather here."
Quinton eyed the student and raised an eyebrow, "Practicing archery at this time of year? Outdoors? That's pretty unusual."
The stranger shrugged nonchalantly, "That's okay... I generally don't care what others think of me anyway. I find most people to be pretty ignorant and stupid as it is."
"Hmm... I kinda know the feeling right now," Quinton muttered as he took another sip of his coffee.
The blonde student studied the Spring Knight for a moment with a hint of amusement, "Ahh... then I suppose that's why you're sitting by yourself in the chilly air sulking by the fountain today?"
The Spring Knight gave a rueful smile and extended a hand, "Something like that. The name's Quinton."
"Stephen," the archer replied coolly while returning a quick handshake, "Stephen Gentum-Smith. You're a fellow student at Somerset Valley?"
Quinton nodded, "Yeah... I just came out here to clear my head today. I kinda got upset at some of my friends recently."
Stephen wrinkled his brow thoughtfully before reclining in his seat, "Friends can be a bit of a liability. Usually more trouble than they're worth in my opinion. But if you have to deal with them, I say don't be afraid to put yourself first sometimes. Do what you think is best and don't put too much weight on what everyone else is telling you that you should be doing."
Quinton fell silent and thought it over. He wasn't sure he totally agreed with Stephen, but he did have some fair points about standing up for himself. "Yeah... okay. I'll give it some thought. Thanks."
The conversation between the two young men was cut short as they both saw a large imposing shadow appear from behind them. It looked like a giant gnarled tree and they both jumped up, whirling around to see the form of Balor's monstrous tree man lumber forward and smash the bench with its hand.
"What the hell is that thing?" Stephen gasped in terror as Quinton shoved him toward one of the exits of the plaza.
"Hey! Get out of here! Run for it!"
Stephen nodded and took off running with his gear, not even taking a moment to look back at the rampaging monster. Quinton rolled away from another blow and took a deep breath, drawing in as much courage as he could muster. Even if he was alone, he'd have to try and stop this Fomorian from getting into the town's central district. He raised his ring and charged forward, transforming amid a shimmering green light and a cloud of Spring leaves, "Athru!"
Trying a similar tactic that he had used against the lesser plant monster in the woods, he tumbled under the treant's first strike and quickly struck a sword blow across the large monster's abdomen. Unfortunately, this time his sword stuck in the thick bark skin of the treant and mitigated his ability to follow through.
The Spring Knight gasped as he felt the treant reach over with its other hand and clamp down on him with its large hand covered in roots and vines. Things had just gone from bad to worse.
That afternoon, Connor walked about the antique shop, going over the inventory with a pencil and a clipboard until Noelle and Laura entered though the front door. As the cold air from outside faded away, the two girls walked over and took off their coats.
"Hey Connor, is everything okay?" Noelle asked as she hung up her coat on a nearby coat rack, "Laura and I were a little confused why you called us for a meeting."
The Summer Knight put down his clipboard and grimaced slightly, "Well, it's about Quinton. I think he's kinda upset at all of us for trying to tell him what he should do with his wish."
"I don't really see the problem," Laura sighed, "He should be glad that we're trying to help him... hell, I even bought him lunch on top of it."
Connor and Noelle glared incredulously at her for a moment before turning to address each other instead. The Autumn Knight wrinkled her nose, "Do you really think Quinton took it the wrong way? Because I'm sure we all meant well."
"Knowing him, I think Quinton can be a little sensitive about this kind of thing," Connor mused, "And I think he feels like he's being taken advantage of. He's always been kind of a follow-the-pack type person. He's probably just feeling a little conflicted and confused."
Laura crossed her arms patiently, "So what are you suggesting we do?"
Connor scratched his head and shrugged, "I don't know... maybe we should just trust him to use the power in the way that he wants. It's his wish after all and as his friends we should just accept it and respect whatever he decides to do."
"I like that idea. I'm on board," Noelle nodded in agreement, "Now where do we find Quinton so we can tell him?"
"You can probably meet him at Ivy Lane Plaza," Kristen interjected as she hurried in from a side room of the shop. She had her phone in hand and gestured for the door, "I just got a call from Mr. O'Doyle. He spotted another Fomorian causing a ruckus across town."
The Summer Knight threw on his own coat and opened the front door for the girls, "Okay, Balor's flunkies are on the loose again! What are we waiting for?"
From where he struggled in fear, Quinton groaned as he felt the grip of the treant tighten around him. It was crushing the life from him and would no doubt try to take his ring and his coin. The knight gave one more futile thrash, but it was in vain. There was no way out... until he felt the dark treant shudder.
Quinton gasped as he felt the constricting roots and vines suddenly go slack as they were cut from under him. The Spring Knight toppled to the ground in a heap and saw a familiar whirling falcata sword careen by. As the stunned knight tried to regain his senses, he heard the treant roar again as a searing cloud of fire from another sword slammed into it from the side and sent it reeling backwards.
"Hang on Quinton! We're here for you buddy!" a fully armored Connor called as he whirled around to help his friend stand up.
To Quinton's surprise, Noelle was also suited up for battle and caught her sword before hurrying over to steady him by his other arm, "Are you hurt?"
"No… I don't think so," he answered in a daze as he shook his head toward his friends who had just joined the battle, "But I'm still glad to see you guys."
"Let's save the warm fuzzy feelings for later, shall we? I think it's best we get out of here," Laura interjected from nearby as she squared off against the monster to cover the retreat. With one swift movement, Laura planted the tip of her sword in the earth and created a narrow sheet of slick ice to form over the ground. As the other knights scrambled to pull Quinton to safety, they watched the treant slip on the slick ice and topple over again with a great crash.
Despite the momentary obstacle, the treant shambled to its feet again and shattered the ice. When it did, a thin cloud of steam radiated off it as the remaining ice burned away from the small fires that still burned on the monster's body. Once the knights neared their waiting mounts, Quinton stopped and broke free of Connor and Noelle so that he could turn around and face the monster.
"Quinton, where are you going?" Laura demanded while giving a confused look.
The Spring Knight called upon both his short sword and his sickle as he slowly advanced toward his Fomorian enemy, "I'm going to send a message to Balor that I'm not a weak link."
"Have you lost your mind?" Noelle called as she moved to try and stop him. Connor gently caught her by the shoulders and slowly shook his head.
"Let him do this. He needs to believe he can do it for himself."
The treant growled as it squared off against Quinton causing the knight to clench his weapons tightly. As the Spring Knight surged forward, he charged his weapons with thunder energy and prepared to strike, "You're pretty big, but I think it's time to cut you down to size!"
The moment the treant brought its hands down to smash Quinton, the Knight used his smaller size and agility to slip past and tumble under the monster's guard. Quinton grinned as he drove both of his bladed weapons into the wooden feet of the monster to pin it in place. With one last push of effort, Quinton threw himself clear and rolled away before channeling the elemental energy of his ring to unleash its power. The two blades that pinned the treant crackled with electricity and triggered an elemental lightning strike from above, centered right on that target.
The treant howled in rage as the surging bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky and lit up the plaza in a deafening explosion. As the other knights shielded their eyes and ears, Quinton looked on and watched as the remains of the dark treant stood transfixed in place. The scorched tree monster had been split clean down the middle by the bolt and the two burnt halves slowly creaked and fell away into a pile of harmless charred ashes.
As Quinton recovered his weapons and rejoined his friends, Laura tilted her head, "You know, I'd say that was a brilliant job... but I'm afraid that would be a literal understatement."
"And a horrible pun too," Noelle added while clapping the Winter Knight's shoulder.
Quinton silenced them by clearing this throat and looking down, "Everyone... I should be the one thanking you. You guys came to save me, even after I overreacted a little about the whole wish thing yesterday... so, I'm sorry about that."
"Water under the bridge my friend," Connor said with a reassuring smile.
Before the two could shake hands, the four knights were startled as they saw a great cloud of dark magic erupt from the remains of the destroyed treant. They heard a roar and watched in horror as the dark cloud coalesced back into the form of the treant, only this time it had grown several stories taller into a monstrous giant.
"Oh, hell no!" Noelle exclaimed as Laura pulled her toward her mount and saddled up. The giant monster snarled in fury and began to stomp down on the ground causing the knights to hastily mount their horses and scatter in a panic. Once they regrouped, they all began to charge down the nearest open road leading out of the plaza.
Amid a storm of lumber and dead vegetation, the knights desperately wheeled their mounts around and dashed clear as the giant treant brought its foot down in an earth shattering stomp. Giving a wave, Connor directed the other knights to follow him and make a break down the main roads for the edges of the town. "Come on everyone! We have to draw that thing away from the populated areas!"
As they began to ride swiftly with the treant in hot pursuit, Laura looked over her shoulder and grimaced. "What are we going to do? There's no way we can possibly fight back against that giant monster!"
That was when Quinton stopped his horse and turned around to watch the giant Fomorian chasing them. This was looking very bad. Even if they were able to draw that thing away, they still had no means to put that monster down. Eventually it might get tired of chasing them and just come back to flatten all of Somerset Valley. He had to do something, and only one desperate idea came to his mind.
Noelle halted her horse along with Connor and they frowned in confusion, "Quinton! What's wrong? What are you doing?"
With a trembling hand, Quinton quickly reached for his golden wish coin and flipped it into the air behind his head, as if he was tossing a penny into a wishing fountain. "I wish there was a way to save my friends and the rest of the town from this giant monster!"
As the coin spun in midair, it erupted into a bright golden glow and released four motes of colorful light that zipped into the knights' horses.
"Whoah! What is going on here?" Connor exclaimed in shock as he felt his horse begin to resonate with energy.
"My wish… it's coming true," Quinton called back as he spurred his glowing horse forward, "Everyone, follow me!"
The others fell in behind the Spring Knight and found themselves enveloped in a wave of faerie magic as the horses grew in size and transfigured themselves into equally large armored battle titans, finally fusing together into one large warrior. The giant Fomorian treant froze in shock as it was confronted by the colossal metallic warrior. From a seemingly mystic pocket dimension within the titan, the four knights found themselves standing in control with a clear view of the battlefield before them.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Laura exclaimed while looking around and trying to orient herself.
Quinton focused his eyes forward, "Well, Power Rangers we know of have had to deal with giant monsters before, so I figured we needed a way to do that too. It was the only way to save all of us, and the rest of the town."
"You really sacrificed your wish for everyone?" Noelle asked in surprise.
"Well, it was either this or a giant chainsaw," Connor cut in gently as he gestured forward, "But now's not the time Noelle. We've still got a giant Formorian to deal with. Quinton, you want to take the lead on this one?"
The Spring Knight cracked his knuckles and willed their titan forward, "And get some payback? My pleasure. Let's go Paladin Megazord!"
As the Megazaord rushed forward and began to grapple with the treant, Laura gave a mild shrug, "Paladin Megazord huh? It has a nice ring to it."
"Laura? We're in the middle of a fight here. A little help?" Connor prompted her.
The Winter Knight sighed and helped will the Megazord's foot to move, "Oh, very well."
As they broke the grapple, the Megazord's foot came down on the treant's own root covered ankle causing the monster to roar in pain. As the monster abruptly dropped its guard, the Megazord wound up and smashed the treant in the mouth with its iron knuckle.
The dark treant tumbled backwards in a heap, but as it recovered, it dug its hands into the earth, causing more giant roots and vines to erupt from the ground to tangle the Megazord's lower body. While the Megazord staggered and tried to break free, Noelle grunted, "Hey Quinton, I don't suppose your wish for a Megazord included a sword… did it?"
The Spring Knight scratched his head for a moment and shrugged, "I don't know… let's find out."
He closed his eyes and focused, trying to mentally will the ambient magic of his wish into a little extra help. To his relief, a shimmering light burst from the Megazord's hand and a giant bladed weapon materialized for use.
"All right! Now it's time to prune the hedges!" Connor cheered as he made the titan grip the sword and free itself with two great cuts.
The giant dark treant rose to its feet and froze in confusion as Quinton took control and steered the Megazord forward. "Okay, let's to chop you down into firewood!"
The lumbering Fomorian gave a terrible groan as the Paladin Megazord came into range and brought down a devastating charged blow which hacked the monster in two. A great cloud of splinters and wood erupted before they burned away as the two halves of the monster fell to the ground and dissipated.
The other knights gave a cheer while Quinton gave a sigh of relief and lowered the sword arm of the Megazord. As the last bits of fiery debris and wood splinters rained down, the knights looked out over the town of Somerset Valley and saw that it had been relatively unharmed. By now, the cloud cover overhead had begun to clear allowing the sun to bathe the valley in a warm harvest colored glow. Quinton palmed his coin and gave a smile while watching the light of the evening on the horizon. "Come on everyone… I think it's time to go home."
That evening, the four knights gathered together for dinner at O'Doyle's Pub, not only to celebrate their victory, but to rest from their harrowing battle. As they sat and shared a warm meal, Quinton paused to pull out his expended gold wish coin and turn it around in his hand. A brief silence fell over the table as the others put down their utensils and watched him examine the treasure. Finally Quinton gave a sigh and put the coin down, looking up to the others with a faint smile.
"What you did today..." Laura began as she looked to him slowly, "Using your wish to save all of us and everyone in this town... that was pretty amazing."
"Very heroic and selfless of you too," Noelle added as she reached over to give Quinton's hand a squeeze.
The Spring Knight looked over to his roommate who gave a proud but tired smile, "They're right Quinton. All of us owe you our lives... so thank you."
Quinton's smile grew wider and he gave a sheepish chuckle from all the attention at the table, "It's okay. I know the rest of you would have done the same for me too, right?"
The three nodded before Laura picked up the coin with a small smile, "I wonder if we can still pawn this off and get some money for it."
Quinton snatched the coin back and frowned as Noelle gave the Winter Knight a gentle elbow to the side. Before Quinton could turn back to his meal, he spotted Kayla, his next door neighbor from back home and he stopped. She was sitting at a table across the room with another one of her female friends having some cheese fries and listening to some music.
Connor nudged his friend and gave a smile, "Well Quin, you may not have your wish coin anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't start trying to make some other dreams come true, right? You faced down a giant monster so how hard can this be?"
Quinton bit his lip and sucked in a deep breath before nodding, "Yeah… I'm not going to ask her out just yet, but I've got to start somewhere. The least I can do is start talking to her again."
"Sounds like a good plan," the Summer Knight nodded.
Connor clapped the Spring Knight's shoulder and watched as Quinton walked over toward the other end of the room where Kayla was sitting with one of her other female friend. While Quinton sat down and greeted Kayla with a timid smile, Connor grinned before turning back to his own two female friends.
"Since when did you become such an expert when it comes to women?" Noelle teased with a playful laugh.
Connor leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms with a bright smile, "It's really not hard Noelle. All you have to do is to start by making sure they're happy and taken care of."
At that moment, their server came by the table and asked, "Anything else I can get for you folks tonight?"
Connor immediately spoke up and gave a wink, "Maybe just top off the drinks of these two lovely ladies here and add a small ice cream sundae for each of them... on me."
As the waitress left, Noelle and Laura exchanged a look and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Well... it's not a bad start," Noelle admitted, "Keep it up and we might actually start to think you know what you're talking about."
As he sat across the room talking to Kayla, Quinton glanced over and saw his three fellow knights erupt into another gale of laughter amongst each other. It was then that he was glad he had used his coin in the way that he did today. Amid the good food, the laughter, and the warm company of the pub, he wished that happy moment would never stop.
A/N:
The introduction of Stephen Gentum-Smith is just a little teaser for another OC who will be important in the future of this series. Thanks again Moonlit Mortal, and thanks to everyone for reading. Next on the list, we'll all be set to chill out for a bit with our icy Winter Knight Laura Gremory. Until then!