Episode 6: Part 1
Claire Li sat in her room and glanced out the window at the gently falling snow outside. It had been a chilly November and she was glad to be inside, safe at her desk with her finished homework in front of her. Still, she couldn't help but admire the pristine sight of the snow that had begun to blanket the campus. She had loved the snow since she was a little girl and it made her affinity for ice all the more ironic considering how she could now command the element with the wave of her Keyrune.
Despite the fact it was an early Saturday morning, she felt restless and decided to see what her friends were doing. As she left her room, Claire glanced at Izzy's dry erase board next door and saw a note saying that the Pink Ranger was already out at a yoga class. Giving a shrug, the White Ranger headed downstairs to the cafeteria where she saw Joe and Nick sitting at a table with mugs of hot chocolate. They were dressed in sweats and still shaking snow off of them.
"Hey, what happened to you two?" Claire asked curiously taking a seat nearby. "You look like abominable snowmen."
"We just got back from Ultimate Frisbee on the quad," Nick grinned, "It was great!"
Claire gave a surprised look, "The ground is covered in snow. You're still playing sports outside?"
"Why not?" Joe smiled putting down his mug, "That makes the wipeouts a lot more fun."
As he said that, Nick returned to the table carrying a large bag of marshmallows from the counter. "Hey Claire, since you're here, you wanna stuff your mouth and play Chubby Bunny with us?"
"Thanks. I think I'll pass," Claire sighed rolling her eyes.
"Ok. Me first then," Joe called grabbing the bag and cramming several large marshmallows into his mouth.
As Claire left the table, she heard Nick begin to laugh in childish amusement while his ridiculous looking roommate tried to say "Chubby Bunny." It was no wonder the two had become best friends since coming to college. Aside from being Rangers, the two were able to bond over their competitiveness and interest in sports. When she thought about it, all the other Rangers seemed to possess a degree of athletic talent from their high school days. Joe had played soccer and run track, Danny was a swimmer, Nick played football and wrestled, and Izzy had done gymnastics and cheerleading.
The thought made the White Ranger suddenly begin to feel a little gloomy. She had never really been coordinated or athletic enough to make a school sports team, but being a Power Ranger had helped provide some extra exercise for her. Even if Claire was in good shape herself, seeing her friends stay active in the winter reminded her that she needed to do more than just be a bookworm. The others had already proven themselves to be capable fighters in battle but still able to draw on their natural athleticism when needed, and Claire wanted to be able to do that too.
As she walked through the main lobby of the dorm, she ran into Danny who was headed out the door carrying a small gym bag.
"Hey Danny! Wait up!" she called hurrying over to stop him. "Where are you headed?"
"Morning Claire," Danny answered cheerfully, "I'm just headed to the rec center. I thought I'd swim a few laps before the pool crowds up."
"Great! I know this sounds kinda weird, but do you mind if I tag along today?" Claire asked sheepishly.
"Since when did you suddenly become so interested in working out?" Danny grinned in amusement. "Maybe trying to get in shape to catch some lucky guy's attention?"
Claire gave him an annoyed slap in the arm, "Will you be serious? I want to try and find a sport that can be useful with my… extracurricular job outside of school."
"I see," Danny nodded thoughtfully, "How about you take up basketball?"
"I'm five foot-two." Claire frowned crossing her arms, "Very funny."
"All right, what about martial arts? Aren't you Chinese people supposed to be good at all that kung fu stuff already?"
Clare sighed in annoyance, "I'm not even going to touch that one. Come on Danny! I'm asking for some help. Please?"
"Relax," he said giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Of course I'll help. Now hurry up and put on some sweats. I think I have just the sport in mind for you."
A flash of lightning lit up the dark tumultuous clouds of the Abyss as the lord of the Cambion demons paced near a large window of his prison. As the skies lit up again for a brief instant, Gideon held out his hand toward the light, as if trying in vain to bask in the radiance he once knew ages ago.
The idea of having been banished to darkness sickened him and he grew more disgusted at the thought of these new Vanguard Rangers wielding the light of his former race's power. The very notion that they were standing in the way of his generals only proved the human race's own arrogance. With each successive monster attack, the seal to the world continued to weaken and though Gideon yearned for the light of that place, he would wait. For now, he would keep watching as another one of his lesser Cambion servants crossed over into reality to begin its assault on the mortal world.
"Are you sure about this?" Claire asked as she finished lacing up her skates and stumbled over toward the entrance of the college rec center's ice rink.
"Of course," Danny called from the ice as he waved her forward. "The sport is all about speed, balance, and grace. And besides, you already know a thing or two about the element right?"
The White Ranger grudgingly mumbled in agreement and hesitantly stepped out on the ice. In an instant, she wobbled and skidded awkwardly before grabbing on to the side wall for support. Fortunately, there was no one else on the ice rink to see.
"Danny, I can't do this," she protested, trying to skittishly move again before falling on her butt.
The Blue Ranger shook his head and helped her stand up again, "Listen, you agreed to my idea and this is something I can actually teach you. Will you just give it a chance?"
Claire gave an uncertain look and clung to the wall.
"All right, just watch what you can learn to do if you just stick with this," Danny offered as he kicked off and headed out on the ice. The Blue Ranger did a few speedy laps around the rink with effortless grace, before skating in reverse with just as much ease. To the White Ranger's amazement, Danny came back her way doing a few nimble hops before spinning around and sliding to a stop.
"Wow, you're really good," Claire said. "I had no idea."
Danny shrugged modestly, "The curse of growing up as a rich kid. My mom made me take a few skating and dance classes when I was younger."
"And you really think you can teach me to do all that?" Claire asked.
Danny skated behind her and gently pushed her out on the ice amid her flailing arms and protests, "Well, you're no Kristi Yamaguchi, but I guess there's only one way to find out."
Meanwhile, in the city of Hyperion Falls, the excited shouts and laughter of children could be heard as several families congregated at one of the local parks for sledding and playing in the snow. While children busily built snowmen or climbed the hills with their sleds, a powerful gust of cold icy wind began to blow. As that happened, several parents looked up in surprise to notice the sky darken with clouds while the temperature began to quickly drop. Sensing the unusual change in weather, many of the children stopped and started to hurry back to the adults who began calling out to them.
When they did, the wind intensified and a blinding curtain of snow blanketed the area for a moment before the haunting figure of a blue skinned women emerged. She wore a flowing dress of dark blue and her long white hair blew amid the swirling wind. Despite a hint of beauty in her features, there was a sense of savagery and malice underneath that terrified the citizens in the park when they saw her.
As the Cambion demoness approached slowly, she gave a cruel smile, "Foolish mortals. You have no respect for the cruelty of winter. Instead you make a mockery of the ice with your snowy effigies and your games. I, Frigya will teach you all to cower." With a shriek, she surged toward the horrified people in the park with a blinding wall of snow and ice rising in her wake.
The next evening, the Rangers minus Claire all sat together in their dormitory common room watching TV and hanging out after dinner.
"Any luck yet?" Danny asked spinning around in a swiveling chair while Nick kept flipping channels on the television.
"I'm afraid not," Nick muttered in disappointment, "I was really hoping they'd be broadcasting that football game tonight too."
"Not as much as Professor Bishop was," Joe laughed while reclining on the couch, "Even if he's cheering for the other team, he told me he hardly gets to see any Chicago Bears games televised out here."
The others smiled thinking about the unusual sight of their professor that morning, lecturing while wearing a navy blue and orange jersey of his hometown.
As Nick left the channel on a news station, Izzy turned to the others, "Hey, before I forget... the holidays are coming up and I was wondering if you guys wanted to go do something fun."
The Green Ranger took a seat on the couch and gave a thoughtful smile, "Sure. Why not? Did you have any particular activity in mind?"
At that moment, Claire walked in with a tired look on her face while still rubbing her sore bottom.
"Hey Claire! Where have you been?" Joe asked scooting over so she could take a seat next to him.
"Sorry, I've been kinda busy at the rec center," she sighed gingerly sitting down, "I recently took up ice skating and thought I'd practice a little more."
Danny gave Claire an amused thumbs up while Izzy's eyes lit up, "Claire! That's a great idea! I know they've set up a huge ice rink downtown in the central plaza. Why don't we all go skating?"
"Sounds fun to me," Joe grinned while the other male Rangers nodded in agreement, "Count us in."
Claire readjusted her glasses and gave a nervous laugh, "Oh, I don't know Iz. Are you really sure about that? Couldn't we just, I don't know... build snowmen and drink hot chocolate here?"
"No way!" the Pink Ranger continued excitedly, "They'll be setting up lights and decorations before Christmas, and a lot will be going in the city. Besides, you can put all that skating practice to good use and show off for us. Come on, it'll be fun."
Claire gave an uncertain glance over to where Danny sat and the Blue Ranger nodded his head with an encouraging smile.
"Well... ok. I guess so," Claire relented giving a sigh as the others momentarily turned toward the TV.
On the screen, a news reporter was talking about the weather forecast and noted, "For those planning to go outside this coming weekend, be sure to stay safe and bundle up. We've received numerous reports of people being affected by hypothermia, likely being caused by some icy gales coming off the mountains..."
"Hmmm, I wonder if that cute pink coat I got recently will be warm enough," Izzy mused to herself with a thoughtful look.
"Oh, don't worry Iz," Danny laughed walking over toward the couch, "If one of us gets cold we can always cuddle up to stay warm."
"You look a little cold right now Dan. You can cuddle with me," Nick laughed grabbing Danny and pulling him over the couch into a wrestling hold. The girls could only laugh as Danny tumbled over Joe causing both to squawk as the three male Rangers became a jumbled tangle of limbs.
Despite Claire's laughter, she still couldn't help but feel a little uneasy and nervous inside. Despite the funny sight of her three male friends right now, she was still more afraid of looking just as ridiculous, except on the ice.
The next afternoon, Claire made her way alone toward the rec center after class. Despite her sore ankles and bottom, she was determined to be steady on her feet come that weekend in the city. As she walked, she noticed that the snow had begun to fall and as she continued on her way, it only began to increase. There really weren't many people outside in this corner of campus right now, but she wasn't worried. Rather, she took a long moment to admire the fat snowflakes falling from the sky. As she did that, she suddenly felt a cold brisk wind across her face as several panicked cries rang out.
Snapping to attention, the White Ranger turned her head and looked in the near distance to where a small handful of students had been having a snowball fight. Instead, they were now cowering before the terrifying figure of a blue skinned witch materializing out of the blizzard.
Claire shivered from the sudden drop in temperature as she grabbed her phone to text a quick warning to her friends. In an instant, she heard the Cambion witch give a terrible laugh before engulfing the students in a powerful wall of ice and sleet. When the wind cleared, the Ranger looked in horror to see the students collapsed in the snow, barely twitching in frozen shock. Their faces were almost blue and they struggled to move their lips. Whether they were trying to speak or scream, Claire couldn't be quite sure.
"And where do you think you're going little girl?" the Cambion witch Frygia called with a cruel smile as she turned in Claire's direction. "No matter. I'll freeze you like I did your classmates."
"I don't think so," Claire called back, trying to sound confident and swallow her fear. Pulling out her Keyrune, she held it out toward the demoness, "You just messed with the wrong little girl! Vanguard Ascend!"
In a bright flash and a cold rush of air, the White Vanguard Ranger stood against Frygia quickly drawing her Feather Saber.
"Isn't that precious?" the winter witch laughed mockingly, "Your fate will be no different!"
In an instant Frygia rode the cold wind and rushed at the Ranger. Standing her ground, Claire swung her gladius in wide clumsy arcs while the Cambion slipped around the strikes and swirled around her.
Growling in frustration, Claire pulled her Feather Stinger pistol and fired off several shots at close range, but again Frygia dodged the blaster fire with mocking laughter. "You call yourself a warrior? You are clumsy and sloppy."
With the wave of her arms, Frygia created two large bladed shields shaped like snowflakes and deflected Claire's next volley of shots.
Giving a laugh, Frygia rode the wind and swirled around the White Ranger like a dizzying snowy tornado, striking her several times along with her flying ice shields. As the blizzard died down and Frygia recovered her shields, Claire was thrown hard to the ground and struggled to rise from the snow.
"I'm disappointed White Ranger," Frygia sneered raising her bladed shield, "I would have thought you'd put up more of a fight."
From the ground, Claire raised her arm to feebly defend herself as the Cambion threw the spinning projectile directly at her. In an instant, a hot jet of fire erupted from above and destroyed the bladed snowflake.
"Hang in there Claire! We're here!" Joe called leading the other four morphed Rangers into battle. Frygia gave a furious hiss as the Red Vanguard Ranger fired off another searing bolt of fire from his Keyrune and rushed to the side of his fallen ally.
"Are you ok?" he asked in concern, helping her up to her knees and steadying her.
Claire groaned and leaned into him with a half nod, "Yeah, I'll live."
She watched as the other three Rangers charged past them with their weapons drawn to take on the demoness.
Danny charged in first and used his spear to pole vault over Frygia and land behind her. Reversing his grip, he made a thrusting attack which the Cambion stopped, grabbing the spearhead with her free hand. In her moment of distraction, Nick charged forward and brought his warhammer around, forcing Frygia to raise her other shield and block the strike. As the hammer connected, Frygia cried out in fury as the weapon shattered her icy shield. Shifting sideways, the Green Ranger moved out of the way as Izzy did an impressive flying vault and brought her own rapier point down on the startled monster.
Frygia roared and flew backwards from the blow, but gave a vengeful growl as she rose again. "This isn't over yet Rangers!"
With a furious wave of her arm, she cloaked herself in a blinding gust of snow before disappearing.
From where she knelt on the ground, Claire could only gawk at her fellow Rangers' superior athleticism and skill in hand to hand combat. Having been overwhelmed so quickly was a humiliating feeling and Claire lowered her head as the others came to check on her.
"Hey, are you ok?" Izzy asked in concern reaching out to her fellow female Ranger. Claire waved her away and rose, gently shrugging off Joe's hands on her shoulders.
"No! I'm not ok!" the White Ranger snapped defensively, "That monster was right. I'm holding you guys back right now."
"Claire, no one thinks that," Nick said gently, "We're actually going to need your help now. Those students over in the snow were hurt by the monster."
The White Ranger shook her head and powered down, walking away from the other Rangers, "No. I'm sure you guys can take care of it without me."
"Claire! Wait!" Joe called, "Where are you going?"
"I have more training to do," Claire muttered continuing on her way.
The Red Ranger moved to go after her but Danny stopped him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Wait. Let me talk to her. I think I know where she's going. The rest of you should go get help for those victims."
The Red Ranger looked to Danny for a long moment before giving a nod and signaling both Nick and Izzy. "Come on you two. Let's go see what we can do for these injured students."
A/N:
For any readers here who are also from Chicago, Professor Bishop is one of us and a diehard football fan too. Go Bears!