Episode 17: Part 1
"Not bad… for a girl," Nick Adler grunted as he continued to struggle against Kara's grip. The two Rangers sat at a table in the Mugshot café locked in an intense arm wrestling contest, unable to gain an advantage over the other.
"Really? I thought oxen were supposed to be strong," Kara taunted back as she strained against Nick's push.
"Don't listen to her big guy! You can do it!" Joe cheered from behind patting his best friend's shoulders.
On Kara's side, Claire watched intently pumping her fist in support, "Come on Kara! Teach those guys a lesson!"
While the others continued on with their little contest, Izzy sat on a couch nearby idly flipping through a fashion magazine. Spring semester final exams were coming up in a few weeks and she knew she should be studying. For today anyway, the Rangers decided to take a little break from the routine that had become strangely normal for them this year: eating, sleeping, doing homework, and fighting horrifying monsters.
At that moment, the café doors opened and the Blue Ranger walked in followed by two older well dressed people who looked like his parents. The two had the appearance of an Old Money family from the Northeast. Mr. Winthrope was a tall handsome man with brown hair and a dark blue suit and tie. Beside him was Mrs. Winthrope, a prim, well dressed woman with her blonde hair tied up neatly.
"So, this is where you like to spend your time?" Mrs. Winthrope asked with a slight frown, "It's nice… albeit a little pedestrian."
Danny rolled his eyes and sighed as he approached the others, "Don't worry about it Mom. Come on. Let me introduce you guys to the others."
The other Rangers at the table abruptly ended their arm wrestling contest with a sheepish look as they rose to meet their approaching friend. Danny gave a reluctant smile to the others before gesturing over to them, "Dad. Mom. Meet my friends."
"How do you do?" Mr. Withrope said politely shaking the others' hands as they were introduced. "Daniel has told us a little bit about you five and I'm glad he's been able to make some friends here."
The Rangers exchanged puzzled glances as Danny explained, "My folks were worried about me finding people I could relate with since I chose to go here for school instead of Waterford College."
"Waterford? That super elite school on the opposite end of the state?" Claire asked the others, "The one where tuition is three times as high as here?"
"We were only concerned about your happiness dear," Ms. Winthrope said gently to her son.
"Yes Mom, but I told you that Hyperion University has a better entrepreneur program," The Blue Ranger argued, "I'm not interested in high finance or stock trading."
"But remember Daniel, when you graduate, I'd like to get you involved more in the family trading business," Mr. Winthrope reminded him. "We want to make sure you're taking your future seriously after all. You've got to be responsible."
"I get it Dad, but you two are always thinking I'm never serious about anything," Danny grumbled, "Maybe I just want a chance to do my own thing and make my own decisions."
Mrs. Winthrope sighed, "Daniel, remember the other reason we came to visit. The dean of Waterford College will be here on business and we'd at least like you to meet with him."
"Wait! Are they talking about having you transfer schools Danny?" Izzy asked in a surprisingly worried tone.
"I think my parents would prefer that I would," he muttered in reply.
The other five rangers exchanged uncomfortable looks until Joe cleared his throat, "Umm… it was nice meeting you Mr. and Mrs. Winthrope, but the five of us should probably get going now. Final exams are coming up soon and we should get back to studying. What do you say guys?"
The others quickly mumbled in agreement hoping they could escape from the minor family argument erupting in front of them.
"Sorry everyone. You don't have to go," Danny said waving them off, "My parents will only be here for a few days and we were just stopping in to say hello."
"Daniel dear, don't slouch when you're talking," Mrs. Withrope chided him gently as she brushed some lint off the shoulder of his casual blue blazer, "And your coat is getting a little shabby too, don't you think?"
Turning his parents around and gently pushing them out the door, Danny gave a half hearted wave to the other Rangers, "Bye everyone. I'll talk to you guys later, ok?"
After the Blue Ranger had left, the others stood in a sort of confused silence.
"Well, they seemed nice… I guess," Nick shrugged trying hard to be positive.
"You don't think he's actually going to leave, do you?" Izzy asked chiming in.
Joe shook his head thoughtfully, "I doubt it, but it does explain some things about Danny."
"I know what you mean," Claire nodded in agreement, "Poor guy. And I thought my parents were kind of a pain."
Meanwhile, in the darkness of the Abyss, the demon counselor Shemhazai made her way to Archangel Gideon's throne before giving a reverent bow, "My Lord, the soothsayers of my legion bring news. They say that they've detected a great power stirring… one of Empyrian magic."
From his marble throne, the Lord of the Cambion demons gave a curious look, "Go on."
Shemhazai bowed again, "The visions are unclear, but they believe they've glimpsed the Lost City of the Ancients."
Gideon's eyes grew wide with interest, "Is it possible that the city had survived the Great Fall? After all, Eden had been torn apart completely."
"Yes my lord, but remember that throughout human history, they've told many myths involving lost cities as well. If that is in fact true, the place may have a great store of Empyrian knowledge and weapons."
"Then how do you intend to locate it?" Gideon asked raising an eyebrow.
Shemhazai grimaced, "I have asked General Abaddon to provide extra resources to narrow the search... and he graciously agreed. As we speak, he has a platoon of handlers preparing to loose the great sea serpent Leviathan… with your permission of course."
Gideon smiled in satisfaction, "Good. See to it Shemhazai. In the mean time, I will prevent the Rangers from interfering in your plans."
"My Lord?" Shemhazai asked in confusion.
"I have sent one of the legion's lieutenants to cause some havoc. Perhaps you remember Belphegor, the prince of Sloth? With any luck, his powers may neutralize the fighting spirit of the humans and leave us free to attack at will."
The demon counselor rose and gave one more supplicating gesture before departing the throne. She would have to speak with Abaddon quickly. If they wanted to redeem themselves, they would have to hurry and locate the Lost City before Belphegor could defeat the Rangers and steal their glory.
The next morning, all six Rangers filed into Professor Bishop's small lecture hall for their History class and found their professor already there. He was hunched over a desk with a messy stack of papers and gave them a distracted greeting as they approached.
"If you're still grading our last exams, you can take your time Professor," Nick smiled, "I'm not sure I want to see the grade on it just yet."
"No. I'm not grading papers," Bishop said with a sigh holding up some of his work, "I was actually going over some new translations of these Empyrian sigils in my free time. I've made some progress, but a lot of the passages are jumbled and only half decipherable. The only thing I could make sense of was something being sealed away in deep blue depths by the original holders of your Keyrunes. Whether it's something good or bad, I can't be sure yet."
As he spoke, he held the Cluestone from Remiel's pond, turning it over idly in his hand as if hoping it could give him some inspiration. Immediately Kara recognized it and stepped forward holding out a hand, "Professor, is that a stone from Master Remiel's pond?"
"It is," he answered handing the stone to her, "Your old teacher gave us this stone in hopes it would give us a few clues to the future. For one thing, it already predicted your coming."
Kara nodded and focused on the stone, seeming to activate its power with the magic of her own bloodline. The Rangers watched again as the stone projected an image of a strange city skyline shrouded in a rippling bluish haze.
When the image faded, the Rangers looked to one another before Kara gave a surprised murmur. "Strange. I didn't think it was possible."
"What isn't possible Kara?" Izzy asked cautiously.
The Gold Ranger fixed her with a solemn glance before turning to the others, "Whatever future is being predicted, the City of Atlantis will factor in."
"Wait a minute…" Danny balked, "Atlantis? As in the Lost City of ancient myth?"
"Perhaps it was a myth to you," Kara said handing the Cluestone back to Bishop, "But Atlantis was a home to many Empyrian angels and one of the major population centers on Eden. Perhaps it was possible that the city somehow survived The Fall."
Bishop pondered her words for a moment and looked back to his paperwork. "If we assume that to be true for a moment, then these texts could be referring to it. Atlantis was said to be a sunken city after all... the deep blue depths being the ocean?"
"I can only wonder what we'd find there," the Red Ranger added with a pensive look, "Can you imagine how much valuable knowledge could be recovered from a whole city?"
Before anyone else could speak, the Rangers heard the siren sound, warning the city of another monster attack. "I guess we'll have to wait a little bit longer. Looks like duty calls right now," Nick called waving the others out of the room.
"Umm.. Class dismissed," Bishop sighed to himself as he watched the Rangers hurry off before turning back to his work.
A crowd of terrified citizens from Hyperion Falls fled from the park around the city's Riverwalk while a pack of Magogs marched in order around a large insectoid looking demon. While they continued on their way, the demon commander Belphegor raised a bulbous scorpion claw to shield his eyes from the bright rays of the afternoon sun.
"Why did Lord Gideon send me during the daylight hours?" he grumbled irritably to himself, "He knows I can't stand the sun."
Seeing the other Magogs stop and pause to look at him a moment, the scorpion monster growled and shoved one of them forward, "Get moving! I don't want to go either, but Lord Gideon gave us direct orders!"
Before the demons could continue on their rampage a quick shadow passed over the river walk amid a gust of wind. Moments later, the 6 morphed Vanguard Rangers had descended and stood ready to confront their newest foe.
"Well, I gotta say... that is one big ugly bug," Danny commented to the others as they drew their short swords.
"I actually recognize him," Kara said quickly, "That's Belphegor, a lesser commander of the Legion."
Joe leveled his sword at the demons. "First we have to take out his bodyguards. Nick and Kara? You're with me. We'll clear a path through these Magogs. Danny, I want you to lead the first charge on that monster."
"Me?" the Blue Ranger asked in sudden surprise, "You really think I can do it?"
At that moment Belphegor waved his platoon of troops forward to charge the Rangers. "No time for questions preppy! Just do it!" Nick called, charging first with the Red and Gold Rangers to take on the incoming minions.
Claire and Izzy turned to Danny for direction as he watched the 3 other Rangers plow through the Magogs and open up a path toward the large slow moving scorpion looking demon. "All right then," the Blue Ranger said calling his spear and rushing forward, "Let's draw his attention. Hit him from two sides, I'll go for the kill!"
Drawing his Feather Stinger pistol, Danny squeezed off a volley of shots at the demon commander while Izzy and Claire split off to two sides setting up an attack. To Danny's surprise, Belphegor didn't try to block any of the shots and let them strike him. Moments later, the White and Pink Rangers struck from the left and right and again the demon didn't bother to block their sword blows. Although he staggered a bit, the demon's heavy exoskeleton seemed to bear the brunt of their blows. Belphegor raised his large scorpion claw arms to strike, but Claire and Izzy grabbed them and restrained the demon to keep his guard down.
"Danny! Now!" Claire called.
The Blue Ranger charged forward with his spear, aiming to thrust right into the demon's neck, but as he neared, all the Rangers were surprised when Belphegor suddenly reared a fearsome looking stinger tail from behind. Danny gasped as the demon lashed out at him with its stinger tail and he just barely raised his weapon to push aside the attack. Giving a growl, Belphegor whipped his tail back around and swept the Blue Ranger aside, knocking him to the ground, before raising his claws and swatting aside the two female Rangers trying to restrain him.
As Danny struggled to get back to his feet in a panic, he saw the demon turn on him again and strike with his tail. To his surprise, he saw the Red Ranger break free of the Magogs and leap in front of him while calling his Whitesteel armor. The stinger collided against Joe's silver shielding and the Red Ranger stumbled to one knee from the force of the blow while the rest of the tail went wide.
By now, the demon commander gave a tired groan and slowly began moving while retracting its tail for a new strike. Using the momentary opportunity, Nick raised his warhammer and charged forward to assist, smashing the monster right in the chest with a powerful hammer blow. Amid a shower of sparks and chitinous armor plates cracking off from the spot the Green Ranger injured it, Belphegor growled, "I'm too tired to deal with you Rangers right now. We'll continue this some other time."
"Count on it! We'll squash you like the bug you are!" Nick jeered as the demon evaporated into dark smoke and swept away from the battlefield. Turning back around, he looked to Danny, "Hey preppy, you ok?"
"Yeah. I'm fine," the Blue Ranger nodded in relief before he cast a concerned eye toward Joe. The Red Ranger was still on one knee and seeming to have trouble rising. Moments later, he demorphed and collapsed onto his side.
The other Rangers rushed over in concern to help as Danny was the first to his aid. He quickly propped his friend back up to a sitting position and supported his weight with a shoulder, "Hey! Joe! Are you ok?"
The Red Ranger gave a tired sounding groan, "I... don't know. I think the tip of that stinger found a gap in my armor... must have just nicked my shoulder. I just feel... really exhausted."
"Ok buddy, just hang on. We'll get you help." Nick said quickly hoisting his friend up in a fireman's carry. "Danny?"
The Blue Ranger nodded and gestured to the others, "Uh, right... everyone, let's get to Professor Bishop and see if he can help."
Izzy and Claire exchanged an uncertain look before the rest of the Rangers withdrew from the battlefield, suddenly looking a lot more worried and disorganized in spite of their temporary victory over the demons.
A/N:
Instead of a trick, here's a little "treat" for any readers stuck home tonight. To anyone celebrating, have a safe and happy Halloween!