Chapter 14: Part 1
A thin blanket of mist hung in the cool morning air as Kara stretched and ambled out of the small mountain cave where she had spent the night. Wrapped around her was her old cloak to keep her warm and she quietly walked outside toward a calm clear pond by the entrance. Nearby, she saw the large form of the Pegasus zord resting by the waters. Since she had chased it down to that place and calmed it the other day, the Pegasus seemed content to stay near her while enjoying its newfound freedom.
After washing her face in the pond water, Kara gave a small compassionate smile as she carefully approached the resting zord and reached out to touch it. The giant Pegasus gave a soft snort and remained calm while the Gold Ranger gently patted its nose, "Well good morning to you too. I'm glad you haven't run off again."
The zord whinnied again as Kara gave a thoughtful nod, almost as if sensing what it was saying, "I know. We've got to stick together. You and I are kindred spirits… relics from a bygone age. We can only protect each other, right?"
To her surprise, the Pegasus made an almost grumbling sound and shook its head slightly. Kara stopped and thought a moment before putting her hand on the zord again, "No… I suppose you're right. There are others."
Her thoughts drifted back to the events of the last few months of watching the Vanguard Rangers. She had gotten a sense of how they moved in combat, and how they worked as a team, but it wasn't until the past few days that she had begun to get a sense of them as actual people… who they were, how they related to one another, and the small quirks of their personalities.
The words of Izzy and Nick still stuck in her mind as she remembered how the Rangers had come back to help her the other day, not once but twice. They had reached out and protected her, even when she didn't want them to. They had worked together as a team to foil the minotaur's force fields and give her a chance to strike. For a moment, she had been part of that team.
Each Ranger had demonstrated their talent and potential, whether it was Nick's strength and loyalty, Danny's improvisational cunning, Claire's practical intellect, Izzy's gentle compassion, or Joe's steadying leadership. It felt good to be part of that team, even for just a little while.
"You think we should go back to them, huh?" the Gold Ranger asked absently as she mulled the thoughts over and glanced at the peaceful spring.
The Pegasus simply stretched its wings and pawed the ground while giving a nicker sound. Kara gave a sigh and patted the zord one more time, "Yes… I thought so."
Meanwhile in the Abyss, General Abaddon stomped about his chambers eyeing his large battle axe that he had propped up on nearby wall. "That miserable minotaur" he spat, "I gave him a simple order and he still couldn't follow it!"
At that moment, the furious demon general wanted something to take his aggression out on… whether it was slabs of rocks or maybe a few cowardly Magogs. His fury was halted for a moment as a knock on the door was heard and a lesser Cambion lieutenant in his legion entered.
"What is it?" Abaddon snarled.
The lieutenant bowed his head apologetically "Forgive me General, but I came across news you may want to hear…"
Abaddon fumed and grabbed his underling by the collar giving a violent shake, "Well? Out with it!"
The lieutenant swallowed nervously and said in a trembling voice, "We've received word that Lady Shemhazai has secretly sent one of her agents to track down the missing titan. She said she intends to capitalize off your mistake."
Abaddon tossed his underling aside, "I did not make a mistake… I just put myself in an even better position."
The trembling lieutenant cowered on the floor, "Sir?"
Abaddon laughed and walked up to his axe, hefting it lovingly while wearing a thoughtful face, "Shemhazai has acted on her own initiative. I will send another warrior to lie in wait until her minion tracks down the titan and likely fights the Rangers. When the time is right, my demon will step in. The Rangers will be destroyed, the titan will be captured, and Shemhazai's agent will be exposed, discrediting her."
"Sir… that's a surprisingly brilliant plan," the lieutenant said rising to his feet but Abaddon quickly leveled his axe, threatening his subordinate.
"I didn't ask for your assessment! What I want is for you to send another warrior to earth. Now!"
The terrified demon bowed again and scrambled out of the chambers to do his master's bidding followed only by the sound of the cruel General's echoing laughter.
A few days had passed since the battle at the iron mines and the five Vanguard Rangers met up in the Student Union's lounge after class to discuss the recent developments. At the head of the coffee table they gathered around, Professor Bishop sat in an armchair listening to their account of the battle and the discovery of the Pegasus zord.
After hearing their story, Bishop nodded his head and pointed to his latest work at translating the history of the Empyrian records.
"That does make some sense," he said thoughtfully, "According to these records, there were likely many other titans during the great war with the Cambion. While it sounds like most were destroyed, the records still suggest that it is possible one or two additional zords may have survived, or were hidden away after the conflict."
"Which explains why the demons were probably after that buried Pegasus zord," Claire concluded, "Either they want to keep us from gaining a new weapon, or use it for themselves."
"Well we're not going to let that happen," Nick agreed firmly making a fist.
After a short pause, Danny scratched his chin, "First we're going to have to find Kara and hope that she was able to run that beast down. You do know she took off after it when the battle was over."
"She'll come back," Izzy said with a confident nod, "I just know it."
At the other end of the table, the Red Ranger sighed, "I hope so too Iz, but the question becomes what do we do in the mean time? Do we go looking for Kara and that zord, or do we stand on guard in case the Cambion attack again? I'm sure they're not going to be very happy about letting a zord slip through their fingers either."
At that moment, Bishop's phone lit up and he checked the news update, "It looks like the decision has already been made for us. A demon is attacking one of the city's near suburbs."
"Gotta hand it to those guys who came up with that monster attack warning app," Claire muttered looking at her own smart-phone too while the other Rangers scrambled to respond. "They must be rolling in money… and it's handy for us Power Rangers too."
"Come on short-stuff. We can geek out over the tech later," Nick said quickly pulling her to her feet and following the others out the door.
As he watched his students run off to put down another attack, Bishop scooped up his papers and got back to work. If Kara and the Pegasus didn't show, he still had to be ready in case his Rangers would still need his help.
On the streets of the small village outside the city, the pale gangly demon sorcerer Bahsmal watched with indifference as a pack of Magogs chased several terrified civilians away. Pounding the ground a few times with his staff, Bahsmal called out to halt the Magogs from their pursuit, "Enough! Those mice have no where to run. Now, get back to work!"
With a grumble, the Cambion foot soldiers gave up their case and hurried back to help another pack of their brethren as they continued to paint sinister looking sigils on a large whitewashed building nearby. The paint they used was thick and red, almost looking as if it were made of blood.
The tall thin demon Bahsmal smiled in satisfaction as he watched the last part of the plan come together. He shouldn't have been here on earth anyway and he didn't have much time, but there was no doubt that his mistress Shemhazai's newest plan would work. Not only would it pardon his actions, but it might even lead to a promotion from Lord Gideon himself.
To his surprise, a hail of magic energy bolts erupted from behind. The five elemental bolts destroyed a few of the Magogs while throwing up a cloud of sparks and smoke around Bahsmal.
The lanky sallow skinned mage curled his cracked lips into a smile as he saw five young men and women approach from out of the smoke holding their glowing Keyrunes.
"Didn't you know that graffiti is illegal?" the Pink Ranger smirked as the five Rangers neared and confronted the monster directly.
"Even worse… it's not even good artwork," Claire added with a grim smile.
At that, the monstrous sorcerer began to laugh, "Oh my… five Rangers. I wasn't expecting to get so lucky today."
"What are you talking about demon? What's so funny?" Danny demanded giving a suspicious frown.
"It's simple. You've fallen into my trap," Bahsmal sneered, "And you weren't even my intended targets."
"Then that means you must be after Kara and the Pegasus zord…" Nick reasoned with a tense growl.
The sorcerer nodded, "Right you are child. But I may still catch them yet. In the mean time, neither you nor the people of this little town will be able to escape the snare I laid."
"We'll just see about that," Joe replied brandishing his Keyrune and prompting the other Rangers.
"Vanguard, Ascend!" they chorused together. But to their complete surprise… nothing happened.
Nearby, the red painted sigils on the building began to glow and resonate, acting as a central conduit for a large demon spell. Dark tendrils of energy coiled up from the building and spread out over the town, connecting to one another in an evil web of pulsing energy. To the fleeing civilians' horror, the points around the town that had also been painted with the red sigils reacted, creating force fields that prevented anyone or anything from escaping.
"Clever isn't it?" Bahsmal grinned, "This ancient Cambion spell was designed to trap titans, but had the added effect of negating the effects of Empyrian war magic."
The Rangers froze and looked to each other in surprised fear. Without their powers, they wouldn't be able to stand against the might of this new demon sorcerer.
"Oh crap," Danny hissed to Joe, "What are we going to do now?"
Bahsmal leveled his glowing staff with a sinister growl, "Now, I think you should die!"
The Rangers fearfully dove away as the sorcerer let loose a powerful wave of dark magic that tore up the streets and swept the five of them aside, sending them tumbling amid the smoky charred gravel. Without their Ranger suits to protect them, the five friends were suddenly reminded just how powerful some of these monsters could be and just how vulnerable they were unmorphed.
As the five heroes lay stunned and dirty on the ground, Bahsmal lowered his staff and gave a contemptuous snort. "It's almost disappointing how easy that was. But a victory is still a victory."
Before he could speak any further, another combatant entered the battlefield amid a cloud of jet black smoke. As the cloud engulfed Bahsmal, the sorcerer felt himself slashed by a powerful blade. As the smoke subsided, Bahsmal stared in shock at the form of a fellow Cambion demon, only from Abaddon's legion. He was a broad powerful warrior clad in thick armor with rusty red skin and a pair of broken horns on his head.
"Moloch, what are you doing here?" Bahsmal groaned in pain, "What is the meaning of this?"
"I'm putting an end to the treachery of your mistress," Moloch answered gripping his dark falchion. "You and your legion attempt to steal glory from General Abaddon and dishonor yourselves by trying to defeat the Rangers with trickery and cowardly sorcery."
Bahsmal grunted again defiantly, "We don't share your legion's belief in martial honor. We do whatever it takes to win."
"And that is why you're bound to fail," Moloch sneered, "You're so frail you can't even endure the strike of a weapon when combat becomes necessary."
"I…" Bahsmal began but he was suddenly cut off as his body started erupting into sparks and fiery smoke. It was then he realized that the wound he had received from his fellow demon had been fatal.
"The demons are fighting amongst themselves now?" Claire groaned pulling herself to her knees, "What the hell is going on here?"
The Rangers watched as Bahsmal stifled another cry and keeled over backwards exploding into a cloud of fire and smoke.
Moloch sniffed in contempt and picked up Bahsmal's staff as proof of slaying the rogue Cambion agent. As he did, the sorcerer's trap spell began to dissipate and fade away. Turning to the shocked Vanguard Rangers, the warrior Moloch leveled his falchion, "Once that coward's spell fades, we'll do battle and I'll bring your heads to General Abaddon myself."
From where they knelt on the ground, the five Rangers could only hope that the spell would last a little longer or that Kara would make an appearance now.