Episode 14: Part 1

The sounds of ringing steel echoed in the dark caverns of the Underworld as Balor swept his blade around and broke the guards of several spriggan foot soldiers he was sparring with. He lashed out and grabbed the nearest one by the neck before tossing it into the others causing them to collapse like bowling pins.

"Pathetic!" the warlord growled in agitation. He had been restless and needed to blow off steam, but these sparring sessions with his troops were not giving him any real challenge or chance to truly exert himself. He turned amid the flickering torchlights and stalked back to sit on his throne, "Enough for today. Leave me!"

The cowering spriggans bowed their heads and swiftly departed the Great Hall of the Fomorian Host. Just as the fey warlord settled into his seat and began to calm himself, he looked up in mild agitation to see two figures entering the chambers. Both of the male warriors wore heavy armor accented by bright red and orange livery. Like their clothes, their skin had a reddish tint. Their sharp sinister features and small jagged horns on their heads suggested some sort of Infernal origin. The first of the visitors had his black hair worn in a long ponytail resembling a bird's plume and he stopped to give a polite bow, "Lord Balor, King of the Fomorian Host I presume?"

Balor eyed the devilish looking man and then looked to his larger burlier companion, "I am he... and you are?"

The demonic warrior gave a gracious smile, "I am Malcaris, a representative of the Underworld's Demon Houses. I serve House Phoenix and come as their emissary. This here is my associate, a chief jailer known as Gorgoroth the Enslaver."

Balor wrinkled his features and eyed Gorgorth with contempt before turning back to Malcaris. "You may have your diplomatic protections here, but why have you demons come to bother us Fomorians?"

A thin smile formed upon the face of Malcaris as he made an ingratiating gesture, "My lord, we do not come to trouble you. Rather, we are here to give you notice that we will be operating in this area for the next several days. We know of your little war against the Four Courts and we only ask for you to remain neutral while we conduct our business with them."

Balor snorted, "Ah yes... the Faerie Realm's customary Tithe to Hell every seven years. Very well. I will not interfere, if only out of respect toward the Demon Houses. Now begone!"

Malcaris bowed his head with an oily smile, "Thank you Lord Balor. You have been most gracious. I assure you that we will be out of your way before you know it."

Gesturing to his fearsome looking comrade, he turned and began walking out of the Great Hall, "Come along then Gorgorth. We have much to do... debts to collect and souls to enslave."

Meanwhile, the Fomorian general Leanansidhe sat by herself next to a small pond deep in the woods. It was a cool early spring day but it wasn't the elements that bothered her. She had been troubled by the recent victories of the human knights from Somerset Valley and by the growing discomfort she had been feeling every time she confronted them.

She couldn't quite be certain what exactly those feelings were but she knew that it was something struggling within her... confusing her, and she hated it. She would always feel that discomfort in battle, especially in the presence of the Summer Knight and she still could not understand why. She glanced again toward the waters of the pond hoping she would find an answer. There were times when she would come to that pond late at night and in the still glow of the moonlight, there would be an occasional flicker in her reflection. She had yet to comprehend what it meant, but she wanted to understand.

The young fey woman swiped her hand at the water and splashed away her reflection. Sitting here and brooding was not going to do her any good. If she was going to do anything productive, she might as well start by trying to get answers. She would seek out the Knight of Summer and confront him. She didn't know what she would do after that... if that meant fighting, or talking. If she was going to have to continue confronting her enemy, she might as well try to understand him... and herself too.

Despite the somewhat overcast day, the sounds of chirping birds and the sight of new grass growing were optimistic signs that the start of the spring season had begun. A few weeks had passed since the campus had been terrorized by a malicious leprechaun and in that time, the last icy grip of the winter season had given way to an early spring thaw.

On that particular afternoon, Connor and Quinton met up with Stephen to grab lunch with him after an exam in his last morning class. As the three boys walked together along the west end of the college campus, Stephen checked his watch and asked idly, "The girls won't be joining us for lunch today, will they?"

"Nope," Connor replied as he gave a friendly wave to some other classmates passing by on the sidewalk, "Noelle's still stuck in a science lab studying animals today and Laura decided to go off and play some tennis."

"She mentioned to me over breakfast that she's been itching to get back outside and hit the courts," Quinton added with a chuckle while he rolled along on his skateboard, "Imagine that, the Winter Knight has spring fever."

"Speaking of spring fever, heads up Quin! Ten o' clock." Connor laughed while grabbing his roommate's shoulders and directing his gaze across the West End's sprawl.

There the three boys looked across the path and saw the familiar face of Kayla, Quinton's next door neighbor from home and the object of his affections. She was a very pretty young woman with an athletic build, rosy cheeks, and long honey colored hair. Despite the cool of the early spring air, she seemed determined to enjoy the day huddled in her warm green jacket.

Quinton stopped a moment and froze up, unsure of what to do next. Stephen caught the moment of hesitation and smirked in amusement, "Ah yes... springtime, when a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."

Quinton gave the Silver Knight a little scowl before he felt Connor give an encouraging push from behind, "She's all alone. Why don't you go sit down and have lunch with her Quinton. Go seal the deal and ask her out already."

The Spring Knight sputtered in protest, "Geez Connor, I don't know... I mean, fighting Fomorians is one thing, but this? What about you guys?"

Connor and Stephen exchanged an amused look and shrugged, "Trust us, we'll manage just fine for lunch."

Quinton grimaced before taking a few deep breaths and gathering his courage, "All right... okay, here we go."

He walked forward and approached his neighbor while wearing a nervous smile, "Uh, hey Kayla. I didn't expect to see you here today. Mind if I join you?"

Kayla looked up and gave him a sweet smile, "Hi Quinton! Come and sit with me."

Quinton moved toward the bench but stopped when he saw a strange glowing portal begin to open on the edge of the campus's west end. Kayla frowned in confusion before tuning toward where he was looking and gasped when she spotted the portal, along with several figures emerging from it. As he watched, his heart began to race as he didn't recognize what these creatures were at all. Whatever the monstrous warriors were, they certainly weren't spriggans.

The creatures had reddish skin and vaguely resembled medieval foot soldiers with crude hauberks of banded armor and sallet helmets. Strangely enough, small horns protruded from their helmets giving them somewhat of a demonic appearance. After a squad of them emerged, they were followed by two more impressive looking demons who appeared to be their leaders. Malcaris and Gorogorth eyed the campus and examined several of the startled students who were passing by.

Quinton grabbed Kayla by the shoulders and pulled her up, "Kayla, get out of here! Get to safety, now!"

"Quinton, what about you?" she protested.

He shook his head and gently pushed her on, "I'll be along. Go! Now!"

As she took off running with some of the students, the demonic soldiers grabbed two of the other coeds, a male and female. Malcaris examined them both and shrugged, "Keep the boy. The girl isn't fair enough. Gorgorth, take him away."

As the demons released the female student, Connor and Stephen rejoined Quinton and confronted the new monsters. Connor stepped forward and took the lead, "Hey! That's enough! Whoever you are, you'd better get lost!"

Malcaris looked up slowly with an air of bored disdain, "Insolent mortals... you must be the so-called Hibernian Knights."

Stephen balked a moment and clenched a fist, "How do you know that? Who are you?"

Malcaris gave a thin smile, "I am Malcaris of the Demon House Phoenix. Ask your faerie patrons and you'll see that what we're doing here is perfectly legal. It's best you children walk away and not interfere in something that doesn't pertain to you."

"When you're threatening our home and our classmates, you've gotta believe it matters to us," Connor growled while raising his ring, "Ready guys? Athru!"

The three boys quickly called on their knightly armor and weapons, standing ready to challenge the new monsters. Malcaris sneered and waved his troops forward to intercept. Quinton was the first to charge and began cutting through the infantry with his sword and sickle. Connor ignited his sword and fought alongside his roommate, slashing through the soldiers until he confronted the hulking demon jailer Gorgorth.

As the Summer Knight clashed his sword against the demon's heavy maul, he grunted and tried to push back against the monster's immense strength while Quinton moved to flank. He couldn't get there in time as he was blasted back by a fireball from Malcaris while Gorgorth shoved back and threw Connor aside effortlessly. Before the demon leaders could advance, Stephen batted aside the last of the demon troops with his bow and turned it on the enemy, firing a magic scattershot arrow.

Gorgoroth shielded Malcaris and took several bolts in the side with a grunt while the emissary backed off, still clutching his one student hostage. "Enough. We have what we need for now. Let's be off."

Before the knights could regroup, the emissary opened another portal and jumped through with the hostage and the rest of the demons. Connor rose to his feet and helped Quinton up while catching his breath, "Nice shooting Stephen... but what on earth was all that about with the monsters?"

The Silver Knight grimaced and shrugged, "I have no idea what they were. They might not be Fomorians, but they seem to know about the Faerie Realm. I think we should get the others and head over to Kristen's."

"Good idea," Quinton said taking one last look in the direction where Kayla had fled to make sure she was safe, "Hopefully she and the other Druids will know what to do about all this."

Later that afternoon, after having contacted everyone, the whole team assembled at the antique shop for an emergency meeting. While they convened, the mood of the room was on the darker side as the three boys were still troubled by their run in with the unknown enemy. Likewise, Kristen sat down in her favorite armchair looking unusually quiet and pensive. As the boys told Laura and Noelle about the attack and the abduction of a student, Yum-Yum whimpered and curled up in Noelle's lap for safety while she sat listening.

"That does sound a bit unusual," Laura admitted, still dressed in her tennis clothes from earlier and holding her racket, "Why demons, and why would they take one prisoner and not the other?"

"Even more troubling, what do these demons have to do with the faerie courts? The monsters said that what they were doing was apparently legal from the standpoint of the Four Courts," Stephen added while crossing his arms.

"That's because it technically is," Kristen chimed in while wearing a dark expression, "It's a tithing year... though I didn't think they would be acting so soon."

"Tithing? As in paying some kind of medieval tax?" Connor asked incredulously, "What the hell kind of tithe is this?"

Noelle nodded grimly from where she sat continuing to pet Yum-Yum, "And you knew this was going to happen? What is going on here Kristen?"

The knights' Druid mentor sat up and grimaced, "I promise that I'll explain everything very soon. For now, let's just say that there's a bit of an ancient customary agreement between the Faerie Realm and the demons of the Infernal Realms."

The five students blinked in shock toward one another before Quinton asked aloud, "You mean the Four Courts negotiate with... the devils in Hell?"

"It's complicated," Kristen admitted, "But for simplicity's sake right now, the answer is yes."

Laura frowned indignantly, "We're not properly equipped or experienced in fighting demons Kristen. If they're going to be raising bloody hell here, what are we supposed to do about it?"

"Normally nothing," Kristen admitted ruefully, "But things are going to be different this time. I called in a little bit of help for us and they should be here any moment."

No sooner had she said that was when the door to the shop opened and everyone looked up to see three figures enter, two men and a woman. The older of the two males looked to be in his mid forties. He was a good looking man who wore a white collared shirt under a casual black blazer while sporting some stubble on his face and distinguished silver streaks in his hair.

Beside him was a younger man who looked to be about thirty, the same age as Kristen. He was a handsome man with short black hair and light brown eyes, dressed in a stylish tweed blazer over dressy jeans and a dark red sweater. Beside him was a strikingly beautiful young woman with blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a stoic look about her. Like her two companions, she had a strong athletic build and was well-dressed sporting dark slacks, a white blouse and a subdued yellow cardigan sweater.

Kristen immediately recognized them and jumped up from her chair rushing over to the door, "Professor Bishop! You made it! Oh, it's been so long!"

The older man gave a kind smile and clasped Kristen's hands, "It's great to see you too Kristen. I'm always happy to help a former student of mine."

The other knights turned as they saw Laura drop her tennis racket and stare at the door wide eyed in shock, "Oh… oh my… he's here… I can't believe he's really here!"

Noelle quickly rose to steady her friend and keep her from hyperventilating, "Laura... what are you talking about?"

The Winter Knight pointed toward the older man who was still talking to Kristen, "Him! That's Professor Gabriel Bishop! My hero! The guy whose books I collect and read all the time!"

At the doorway, Kristen turned to greet the younger man with a laugh and a delighted smile. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and threw her arms around his neck in a big hug, "Oh my gosh! Joe Hale! This is a surprise! I haven't seen you in forever!"

Joe hugged Kristen back and laughed, "College was a long time ago but I see things haven't changed too much. It's great to see you again!"

As he let go, she turned to the other woman and took her hands warmly with a smile, "Kara... it's been a long time too. I'm glad you could make it here."

Kara gave a gentle smile and slowly nodded, "No need for thanks... but I am glad that my duty lets me see an old friend again too."

Kristen led her guests inside the shop and turned to the knights, "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to some old friends of mine… my college History teacher Professor Gabriel Bishop, his cousin Kara Bishop, and one of my old classmates Joe Hale."

Laura was the first to rush up and shake Bishop's hand enthusiastically, "Dr. Bishop… it's an honor to meet you sir! I'm Laura Gremory and a huge fan of your work! I'm a History student here and I've read all your books and papers and you've inspired me to be just like you!"

Bishop was momentarily taken aback by the girl's enthusiastic greeting before giving a kindhearted laugh, "Wow, thanks Miss Gremory. I'm very glad to know that you like my work and take some inspiration from it. There were lots of people who thought I was totally crazy before."

"Not at all sir! Your work on the history of the Empyrian Angels civilization was captivating!" Laura exclaimed before turning to Joe and clasping his hand, "Speaking of which… Mr. Hale, I know all about you from Professor Bishop's account of the events in Hyperion Falls. You're a genuine hero and it's an honor to meet the leader of the Vanguard Power Rangers!"

Connor, Quinton, Noelle, and Stephen all gawked in sudden shock. Standing in their midst was another veteran Power Ranger... this one of some notoriety.

Joe gave an equally surprised look before graciously smiling back to the girl. He shook her hand and tried to play it off as modestly as he could, "Ah... well, thank you Miss Gremory. I'm very pleased to meet you too."

Laura stopped a moment in her manic excitement and turned to Kara, "And Ms. Bishop... this is truly amazing! To meet the Gold Vanguard Ranger, and a real life half-angel too... oh, it is true isn't it?"

"In a manner of speaking... yes," Kara replied politely.

Again the other knights' eyes went wide at the presence of another Power Ranger and a supernatural being at the same time. Laura didn't seem intimidated at all and continued on excitedly,

"Oh, I have so many questions to ask you! Both of you!"

"Okay… deep breaths Laura," Kristen smiled as she pried her young charge away. "Everyone, let's go through some formal introductions and then sit down. There's some big trouble going on in the valley and we've got a lot to discuss."

A/N:
Happy Halloween everyone! Here's my little "treat" to all of you with demons and devils today. The bad guys featured here have ties to the lore and demon houses from the OC Power Rangers series Occult Circle written by Stormasius. As he and I have a shared universe, I just want to give him some thanks again for his help in coordinating this plotline.

There's plenty left to go in this little crossover arc so stay tuned and thanks for reading everyone!