Later that afternoon, the Vanguard Rangers gathered at Professor Bishop's office within the college's old Rookery building to discuss their most recent run in with the Cambion monster. After hearing of the encounter, the young professor sat at the edge of his old oak desk and gave a thoughtful frown,
"Hmm. That does seem troubling. It sounds like the creature is some kind of Cerberus, straight out of Greek mythology."
"Do you think the Arbalest would be able to penetrate that thing's hide?" Nick asked aloud to everyone, "I mean, it basically shrugged off our Stinger shots like they were nothing."
Izzy shrugged and gave Claire a little pat on the shoulder, "Maybe, but at least Claire was able to injure it... for now."
Claire grimaced as she turned to the team's mentor, "Professor, is there any way we can learn more about these things we're up against? There's gotta be some kind of database, or written records of those Cambion monsters, right?"
Bishop slowly rose and crossed the room to fetch a file from his shelf. He opened the file and the Rangers gathered around as he spoke.
"I've been learning quite a bit from these Empyrian texts and they mention that the Cambion lord Gideon had two lieutenants- Abaddon and Shemhazai. These two generals each commanded a loyal legion of monsters that reflected their unique approaches toward conquest: Abaddon's through direct force of arms, and Shemhazai through trickery and manipulation."
"Well in that case, I'd guess the dog belongs to Abaddon," Joe pointed out from near the window. "There's nothing subtle about a beast with three heads and one bad attitude."
"How appropriate," Izzy muttered in agreement, "Halloween is coming up and now we've got a giant devil dog on the loose. So, did Cerberus have any known weaknesses?"
Professor Bishop circled back around to his desk and sighed, "Well, if the Greek myths are to be believed, Cerberus could be pacified with music or cakes, but I doubt that will really be effective now. What worries me more is the effect that it seemed to have on those people. It's like the dog was marking its territory or servants with those scratches."
From over on the couch, Danny finally spoke up, "Professor, I noticed that the monster seemed to become more vulnerable and focused when it was controlling those people. Do you suppose that's relevant at all?"
Professor Bishop shrugged, "Maybe, but the question becomes how to attack the beast if it starts using other humans as decoys again?"
"Well, have you uncovered any new weapons from those texts that we can use?" Danny asked hopefully, but Bishop shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. I've kinda hit a roadblock with translating right now. But in the mean time, you five should go and keep an eye out for the people who had been injured by the dog. Maybe their behavior will shed light on the creature."
With that, Nick led the others out the door, "Great. I just hope there's a vaccine shot for demon rabies out there."
As the others departed, Danny stayed behind in Bishop's office while the professor sat back behind his desk and began sorting through his papers. The Blue Ranger shifted on the old couch awkwardly and scratched at his short sandy brown hair trying to kill time while the other Rangers left.
After a long silence, Bishop looked up calmly from his work with an amused smile, "Is everything ok, Danny?"
The young man forced a smile and readjusted the collar of his white shirt underneath his blue blazer. "Everything is fine Professor. What makes you say that?"
Bishop shrugged, "Well, unless you really want to sit around here with me and go over moldy texts, you seem to be avoiding the others."
Danny sighed, "To be honest Professor, the others are kinda mad at me. I really screwed up today, and I can't say I really blame them either."
For a few minutes, the Blue Ranger went on and told his teacher about everything that had happened while Bishop listened patiently.
When Danny had finished, Bishop leaned back in his chair and gave a kind smile, "Do you want to know what I think? I think you're a very sharp kid Danny. I can tell by your grades, and when I listen to you speak. The problem is, you think you're too smart sometimes."
Danny frowned a moment, "Ok professor, you kinda lost me there. I don't understand."
"What I mean, is that you don't listen sometimes and disregard everyone else's input, or ways of doing things." Bishop answered patiently, "It's really easy to just do things your way and mistakenly dismiss everyone else as unimportant."
Danny shrugged, "But Professor, what about you? You said that lots of your other colleagues around here just dismiss your research and theories. You don't seem to care."
"But that doesn't mean I don't listen to them," Bishop corrected his student. "They may have their differing opinions, but their individual knowledge and talents are still valuable to me, especially in those areas where I'm weak. Hell, I'm not always right either, so I'd be kind of a fool not to consider their criticism, right?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Danny muttered, "I guess you have a point there."
Bishop gave him a smile, "Listen Danny, I still get what you're saying. For one thing, you're a guy who likes to look at the big picture and not get bogged down in the details. It's a perfectly valid approach to things. All I'm saying is be a little more open minded. Sometimes, other people like your Ranger friends may have some valuable things to contribute too."
Danny nodded and took a long moment to consider Bishop's words. His teacher was right, and the least he could do was to start by making amends for the things he could right now. Rising from the couch, he turned and headed out the door, "Thanks again Professor. If this History thing doesn't pan out, I think you'd do pretty well teaching a Psychology course."
"Thanks," Bishop chuckled, "But I think I'll take my chances here. Keyrunes and Power Rangers are a lot more exciting anyway."
The two exchanged a smile as Danny left and Bishop turned back to the work on his desk. As he began to study five large sigil groupings that were stumping him, Danny's philosophy came to mind: Look at the bigger picture and don't get distracted by the details.
As he continued to study at the page, Bishop's eyes lit up and a wide smile began to form on his lips. Picking up a pen, Bishop took a fresh sheet of paper and began to furiously write down some notes.
The next morning, Danny rubbed his eyes and gave a sleepy yawn as he left the dormitory and took a short walk into the nearby campus town. A brisk October wind blew lightly and helped to wake him up after spending all night working on the contents of the thick folder under his arm. As he turned into a less busy side street lined with orange colored tree leaves, Danny passed by several other students and entered The Mugshot, one of the most popular local coffee houses.
The room was warm and inviting with the smell of fresh brewing coffee and festive autumn decorations. Amid the bustle and chatter of other students, Danny spotted Joe and Claire hanging out at a corner table drinking coffee and chatting quietly. The two turned in surprise as Danny came over and gave a sheepish wave, "Hey. Mind if I join you two for a minute?"
Joe and Claire looked at each other for a moment before nodding and pulling up another chair for him, "What's up Dan?"
The Blue Ranger took a seat and put his thick folder on the table, "Listen guys, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about yesterday. I had a little chat with Professor Bishop and realized I probably should have worked a little better with you two. I kinda like doing things my own way, but I guess paying attention to the details has some value too."
"Thanks Danny, that's really good of you," Claire replied taking another sip of her coffee. "Though I guess we were a little harsh on you too yesterday."
Danny shook his head, "Nah. I probably deserved a little kick in the ass, which is why I wanted to start by making amends."
With that, he slid the folder over to Joe. The Red Ranger picked it up curiously and began to page through its contents, "What's all this?"
"A complete overhaul of our term project," Danny yawned, "I stayed up last night and redid everything, including all the formatting and annotations that I left out before."
Joe put down the folder and nodded with a warmer smile, "It looks like good work Dan. Thank you."
Danny turned to Claire, "As for you, I took your transmitter and brought it over to the school lab so it could be cleaned up and fine tuned before the science fair."
"Thanks Danny," the White Ranger, smiled back, "Now I'm really sorry for calling you a dog yesterday."
"So am I forgiven?" Danny asked them hopefully as he prepared to order a coffee too.
Before they could answer, Claire's phone sounded. Joe and Dan exchanged a quick look as Claire answered the phone and turned back to them, "It's Izzy. Fido is on the loose again."
"All right then. Let's get a move on," Joe said rising from the table and leaving his coffee behind.
As the other two Rangers stood up, Danny continued to sit, quickly thinking over Claire's last statement about dogs.
"Hey Dan, you coming?" the White Ranger prompted him, but Danny shook his head. "You two go ahead, I'll meet up with everyone soon. I've got an idea… just trust me."
Joe gave Danny a firm look, as if trying to make a decision before finally nodding, "Make it quick. We're counting on you."
The three Rangers hurried out of the coffee house and Danny took off running in the opposite direction back to campus. Bishop was right, his friends had given him a good idea and all he had to do was listen. As he continued running down the street, Danny Winthrope was determined not to let the other Rangers down again.
Some time later, the Cambion hell hound Cerberus made its way through the Central Park of the city. Frightened people began fleeing from the area as the beast let out a loud warning bark, knocking over some gates and benches with its large body. Stalking around the central area of the park, Cerberus made its way toward the large three tiered fountain located there and began to lap up water.
As the last of the civilians evacuated the immediate area, the four other Vanguard Rangers arrived to survey the chaos.
"Well, at least this time we're clear of innocent people," Claire noted.
Izzy took a moment to look around before turning to the others, "Hey, where's Danny?"
"He's on his way," Joe quickly replied stepping forward and pulling out his Keyrune. "In the mean time, we have a dog to house-train."
The other Rangers brandished their Keyrunes and gave a call as they rushed forward in shimmering colored light, "Vanguard, Ascend!"
Meanwhile, Danny burst through the doors of the university's science annex and rushed toward the lab where he had taken Claire's ultrasonic transmitter. Finding the room empty, Danny pushed aside desks and tables to find the device fully rewired and polished up for presentation.
"Yes! Perfect!" he panted to himself, swiping a battery off the counter and hooking everything together. Stuffing the device inside his backpack, Danny scrambled out of the science annex and into the main quad, hoping he would be able to make it to his friends in time.
As he began to run from the quad, he skidded to a halt as he heard his name being called from across the lawn. The Blue Ranger turned in surprise to see Professor Bishop rushing across the grass, excitedly waving a sheet of paper in the air, "Danny! There you are! Wait!"
Danny growled and bounced on his heels as his teacher caught up to him, "Hey Professor, I'm kind of in a rush here. We've got a little monster situation."
"Which is exactly why you're going to need these new sigil combinations," Bishop huffed handing the translated paper over to his student. "I took your advice of looking at the bigger picture and I think it helped to figure out how to summon some new weapons."
Danny stopped in surprise and looked to Bishop with a small smile, "Wait. That was my doing? You got that idea from listening to me?"
"It's not going to do us much good if you don't hurry," Bishop answered, continuing to catch his breath, "Go Danny! The other Rangers will need you!"
The Blue Ranger gave a determined nod and put the paper in his backpack too. Grabbing his Keyrune, he took off running, mentally preparing himself for the coming battle.
Back in the city, Cerberus gave a furious roar as Joe and Nick struggled against two of its heads. The hound played a furious tug of war with two male Rangers biting down on their melee weapons. Turning its head quickly and letting go, Cerberus sent Joe and Nick flying into the bushes as the third head warded off Claire's ice arrows with its fire breath.
"This is not looking good," Nick growled, digging himself out of the shrubs and pulling his roommate free too.
As the Green Ranger spoke, Cerberus gave another deep baying howl and got down on its haunches. The Rangers regrouped and paused, waiting for several tense moments before another small crowd of people with scratch marks gathered around the hell hound to answer its call.
Despite the fierce look on the people's faces, they stayed close to Cerberus, acting as a sort of body shield, but ready to attack if the Rangers approached.
"Great. What now?" Izzy groaned in worry.
"Don't worry your pretty little head Iz. I'll save you!" Danny called out, answering her. The other Rangers turned in surprise as a fully morphed Blue Ranger calmly approached holding Claire's ultrasonic transmitter."
"Danny! Where have you been?" Izzy exclaimed.
"Never mind that," Claire cried out in horror as she pushed the Pink Ranger aside, "Is that my transmitter?"
"Sorry Claire, I'm just borrowing it for now." Danny replied, "You reminded me that dogs are sensitive to high pitched sound. I figured this might work to wreck Cerberus's concentration."
Turning on the device and cranking it up, the Blue Ranger watched as the huge demon dog gave a yelp and fell to its knees. As its three heads began thrashing in disoriented confusion, the people under Cerberus's control broke free of the spell and fainted, unharmed by the sonic waves themselves.
"All right! Brilliant!" Nick cheered as Cerberus continued to recoil from the transmitter and stumble in a daze.
Calling his spear, Danny charged the spearhead with swirling blue water energy and let go of the transmitter. "All right Rin-Tin-Tin, I've had about enough of you. I'm going to put you down for good now."
As Cerberus stumbled again, Danny rushed forward and brought his charged weapon around in several punishing strikes. His sweeping blows flowed together like violent waves of an ocean storm before he turned the spear in and drove it straight into the throat of the hound's central head, blasting its insides with more water magic.
Pulling the spear out, Danny turned proudly as Cerberus keeled over and exploded into a cloud of fire and ash while the other Rangers gave cheers of encouragement.
As the Rangers regrouped, Nick shook Danny by the shoulders. "Nice job man! You really took it to em!"
"He's right," Joe happily added giving the Blue Ranger a fist bump, "That was great thinking Danny."
Nearby, Claire suddenly gave a horrified cry as she knelt down over the ruins of her transmitter that had been smashed in the battle. "Oh no!"
The others turned to stare as the little White Ranger slowly looked at Danny, "My science fair project is wrecked!"
"Now Claire, it was all for the greater good…" Danny began but Claire leapt up and began to slap at his helmet.
"You big dummy! You are so dead Winthrope! You hear me?" Claire sputtered in anger as Nick reached over and picked up the petite flailing Ranger by the arms to restrain her.
Claire's outburst was cut short though as Gideon's Cambion sigil activated from Cerberus's remains. The Rangers stopped in shock as a dark cloud erupted from the remains and reanimated it into a colossal monster with an even more fearsome appearance.
"Oh come on!" Joe exclaimed in bemusement. "That is so not fair!"
"Relax," Danny said tapping the Red Ranger's shoulder and holding up Bishop's new notes, "I've got this under control."
Stepping forward Danny said "The professor gave us some new sigil combinations that might come in handy about now. Just follow my lead."
Taking their Keyrunes, the Rangers adjusted the sigils to a new combination and watched in awe as several powerful titans descended from the clouds to aid them. For a moment, the giant Cerberus froze to see a charging pack of large mechanical beasts led by a screaming red griffin. Following close behind were a blue manta ray, a green bear, a white wolf, and a pink kestrel.
"Those were the Empyrian war machines huh?" Nick gasped, "Awesome!"
"Every self respecting Power Ranger needs a cool zord right?" Danny laughed as the girls cheered and waved to their new allies.
"Then let's keep up the momentum," Joe nodded retaking the lead and holding his Keyrune high. The others followed suit and found themselves teleported into the forward cockpits of their new mechanical allies.
Acting in concert with their new zords and the knowledge of their Keyrunes, the Rangers maneuvered the machines together and watched as the creatures seamlessly combined into the winged Vanguard Megazord. As the Megazord's lower body planted its green feet firmly on the ground, its blue and white arms locked into its red griffin body and swiveled in ready anticipation for a fight. Near the crown of the Megazord's head the pink kestral landed and spread its wings into a small halo over the head.
"We're right in the middle of the city," Izzy pointed out, "We have to be careful."
"All right," the Red Ranger answered taking his controls and prompting the others to focus. "Let's make this quick then."
Cerberus roared at his new challenger and opened up with a barrage of fire blasts from its three heads. In an instant, the Vanguard Megazord unfolded its blue manta ray arm into a shield and charged forward, deflecting the fireballs. Bringing its other clawed wolf arm around, the Megazord landed a furious combination of blows on the demon dog, sending it reeling backwards.
As the beast stumbled on the ground, the Vanguard Megazord took off into the sky with its wings and charged them with glowing golden energy.
"Let's finish it now!" the Red Ranger called, backed by the others as the Megazord dove down from the sky like lightning and spread its wings. Before Cerberus knew what hit it, the Megazord's glowing wings bisected it in a swooping strike as it made a sliding landing along the ground. From the cockpit, the Rangers gave a victorious cheer and high fives as Cerberus slumped over once and for all before exploding into smoke and ash.
"These zords are too cool!" Izzy laughed, "Professor B. really came through on this one."
"And so did our boy in blue over there," Nick added, giving Danny a thumbs-up across the way.
The Blue Ranger beamed and returned the thumbs up as the Vanguard Megazord disassembled and restored the Rangers to the ground. The Rangers watched in awe as the Empyrian zords took off into the skies, ready to return when summoned. After the celestial beasts departed, Joe took a long moment to examine the area where Cerberus had been destroyed again.
"Everything ok?" Danny asked walking over.
The Red Ranger shrugged, "It just seems like the Cambion are playing hardball now. I'm just worried about what they may try to throw at us next."
Danny gave him a clap on the shoulder, "Well… for today, let's not sweat the small stuff and just be happy that things worked out."
Joe smiled and gave a nod as Danny took off into the golden light of late afternoon skies, gesturing for the others to come along, "Come on! I'll race you guys home!"
A few days later, the Rangers gathered in their dormitory common room after dinner, preparing to get ready for the school sponsored Halloween Party at the Student Union later that night. After having become Power Rangers and adjusting to the changes of leading a double life, the five decided it would be best to spend more time together and really try to bond more, starting with the Halloween party tonight.
As the other Rangers chatted, Danny sat on his favorite couch reading the newspaper, only this time he was dressed as a pirate.
"Oh come on. Cheer up Claire," Nick grinned. He was dressed as Frankenstein and he playfully tweaked the cute cat ears that the White Ranger wore on her head. "You can always try entering that science contest again next year."
Joe zipped up his Ghostbusters jumpsuit and plopped down on the couch next to her. Putting a friendly arm around her shoulders, he smiled and gave a gentle squeeze, "Nick is right. If it wasn't for your transmitter, we might not be going out to this party tonight at all. What do say we go out instead and just have a little fun tonight?"
Claire sighed and nodded before giving her two friends a small smile, "Ok. Sure."
Turning toward the couch, she called, "I guess I can forgive you Danny."
"You're welcome," he replied absently, his head still buried in the paper.
The others looked to each other for a moment in confusion as Claire spoke again, "I said I forgive you. Are you even paying attention Danny?"
"That's cool," the Blue Ranger replied flipping another page, much to his friends' chagrin.
At that moment, Izzy burst through the door pulling curlers out of her hair in a hurry, "Sorry everyone! I'll be ready in a few minutes. I promise. I just can't decide which costume to go with tonight... Little Red Riding Hood or the Sexy Witch."
Danny flipped the newspaper down and turned toward the door on full alert, "I vote for the Sexy Witch."
In an instant, the other three Rangers groaned and tossed their nearby pillows and cushions at him.
"What? What did I say?" the Blue Ranger asked as the other Rangers got up and walked out of the room. Giving a shrug, Danny picked his newspaper back up. As he continued to read, he couldn't help but break out into a bright smile and start to laugh, glad that things were truly back to "normal" again with his friends.
A/N:
And that concludes "Episode 3." I hope you all enjoyed it! As always, feel free to comment and/or contribute any ideas too. Again, special thanks go to kuro no okami 23 for the hell hound idea. No other animals were harmed in the making of this fanfic... except for one really really evil demon dog. Thanks again for reading!