Episode 11: Part 2
The next afternoon, Joe grumbled as he closed his eyes and lay back on a couch in the Student Union lounge waiting for Jen to meet up with him. He had been a little ticked off that she never waited for him the other day, but he was more concerned with Claire's unexpected blow-up after his exam. Even if he didn't fully understand what she had been so angry about, he still felt bad that one of his friends and fellow Rangers was still so upset at him. Since yesterday, she had refused to even speak to him or return his calls.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the face of Professor Bishop curiously looking down at him. "Hey kiddo, everything ok? You're looking kinda glum there."
The Red Ranger sighed and checked his watch. Jen was already late, but he didn't really feel like answering questions from his professor right now either. "I'm not glum Professor. I... it's kinda personal."
Bishop chuckled and took a seat across from him on an armchair, "I see. Must be some girl problem then. After all, it's that season, right?"
Joe gave a mild scowl as Bishop waved it off with another gentle laugh.
"Touchy touchy. It seems like the bad mood has been going around campus today. Just on the way here, I must have seen at least three different couples having some loud lovers' spats. Weird huh?"
Joe shrugged, and sat up as he caught sight of one of his fellow classmates, Jens' roommate Stephanie Walsh. The tall blonde girl had been passing by the lounge looking for an open place to study. She gave a confused look as she approached the Red Ranger, "Hey Joe. You haven't seen Jen by any chance, have you?"
"Actually I was just about to ask you," he replied, "She was supposed to meet me here 15 minutes ago."
Stephanie wrinkled her nose, "That's strange. I just saw her after lunch a little while ago. She said she was going to stop at the library to drop a book off first."
Joe frowned, "Thanks Steph. I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I see her."
As she smiled and left the room with a friendly wave, the Red Ranger turned to his teacher, "You're right Professor. Things are getting a little weird around here. I'm going to go check something out, ok?"
Bishop shrugged and kicked his feet up in the chair opening a newspaper and muttering, "I remember being younger and in love. Boy, was I an idiot..."
Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Danny and Nick knocked on Izzy's door.
"Hey Iz, open up. It's us." Nick called, "We're here to return that movie we borrowed from you yesterday night."
"Come on in," she called, "I've kinda got my hands full."
The Blue and Green Rangers entered the room only to find Claire sitting in a chair with Izzy putting the finishing touches on her hair with a curling iron. To their surprise, Claire had replaced her long straight ponytail hairstyle for a trimmed and wavy shoulder length cut. Even more shocking, she was wearing a little bit of makeup along with a stylish skirt and a form fitting white blouse.
"Wow..." Nick said as he and Danny stood in surprise, "Claire, you look..."
"Even cuter than before," the Blue Ranger offered helpfully as Nick stopped and nodded in agreement.
"Pretty hot, huh?" Izzy smiled stepping back to admire her handiwork. "I think I did a good job."
Danny gave a wry grin and scratched his chin, "So Claire, what's all this about? Getting all dolled up for tomorrow?"
"Oh, shut up Danny," Claire scolded him, "I just wanted to try a something different. No crime against that, right?"
The boys exchanged a skeptical look before Nick cleared his throat, "Well, if you are planning to go out, then I'd be careful. Seems like lots of people around campus have been at each others' throats lately. Just today after class, I probably broke up two fistfights on the quad."
Just then, Danny's phone rang and he picked it up, "Hey Joey, what's up?"
Everyone stopped and watched him as the Blue Ranger's face slowly became more serious, "Wait, what? Are you sure? Magogs? Ok... got it. I'll tell the others. Be careful."
Putting down the phone, he said, "Seems like we may have a little demon problem after all. Joe just ran into a couple Magogs by the library. He said Jen Kaufman went missing and he's tracking her down right now. Sounds like things are getting worse out there and campus town could be in danger. We should go help and be ready in case any rioting breaks out."
Claire felt her stomach drop. Just yesterday she had prayed for bad fortune on Jen and it looked like she got her wish. As silly as it was, she couldn't help but feel a little responsible. "You guys go and watch over campus town. I'll go help Joe with the search... though I hate to do it right after this great makeover."
Izzy sighed sagely and put an arm around her shoulders, "Now you understand. Welcome to my world sister."
On the other side of campus, the Red Ranger hurried down the street carrying Jen Kaufman's purse under his arm. He had found it lying near the library with two Magog soldiers leaving the scene. Although, he felt ridiculous for carrying the purse, he suspected the Cambion demons must have been up to something. For starters, people around campus were becoming strangely hostile toward each other, most likely from some dark sorcery.
Now for some reason, the demons had taken Jen too. While little daydreams of saving her and winning her admiration flitted at the corner of his mind, he pushed them away to focus on following the Magog soldiers hoping they would lead to the source of the trouble itself.
He tailed the two minions until they reached the far edge of campus dedicated to the agriculture students. Eventually, the two stopped and took up posts at an empty barn house and stock pavilion used during the summer to house animals. Taking a deep breath, the Red Ranger gathered his courage and hurried toward the other side of the barn, hoping the Magogs had led him to his captured classmate.
Inside the cold dark barn, Jen Kaufman sat with her arms and legs bound along with a gag over her mouth. She didn't know what was going on or why those monsters had taken her, yet all she could do was look about fearfully into the darkness waiting for something to happen. To her shock, she turned to see a figure slip into a side entrance to the barn and quickly approach her from the shadows.
"Jen! Are you in there? Is that you?" she heard a voice hiss quietly.
Jen's eyes went wide and she murmured quietly in relief as she saw Joe crawl over toward her from the darkness.
"Are you ok? Just hold tight. I'll get you out of here." the Red Ranger whispered pulling out a pocket knife and cutting her bonds before removing her gag.
"Joe! How did you find this place? What are you doing here?" Jen hissed back in surprise.
"Not now," the Red Ranger said helping her to her feet quickly, "Let's get out of here."
As they turned to leave, they froze in terror as they heard a voice hiss from the darkness, "Well, well... what have we here?"
The two students turned and watched as they saw two shining eyes light up and reveal the form of a huge demonic serpent lurking in the shadows.
At the sight of such a monster, Jen stifled a scream and fainted in terror. The Red Ranger barely caught hold of the fainting girl and turned to face the giant serpent. From the other end of the barn, he saw a group of Magogs come around and bar the only other exit.
Pulling out his Keyrune, Joe rose to his feet, "All right, I don't have time for you. Vanguard..."
Before he could finish his morphing call, the demon Ophidius whipped its tail, swatting the Keyrune from his hand and knocking the young man out the barn door. As Joe tumbled hard along the frozen ground, he looked in horror as a group of Magogs gang piled him and restrained his arms. Not too far away, his Keyrune lay on the ground until the giant snake demon slithered from the barn and picked it up with its tail.
"You won't be needing this, but I'm sure Lady Shemhazai will reward me handsomely."
The stunned Red Ranger looked up in fear and continued to struggle in vain against the grip of the Magog soldiers. "Crap..."
Rearing up triumphantly over the struggling Ranger, Ophidius smiled, "Now then... what to do with you and your little girlfriend? She's of no value to me now, so perhaps I'll start by making her my next snack. Or maybe..."
The serpent was suddenly cut off as a blinding flash of lightning crashed down nearby followed by a thunderclap. Before anyone could even move, the lightning bolt ricocheted sideways and arced around, instantly incinerating the Magog soldiers and striking the demon.
From the ground, the Red Ranger blinked in surprise as he saw Ophidius reel backwards and thrash about from electrical shock. Even stranger, Joe saw his Keyrune had been retrieved and left inches from his hand. While it had all happened so fast, he could almost swear he saw the afterimage of some human shaped figure amid the light.
As Ophidius reared up again in fury, he roared as he was struck again by a volley of golden blaster shots from above. In a heartbeat, the morphed White Vanguard Ranger descended on the battlefield and dispelled her wings, standing guard over her comrade.
"Geez, you really do like trying to take on demons all by yourself," Claire said with an exaggerated sigh as she helped him to his feet, "You know, that hero complex will get you killed one day."
"Claire? What are you doing here?" Joe gasped in surprise.
Claire shrugged, "Danny said you were going solo after Jen. I was worried that you might need some backup... and I guess I was right."
Joe smiled and gave a grateful nod, "Thanks for the save Claire. I'm glad you came... and it looks like I owe you twice. How did you find me?"
Claire blinked in confusion, "Didn't you just see that bright lightning bolt just now? I thought that was your doing."
They were cut off as Ophidius recovered and hissed menacingly at the two Rangers. Claire stepped back a moment, "Do you think we should call the others?"
The Red Ranger quickly morphed and turned to his friend with a smile, "I think we can take him... if we do it together. Are you ready?"
"Let's go for it!" Claire smiled as they drew their short swords and joined hands while charging forward.
Ophidius lashed out with a biting attack, but the Red Ranger deflected the teeth with his sword and swung the White Ranger around by the arm. Using her momentum, Claire struck the snake back with a heavy blow and kept her grip on the Red Ranger's hand. Both friends moved in perfect unison, twirling and moving with each other as if they were doing an unusual swing dance while weilding swords. The whirling movements of Rangers threw Ophidius off balance as his every attack was parried and countered.
Having outmaneuvered the serpent, the White Ranger spun and vaulted off the Red Ranger's hands sending the giant snake flying backwards with a powerful jump kick. As she back-flipped off the kick, Joe caught her and took a sudden high leap, assisted by his own wings. When Ophidius recovered his senses, he looked upwards into the blinding light of the sun as the two Rangers dropped from the sky to land their finishing blows.
When the glare of the sun faded, the serpent's eyes went wide as the White Ranger fired her bow from above and transfixed Ophidius with a fully charged ice arrow. No sooner had the arrow pierced his scales, the demon roared again as the Red Ranger brought down his own flaming saber bisecting the serpent clean in half with a Radiant Smite. The two Rangers turned and slapped each other five as the thrashing halves of the giant snake fell to the ground and exploded into fire and ash.
As the fires, died down, the two Rangers powered down and exchanged another smile, "You really saved my neck today Claire," Joe grinned proudly putting his hands on her shoulders, "Thank you."
"Oh… well, I couldn't let you have all the fun," she sheepishly replied gently putting her hands over his.
"You know, I'm sorry for making you mad yesterday too. I'm still not exactly sure what I did, but I know that it really bothered me knowing that you were so upset. I never wanted that to happen."
The White Ranger flushed a moment before clearing her throat, "It's ok, I believe you. You're my friend and… I'd never let that get in the way of helping a fellow Ranger either."
Joe smiled again before gently reaching up to touch the edges of her hair with his fingers, "You changed you hairstyle, and have a new look… you look very pretty."
Just then, the Rangers' lingering smiles were broken as they heard the shuffling of feet nearby. To their surprise, they saw Jen Kaufman slowly exit from the barn, still wobbling on her feet from her fainting spell. With a sigh, Claire nodded over toward their classmate, "You should go take care of her. Make sure she gets back to her dorm safely."
The Red Ranger looked to his friend in surprise before nodding, "Thanks Claire."
With that, Claire turned and slowly began walking back toward her dormitory. After all, she was a Power Ranger and knew it was the right thing to do, but she still couldn't help but hate herself a little for it. Without looking back, she put her hands in her coat pockets and began to slowly trudge back home through the slushy snow, unaware of the cloaked figure quietly watching the aftermath of the battle from atop the roof of the barn nearby.
As early evening set in over campus town, the Red Ranger helped Jen arrive safely back at her dormitory. She was still a bit shaken and didn't want to talk any more about the incident, but she was relieved to be back home. As they stood outside the front doors, Jen put a hand on Joe's shoulder, "Thanks again for coming to find me and helping me back. It's a good thing the Power Rangers showed up when they did, huh?"
"Yeah," he replied shyly, "and you're welcome. When your roommate Steph told me you were missing, I got kinda worried. I uh… I really like you and didn't want anything bad to happen to you either."
Jen stopped and looked up at him in surprise, "What?"
The Red Ranger took a deep breath wondering why this was more frightening than facing down a Cambion demon, "I said I really like you Jen. I've been trying to tell you for a while now but I haven't been given a good opportunity to do that. I know this is a crazy time to say all this but, if you don't have plans tomorrow night, I'd just like to take you out and spend some time with you."
Jen blinked in surprise for a moment before giving an apologetic face, "Oh… I uh… don't know what to say. Listen Joe, you're a really awesome guy and all… but I just don't think of you in the same way. If it makes you feel better, I still see you as a really good friend though."
The Red Ranger stood motionless as Jen reached up and gave him a quick hug before heading back inside the dorm, "I'm sorry, but thanks again for saving me today."
Turning back toward the street, Joe exhaled in stunned silence while slowly shaking his head. He wasn't even sure whether to feel embarrassed, angry, or sad at the moment. Danny and Izzy had been right and Claire was justified for having gotten mad at him too. Feeling like a complete idiot, he slowly made his way back to his own dorm, praying that he wouldn't run into any of his friends along the way.
The next night, Nick stood in the lobby of the dorm with Danny, Claire, and Izzy as they got ready to go out to the movies. "Are you really sure you want to give me your movie ticket tonight?" Izzy asked Claire as she slipped on her pink coat.
The White Ranger shrugged, "Well, since you were too busy helping me instead of lining up a date, I figured you should still be able to go out tonight. Besides, I owed you for that makeover anyway."
"Well… now I'm glad Joe gave me his own ticket," Danny grinned putting an arm around Izzy's shoulders, "At least that means we can still go to a movie together, right Iz?"
The Pink Ranger sighed and headed for the door shrugging his arm off gently, "Only if Nick sits between us."
"If you spring for my popcorn, then we've got a deal!" Nick called as the two boys hurried out the door after her.
Claire smiled and shook her head to herself as she left the lobby and headed back upstairs. Making her way back to her floor, she stopped and poked her head into a nearby common room. There she found the Red Ranger by himself. He was sitting on the couch idly flipping channels on the television while wearing a glum face.
"Knock, knock. Can I come in?" she asked from the door.
Joe sighed and turned the tv off, gently tossing aside the remote. "Be my guest."
"Nick told us about what happened with Jen yesterday and said you were still pretty bummed. Are you ok?" she asked coming to sit down beside him on the couch.
The Red Ranger shrugged and looked at the ceiling dejectedly, "I don't know. I really burned myself on this one and I feel like a complete tool right now. But you know, I did come to a realization."
Claire turned to look at him curiously, "Oh?"
"It's probably for the best that this happened," Joe explained, "I mean, yes I had my head up my own ass while chasing Jen, but I shouldn't be concerned with romance or relationships right now. I'm a Ranger, a Red Ranger, and I've got a lot of responsibility… especially to you guys. Worrying about a girlfriend or even risking her safety would only be a bigger distraction. That's why it's probably best to swear all that off until Gideon is defeated for good."
Well, as long as there wasn't any competition, she could live with that for now, Claire thought to herself. She had her Valentine card in her back pocket, but decided against pulling it out after that little declaration. Giving a gentle smile she scooted closer beside the Red Ranger and put her arms around his torso in a cozy hug. "Well, in the meantime, I hope you feel better."
Joe turned in surprise but accepted the comforting gesture, "And here I thought you were coming to rub all that in my nose tonight."
Claire chuckled, "You know, for being such a smart guy, you can be a pretty big idiot sometimes… luckily for you, I think it's endearing."
"Umm, thanks… I think."
After a long moment, Claire asked softly, "Do you remember how you said you'd make things up to me for canceling on the art show?"
The Red Ranger nodded, "What would you like me to do?"
Claire simply closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him with a content smile, "Can we just… stay like this for a while? It's… nice."
She was right. Cuddling felt nice and it was comforting to be near someone again. Most importantly, he was glad that he and the White Ranger had been able to patch things up from their little fight earlier in the week and mend their friendship. As the two friends continued to sit together innocently enjoying the feeling of warmth and closeness, Joe smiled gently and leaned back, putting his arm around her in reply, "Yeah... I think so too."
A/N:
Hey everyone, quick announcement! I'll be taking a short series break to work on a new short story and do some revisions on the upcoming 6th Ranger arc too. I know some people are very curious about the new Ranger, but I want to recharge my own batteries first and make sure the story is the best it can be. I promise PR Vanguard will be back in just a couple weeks so thanks for understanding and just sit tight! Hope to see you all then!