Episode 17: Part 2
"Do you feel any better now?" Kara asked as she powered down the healing magic from her Keyrune.
"Not really," Joe sighed as he lay in the guest room's bed of Professor Bishop's townhouse. All the Rangers gathered around in concern as their mentor stood behind them in deep thought.
"Well, at least it's good that Kara couldn't detect any poison or actual physical injury on you. Whatever that monster did, I'm guessing the effect must be magical in nature."
"You said you knew that demon?" Nick asked the Gold Ranger while putting another blanket over his friend.
Kara nodded, "Belphegor, the self proclaimed Prince of Sloth. All I know is that he was some mid ranking officer in the Cambion Legions."
"It sounds Biblical," Izzy chimed in, "Sloth was one of the Seven Deadly Sins."
Claire adjusted her glasses and folded her arms thoughtfully, "It makes sense then why that monster was so lazy in battle and why Joe feels so weak right now. That stinger must have some kind of effect that saps your strength or weakens your will to fight."
"Well, if it's like most other monsters we've encountered, if we destroy it... then hopefully we destroy the effects on the victims too," Bishop concluded, "In the mean time, I'll watch over Joe tonight so the rest of you go ahead and regroup. Let's just let him rest for now."
As the others began filing out of the room, Joe weakly reached out and caught Danny's sleeve, "Hold on a minute Danny. I need to ask you something."
The Blue Ranger stopped and sat back down beside his bedridden comrade while the Red Ranger continued, "Since I'm going to be stuck here for now, I'd like you to step up and take charge of the Rangers for me."
Danny gave a surprised look and turned his head with a conflicted frown, "I couldn't. You're our team's leader Joe. You already had me lead the attack earlier and now the whole team? Why are you doing this?"
"I'm not going to be much good to you guys here and the others will still need direction on the battlefield. I think you've got the right balance of strength and smarts to do it."
"But why me?" Danny insisted, "What makes you think the others wouldn't find it some big joke?"
"Why would they? Whenever people's lives were at stake, we've always been dead serious."
Joe paused and sighed again, "Listen Danny, I heard what your parents were saying when we met them. They want to have your whole life set for you and have it fit into their neat little plan, but you don't want that. You want to plot your own course. That's why you hate the idea of predestination and a fate you have no control over, isn't it? That's why you slack off and pretend to act so carefree about things, right?"
The Blue Ranger looked away and grimaced to himself, "How do you expect me to lead the team if the others don't think I'm serious enough in the first place?"
"You said it to your folks earlier. You can be responsible when you need to be. I think they've got you convinced you can't do it. That's why you need to be the one to do this Danny. How do you expect to inspire confidence in others of you don't believe in yourself first? That's something Professor Bishop helped teach me."
Danny looked to his friend for a moment with a serious expression before rising to his feet, "I should get going. I've got to get ready for an important meeting tomorrow. We'll get you back on your feet soon bud."
The Red Ranger helplessly watched as Danny left the room before shaking his head and putting his head back down on the pillow in dismay.
The next day, Danny made his way across campus to meet his parents for a luncheon at the school's administration building. They had arranged to join the dean of Waterford for brunch along with many other business people in hopes Danny could be convinced to transfer over. While he didn't really want to go, he still felt he had to humor his parents for lack of a better reason.
While he walked, he noticed that campus was a little quieter that Saturday morning. It was a bright warm spring day and he took a moment to stop by one of the school's fountains and examine his reflection in the water. He had dressed for a business casual lunch and adjusted his blue tie when he heard the voice of the Green Ranger come from behind him. "Looking pretty spiffy there man. You got a hot date or something?"
Danny turned and gave Nick a frown as he continued on his way, "Leave me alone Nick. I'm not in the mood to joke around right now."
Nick raised his hands in apology and continued to walk alongside Danny quietly until the Blue Ranger sighed, "I'm guessing you came to talk me out of transferring to Waterford? Well relax. I'm not going anywhere."
"That's a relief," Nick said calmly, "I'm sure Izzy will be relieved to hear that too. She was actually a little concerned the other day."
Danny cast a suspicious eye toward his friend, uncertain if he was joking or not. Before he could ask, Nick spoke again, "Besides, it would be pretty hard to be a Power Ranger team without a second in command, right?"
Danny stopped and turned on Nick, "Wait a second, you think I should take the lead right now too? You guys never seemed to take me seriously before... especially you."
"Because you haven't taken yourself seriously until now," Nick replied, "But we're both Rangers. I've fought alongside you and know what you're really like. I think the others would listen to you too. You just have to show them that you're sure of yourself first."
The Blue Ranger stopped and looked to the skies for a long moment before giving a giving a deep sigh, "Which begs the question... what am I doing here?"
Danny began loosening his necktie and unbuttoning his collar, "Why am I even going to this stupid lunch if I don't want to leave this school in the first place?"
Nick shrugged his shoulders and gave his friend a gentle smile, "You said you wanted to call your own shots in life right? Well, now's your chance to start doing it."
As he spoke, the city's monster siren went off. As the Green Ranger gave an expectant look, Danny reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out his phone. "Uh, Dan? What are you doing?"
The Blue Ranger held up his hand to silence Nick as he dialed a number and held his phone to his ear. "Calling my first shot... Hi, Dad? It's me. I'm not going to be joining you and Mom for lunch. Something came up."
As he continued to listen, Nick couldn't help but grin while Danny kept speaking, "I know the dean is there and I don't care. I'm not interested in transferring schools. I'm happy here and I can't leave because there's important work that I have to take care of here. I just need you to trust me on this."
He ended the call and turned back to the Green Ranger with a hint of his trademark swagger, "Well? What are we waiting for Nick? This city isn't going to save itself you know."
Amid the gibbering of the Magogs and the terrified cries of civilians, the heavyset demon Belphegor made his way slowly down the city's Riverwalk. "Don't rush me!" he growled to the advancing Magogs who were outpacing him while chasing down innocent pedestrians, "They won't have anywhere to hide!"
As he made his way down the river path while shielding his eyes from the sun, the demon left scores of civilians laying on the ground, helpless and immobilized after having been stung by its debilitating natural weapon. Giving another growl, Belphegor waved a claw at the Magogs, "Hey! Are you even listening to me? I said get back here!"
In an instant, a crackling bolt of lightning struck and incinerated the advancing foot solders. While the rest of the demons recoiled, they felt a strong wind gust blow over the riverfront and spotted five college students barring their path. Calming the winds with her Keyrune, Izzy turned to Danny who now stood at the forefront of the Rangers' formation. Mustering up his confidence and trying to maintain his cool, Danny called out "You're looking a little out of shape there you oversized roach. We didn't think you'd be back."
"Big words from a frail little human boy," the humanoid scorpion chortled raising his pincers in amusement. "Now get out of my way child, before you actually get hurt."
Danny glanced over to the Nick and saw the Green Ranger give a quick nod. Raising his Keyrune, Danny called a burst of water from the riverfront and directed the snaking stream into a hammering blow, sweeping several more Magogs away. "I won't ask again."
"You five aren't any ordinary humans," the demon exclaimed in surprise taking a step back. "You're..."
"That's right," the Blue Ranger smiled feeling himself growing more confident by the moment, "Everyone ready?"
All together, the five Rangers nodded to him and drew their Keyrunes, disappearing in a brilliant nimbus of colorful light. When they emerged, fully morphed Power Rangers stood in their place and drew their weapons as Danny prompted their roll call, "I'll tell you who you're messing with demon..."
"The Swirling Tempest, Vanguard Blue!
"The Rumbling Mountain, Vanguard Green!"
"The Stinging Blizzard, Vanguard White!"
"The Dancing Whirlwind, Vanguard Pink!"
"The Surging Thunderbolt, Vanguard Gold!"
"The Light of the Past and the Hope of the Future! Power Rangers!" they chorused together amid the now brilliant light shining from the clear skies above.
Giving a confident twirl of his weapon, Danny leveled his spearhead toward the intimidated demons, "Vanguard, Take Flight!"
With a growl, Belphegor waved his remaining Magogs forward to block the surging attack of the Rangers while they summoned their own Whitesteel armor to protect them. As the Rangers battled their way through the Cambion foot soldiers, Danny hung back at the periphery of the battle, taking a moment to observe the demon commander for any weak points. He was already aware of the stinger and the weakened armor plating on the monster's chest, but he still needed a new way to get in close for a finishing strike.
"Hey Danny! You wanna give us a little hand over here?" Claire called twisting a Magog's arm and sending it spinning it away with a sideways kick. "It wouldn't kill you to pull your own weight in this battle."
Pulling one's own weight! That was it! The Blue Ranger had a brainstorm and rejoined the battle while lancing aside a stray minion. Seeing the others clear out the demon troops and regroup around him, Danny turned to the team, "Ok everyone. I have a plan. Belphegor is slow moving and heavy so he tires easily. We'll split up and use hit-and-run attacks to tire him out. When he does, I'll take a kill shot."
"Wow... that's actually a good idea," Izzy said sounding genuinely impressed but Nick cut her off.
"Sounds good preppy. Where do you need us?"
The Blue Ranger scanned the battlefield for a quick moment as the monster advanced, "Nick and Kara, keep him pinned down and play defense. Izzy and Claire, you two harass him from range until I get into position."
The Rangers broke formation and split up to engage the demon commander in battle. Working together, Kara drew away Belphegor's stinger attacks and dodged them easily with her lightning fast speed and reflexes. Meanwhile, Nick charged in close and began taking heavy swings with his hammer to keep the demon's heavy pincer claws occupied on defense. Each time they would lock down the demon in position, Izzy or Claire fired blasts from their Bow or Feather Stinger, striking the monster in the back and infuriating him more.
Soon enough, the monster began getting slower, sloppier, and more distracted, taking wide counter swings with his claws and tail that each of the Rangers dodged easily. As the demon took one more swing, it came face to face with the Blue Ranger who stood before the waterline to the river with his spear in hand. "Right where I want you."
"We'll just see about that Ranger!" Belphegor snarled lashing out with a violent strike from his tail. To the monster's complete surprise, Danny took a diving backflip into the waters to avoid the attack. The other Rangers paused a moment in surprise as the scorpion demon hobbled forward to examine what happened to the Blue Ranger. As it peered down into the waters, everyone gave a surprised gasp as the river began to bubble with activity for a moment and a powerful jet of water erupted sending the Blue Ranger soaring high into the air. A powerful wall of water came crashing down with him to back up his attack.
Giving a triumphant laugh, Danny spread his summoned wings wide and rode the forceful cascade of water that slammed into Belphegor, staggering the demon and sweeping aside the monster's guard and stinger. In one powerful charged strike, Danny brought the tip of his spear forward into a powerful thrust, smashing though Belphegor's cracked exoskeleton armor plates and impaling the demon clean through the chest.
"How do you like being stung for a change?" Danny growled, struggling to drive the weapon deeper as Belphegor continued to thrash against him violently.
Finally, the dying scorpion monster let up and collapsed to its knees turning its head up toward Danny, "You may have defeated me Ranger, but this is just a small part of Lord Gideon's plan. While we speak, he will find the Greater Powers and wipe you humans out for good."
"Wait! What are you talking about?" Danny cried but the demon commander laughed in his face and dissolved into a cloud of dark ash and brimstone.
Danny stood frozen in place for a moment before lowering his spear as the others came over cheering and patting his back. "Nicely done Daniel. That was an excellent combat maneuver," Kara nodded approvingly while Nick gave him a joyful fist bump.
"Nice move Danimal! Way to stick it to that monster!"
Turning to his side, the White Ranger slapped him five and grinned, "You know, I was a little worried for a moment, but you really stepped up today!"
"Oh wow... thanks everyone. You guys really think so?" Danny said in genuine surprise from the team's praise before sheepishly rubbing his own neck.
To his surprise, Izzy put a gentle hand on his shoulder and for a moment, Danny almost thought he could see her smiling brightly from behind her visor, "Of course. We're all really proud of you... at least I know I am."
The Blue Ranger stopped and looked at Izzy for a moment returning the smile while Nick and Claire exchanged a knowing shrug between each other. Unfortunately, the moment was broken as the Rangers heard the sounds of the injured civilians who were now beginning to recover from their stinger injuries.
Giving a sigh, Danny knew he was still the acting leader and turned to the others, "Ok everyone. The demon might be gone, but let's try to give some of these people a little help before the paramedics show up."
After a busy afternoon of helping the people Belphegor had injured, the Vanguard Rangers regrouped at Professor Bishop's home that evening to check up on their own Red Ranger. To their relief, they found him in better spirits, sitting up in bed and looking a little more energetic.
"Fortunately the monster had only injured a handful of people before we arrived," Nick told him, "But it looks like they're all going to make full recoveries. How are you feeling?"
"Better," Joe answered, "A little bit stronger, but I'm probably not going to be playing any flag football on the quad for a few days yet."
"Well, we're just glad you're going to be ok too," Claire smiled sitting down beside him on the bed and squeezing his hand.
As they began chatting quietly for a few minutes, Nick turned to Danny, "So, is everything going to be ok with your parents? I mean, you did blow off that meeting with Waterford's dean."
Danny shrugged, "They'll get over it... and I was telling the truth when I spoke to my Dad earlier. I never wanted to transfer in the first place and leave you guys. Besides, I'd be a pretty crummy Power Ranger if I did... so thanks for trusting in me earlier."
The Green Ranger gave a small grin and clapped Danny on the back, "Don't mention it preppy."
At that moment, Bishop poked his head inside the room and said, "It's getting late everyone. I think we could all use a little rest, don't you think?"
Claire and Nick said another goodbye to Joe and told him they'd come back tomorrow to visit again. After the others cleared out of the room, Danny stayed behind and looked to the Red Ranger.
"I guess I made the right decision after all," Joe smiled toward Danny, "I heard about how well you led in the team in battle, and I couldn't be prouder."
"Thanks," Danny said breaking out into a relieved laugh, "But I'll just be glad when you're back on your feet again. As great as leading the charge was, you can keep the job."
After sharing another laugh, Danny gave a thoughtful look and sat down at the side of the bed, "You know Joe, I kinda wanted to thank you for having me do this because it made me realize something. I had been spending a lot of time shying away from responsibility and thinking I couldn't do things... whether it was leading the Rangers in battle, or maybe taking charge of a future business situation when I graduate later on. I guess it's nice to know that I can do those things after all, and that I have good friends who will be on my side when I really need it."
Joe smiled and laughed softly shaking his head, "Don't thank me Danny. I really didn't do much. Like you said, this was something you did for yourself. All I did was just give you a little nudge in the right direction."
"Well... I still appreciate it bud," Danny grinned extending a hand. As the Red Ranger took his hand and shook it firmly, he said, "You know Danny, even if you still prefer not to sub in as team leader unless you have to, I'm sure you'll agree with me on one thing at least."
Danny gave a curious look as Joe laughed softly, "You've got to admit... being able to lead the roll call is cool as hell, isn't it?"
The Blue Ranger couldn't help but smile and break out into another genuine laugh himself, "Yeah... yeah it is."
A/N:
As much as I like comical Danny, I thought he deserved an episode to show he could still be reliable and badass when he needs to. Also, the next three episodes are going to be a mini arc centering on the search for Atlantis while leading us to the series mid point. Also featured will be a special villain submitted by Ranger Red 2.0 so thanks again my friend! And thanks as always to those who are reading and reviewing. I hope to see you all then!