Episode 20: Part 1
Having backtracked their way through Atlantis, the Vanguard Rangers emerged from the portal gate and found themselves back on the island of Santa Rosa. After being ambushed by demons, discovering a lost city, and having their powers magnified, the Rangers and their teacher were exhausted. Even for Power Rangers, it had been a long day and the seven adventurers were glad to finally make it back to their original campsite on the beach as the sun began to set.
"I don't know about you guys, but this has been the most surreal day of my life," Danny sighed pulling out a sleeping mat and tiredly flopping down face-first.
"You do realize that we made the biggest historical find of the century, right?" Nick called as he unwrapped a granola bar and began to munch it hungrily.
"Too tired right now. Don't care," Claire agreed with the Blue Ranger reclining across from him and propping the back of her head on his lower back as if it were a pillow. At the moment, Danny didn't seem to mind the little sisterly behavior and simply yawned in reply.
As the three began to chat idly, Kara stood off to the side looking silently at the darkening skies across the waters.
"I'm sorry about Jaral," she heard Joe's voice say quietly as he walked over and stood a few paces behind her. He took an idle glance over toward the other Rangers for a moment and said, "I can't imagine what it must be like to lose an old friend… especially one who was of mixed blood just like you."
"Thank you," Kara said quietly without turning around, "But Jaral was right. I did him a favor by killing him. Being a tortured slave to the demons is no way to live and it only makes me more determined to exterminate them."
She took a deep breath and exhaled turning around slightly, "The rest of my race might already be gone, but I have a new family to protect now."
The Red Ranger smiled gently and gave a silent nod in reply. A few moments later, Izzy approached and touched Joe's arm.
"Professor Bishop is calling for our ferry boat to come tomorrow," the Pink Ranger said handing him a bottle of water, "I think we should all get some rest, don't you think?"
Joe nodded quietly and walked the two girls back to camp where Professor Bishop sighed and put down his radio with a worried frown.
"Uh, is everything ok Professor?" Izzy asked hesitantly.
"No Izzy, it's not," Bishop answered palming the radio in his hand. "I just spoke with our charter boat and they're not coming. All ships on the west coast have been told to stay in the harbor."
"What? Why?" Nick asked as he finished his food.
The other Rangers rose and gathered around with worried looks as Bishop continued, "There's been a report that a Navy destroyer ran into some trouble while out on patrol. The harbor master in Santa Barbara said the US destroyer had been sideswiped and damaged by some gigantic sea creature headed east towards California. Until the Navy and Coast Guard figure out what happened, all sea travel is suspended."
"Meaning we're stuck here," Claire reasoned with a frown. "But a giant sea creature? You don't think that thing is a Cambion monster, do you? I mean, an armored destroyer is not exactly a small ship, you know."
"Leviathan," Kara said aloud with a concerned look.
The others turned to her in confusion before she spoke again, "Leviathan was a giant sea serpent that caused tremendous death and destruction during the war with the demons. They said its breath could boil oceans and its scales were almost impenetrable."
Bishop nodded, "There's a similar figure to that in western religion too. Unfortunately, no one wrote how it could be killed or dealt with."
"We have a Megazord and our new powers from Atlantis," Danny offered helpfully, "At least we've got that working for us."
"Danny's right," Joe nodded crossing his arms in thought, "Whatever that thing is, it's going to be headed for the coastal cities so we've got to do something."
Kara grimaced, "I am in agreement, but what worries me more is what the presence of Leviathan means. If Gideon was able to send a powerful beast like that through into our world, then the seal of the Abyss must be growing dangerously weak."
"And it will only grow weaker if Leviathan gets to a city like San Francisco or San Diego," Izzy added.
"We won't let that happen," Joe answered as he pulled his Keyrune and summoned his red griffin zord from the sky. "Let's strike camp and get ready to fly back to the mainland."
The Rangers could only watch as the large Empyrian griffin descended from the heavens and touched down gently on the beach nearby. After loading up their gear, the griffin spread its wings and gave a shrill cry, taking off into the night sky with the seven people on its back hoping they could return to the mainland in time.
The next day, bright warm sunshine bathed the sands of San Francisco as surfers rode the waves and other beach goers enjoyed their day out. Despite the late morning sun and refreshing water, several people began to stop and look out over the horizon as a dark gray bank of thick fog rolled over the water. Several long minutes passed while the skies continued to darken and the waves began to churn roughly, causing surfers to paddle toward the shoreline and little children to retreat back to the boardwalk.
As several startled beach goers remained watching the freak weather occurrence, they began to scream in terror as dark figures began emerging from the shallows of the choppy water. An entire regiment of armed Magog soldiers slowly sloshed onto the beach as if reenacting some demonic version of World War 2's Normandy invasion. At their head of the invaders was General Abaddon, the high field commander of the Cambion Legions.
As the monstrous general emerged from the surf, and water ran down his dark jagged plate armor, he looked about the dark beach with a smile. It had been millennia since he had set foot in the mortal world… and it felt good. Glancing to the fleeing beach goers, Abaddon hefted his battleaxe forward with a growl, "Go now! Kill all the humans!"
Before a company of Magogs could respond, they stopped in surprise as a large geyser of glowing blue seawater erupted from behind and came down on the demons like a giant sledgehammer. While several of the mangled foot soldiers were washed away, a powerful pink tinted wind kicked up, throwing sand in the demons' faces to momentarily blind them.
When the sandstorm cleared, Abaddon looked up with a growl to see six young men and women barring the way. By now, the beach had cleared out leaving them as the only humans brave enough to stand in the presence of the fearsome invaders. From her place beside Joe in their formation, Kara glanced to the others in concern, "Be careful everyone, that is General Abaddon. I didn't think he'd actually be here."
The demon warlord chortled and rested his axe against his shoulder in amusement. "You must be the highly vaunted Vanguard Rangers," he called out, "To think, the Empyrian angels have pinned their hopes on a bunch of scrawny human children."
"Children who have defeated every single warrior you've sent," Nick called back defiantly, "And to be honest, you don't look any tougher!"
Abaddon roared with laughter before slamming his axe into the ground, startling the Magog's behind him. "A human speaking as arrogantly as one of the angels. I'll enjoy killing the six of you slowly."
As the warlord spoke, a deep bellowing roar was heard from across the deep waters of the ocean as the dark roiling fog moved closer to shore. "Perhaps I'll have to leave a little left for Leviathan after all," Abaddon snorted raising his axe.
"That's fine with us General. We don't have time to deal with you either," Joe called back twirling his Keyrune prompting the other Rangers to join him, "Everyone ready?"
"Vanguard Ascend!" came their unified cry as the six instantly morphed into their Ranger suits.
As they did, the Red Ranger held his glowing Keyrune out and traced the angelic sigil of Auriel in front of him, "Let's go all out Rangers!"
The other Rangers save for Kara followed suit and traced their own sigils causing the radiant power to engulf them and summon the armor of the Atlantean champions. As their bright wings spread from their brilliant armor, all five Rangers called their weapons to their hand while Abaddon stood in shock. "It can't be! What is this?"
The Red Ranger stepped forward with his weapon radiating an intense fiery aura as he led their modified roll call,
"The Celestial Flame, Vanguard Red!"
"The Celestial Tide, Vanguard Blue!"
"The Celestial Quake, Vanguard Green!"
"The Celestial Snowfall, Vanguard White!"
"The Celestial Gale, Vanguard Pink!"
"And the Surging Thunderbolt, Vanguard Gold!" Kara added joining in with them.
"The Light of the Past, and the Hope of the Future. Power Rangers!" the six chorused as the skies momentarily cleared and the battlefield lit up with the brilliant rays of the sun behind them.
The Red Ranger's saber sword glittered in the light as he raised it high then leveled it toward the blinded and intimidated demons, "Vanguard, Take Flight!"
Even the mighty General Abaddon hesitated for a moment as the 6 warriors took flight and surged forward with incredible speed, smashing into his line of troops. To his complete surprise, the demon warlord watched as the Rangers tore through the horde of Magogs, leaving residual streaks of colored elemental energy in the air as they did.
These were not the 6 frightened children he expected to face, he thought as a twinge of fear gripped his black heart. These Rangers in their golden armor moved with purpose and fought with such confidence and terrifying ferocity. For a brief moment, it was like he was witnessing Commander Auriel and his warriors all over again, laying low the demons and routing Gideon's armies.
Each of the Rangers moved like a blur and swooped through the ranks of enemies, striking away several at a time with their melee weapons. From the flank, Claire fired a shot of icy power from her bow that scattered into the air, then rained down on the last of the Magogs like large deadly icicles. As they planted into the ground, the Gold Ranger followed up the shot with a lightning bolt of her own that reflected among the icicles and incinerated the remaining troops.
Before he knew it, General Abaddon was left with only his personal bodyguards. Giving a growl, the warlord waved them forward furiously, "Destroy them!"
As the last of the demon troops charged, the Green Ranger stepped forward and raised his hammer to focus his powers. "Stand back everyone. Leave this to me."
The other Rangers held their position as Nick pounded the ground causing waves of jagged stalagmites to erupt from the earth burying and skewering the helpless demons. While the Magogs dispersed into ash and brimstone, the Rangers could see Leviathan's cloud nearing the shore with Abaddon still in their way.
"Get out of our way Abaddon! We have more important things to do than tangle with you right now!" the Red Ranger called igniting his saber toward the warlord. "Go tell Gideon your attack failed."
"I'll cut you Rangers down, so go tell him yourself!" Abaddon roared in fury charging forward.
Joe simply shook his head and gestured for the others to follow. In a powerful strike, the Red Ranger locked weapons with General Abaddon and the sand around them erupted in a violent cloud from the force of the weapons. With the strength of Auriel backing him, the Ranger struggled, but was able to stand his ground and push back against the demon.
"Is that all Ranger?" Abaddon snarled in contempt struggling to break their stalemate, "I'd give up now if I were you."
"And I'd duck if I were you," Joe answered letting go of their cross block just in time to dive to the ground. While Abaddon had been distracted, both Claire and Danny swooped toward the warlord's head carrying opposite ends of the Blue Ranger's spear.
Abaddon stumbled as he was hit in the face with a flying clothesline from the spear. Moments later, he felt himself be grabbed from behind by the Green Ranger and hefted up from the ground slightly, " Boy, not only are you ugly, but you're pretty heavy too. Not a good combination."
"Unhand me!" Abaddon roared as Nick took off into the sky grappling the warlord from behind in a wrestling hold. Once they were high enough, the Green Ranger let go and swooped away, "Have it your way."
As Abaddon plummeted back down toward the ground, he felt the air around him swirl while the Pink Ranger swooped about him creating another dizzying whirlwind. Having lost control of his fall in midair, the demon was buffeted about before he looked up to see Kara dive down on him from above in the eye of the tornado.
The Gold Ranger used the momentum of her dive and drove Abaddon into the ground with a kick before leaping away. While the General slowly rose and shook his head from the blow, he saw Leviathan's fog roll in and begin to touch the edge of the beach. It wouldn't be long now, but that moment cost him as he turned to see the first five Vanguard Rangers assembled behind their Radiant Arbalest, aiming it right at him.
"Fire!" they shouted in unison unloading a white hot bolt of energy at the General. Abaddon roared again as he was struck full on by the attack and thrown to his knees in a fiery explosion. The Rangers watched in surprise as the Cambion general rose again to his feet. His armor had been dented and scorched, but Abaddon regained his balance. He could certainly take a lot of punishment, but he staggered sideways looking slightly injured.
"I'll be ready for you next time Rangers," he growled, "If Leviathan doesn't finish you off first."
With that, the warlord took on a black gaseous form and retreated from the battlefield in a jet of dark smoke.
"We'll be waiting," Joe growled quietly before he felt the White Ranger tap his shoulder.
"Uh, is it just me, or has it suddenly gotten a little dark outside?"
The Rangers looked around the empty beach to see a thick gray fog roll in and obscure the waterfront ahead of them. As they did, Nick turned to Kara, "I don't suppose you know just how big this sea serpent is... do you?"
"Not a clue," Kara shrugged, but her own voice betrayed her nervousness.
Just then, the Rangers froze in terror as they heard another deep bellowing roar and saw the waves of the ocean kick up violently. To their horror, they witnessed the head of a giant gray serpentine dragon emerge from the foggy waters and rise high nto the air followed by its long neck.
"Holy crap," the Blue Ranger gasped in awe of the beast as Izzy fearfully grabbed his arm without thinking.
"I think we're going to need a new plan." Claire murmured turning in panic to Joe.
The Red Ranger watched as the great serpent Leviathan reared its head back and looked at the Rangers on the shore, "For starters, I think we're going to need a bigger Arbalest."