Vanguard 21: Part 1

A/N: Hey everyone, welcome back! Before we start the second half of the series, I should probably just say again that I unfortunately don't own Power Rangers or any of its related intellectual property. Judd Lynn, if by some miracle you're actually reading this and want to produce my series, then give me a call! Just bring along a huge bag full of money and we'll do lunch… sound good?

Warm summer sunshine glistened off the waters of Santa Barbara's coast as Professor Bishop and the Vanguard Rangers sat in the shade of a beachside café with their newest visitor.

"That sounds like quite a story," Carter Grayson smiled taking a drink of water from his glass as they finished lunch. From where he sat, the Red Lightspeed Ranger gave Kara a curious look, "And you're really one of these… Empyrian angels?"

The Gold Ranger gave a nod with her usual stoic expression, "On my father's side... but that is partially correct."

"Well... it's still great to finally meet you all," Carter said to everyone, "I didn't actually expect that Mr. Bishop would have a direct connection to a team of new Rangers, or that they would be his students either. I have to admit too, Vanguard is an interesting name."

Danny smiled and gave a shrug, "Well, vanguards are always the first part of an army to go into battle. Since our ancient ancestors were some of the first warriors to protect the Earth, the name seemed fitting. Izzy here was actually the one who came up with it."

"She's kind of our resident Power Rangers fangirl around here," Nick added helpfully as the Pink Ranger waved it off and began gushing again.

"It's such an honor to meet you Mr. Grayson! I mean, I know Dr. Tommy Oliver is one of the most famous Red Rangers, but you're definitely way up there too. I've read stories about how you and your team saved Mariner Bay when we were just little kids... oh, and some of my friends and I had a big crush on you when we were still in middle school."

The Blue Ranger rolled his eyes gently as Carter began to laugh good naturedly, "Well, thank you. I'm sure my wife Dana would be flattered to hear that I was in such high demand.

While Izzy and Claire continued to giggle between each other like giddy schoolgirls, Joe cleared his throat authoritatively before turning to Carter, "Like Izzy said, it's an honor to meet you Mr. Grayson…"

"Please, call me Carter."

Joe corrected himself, "Carter. We'll be happy to help you if we can, but I am a little worried about one thing…"

The Red Lightspeed Ranger nodded in understanding toward his younger counterpart, "Let me guess. You're worried I'm going to be revealing your names and personal information in my reports to Lightspeed, right?"

Carter put down his water glass gently with a reassuring look, "Don't worry. Technically, I should, but I'm not going to because we're fellow Power Rangers. Protecting each other's identities takes priority here."

"We appreciate it Carter," Bishop chimed in, "But you said there was a demon problem you needed my help dealing with?"

Carter's face hardened and he slowly leaned forward in his seat, beginning to show his serious and authoritative side. "Right. I've been sent here by Captain Bill Mitchell of Lightspeed Rescue because an artifact was stolen from Mariner Bay not too long ago."

Carter reached in a dark briefcase that he carried and removed a file full of documents and photos. He showed the Rangers a photo of an ornate circular disc with gear-like teeth and intricate writing carved upon it. The next few photos were enlarged pictures of stone tablets with writing on them.

"This disc had been recovered from the site of the demon tombs in Mariner Bay. It came along with several of these stone tablets that none of us were ever able to translate."

Bishop frowned, "Those may have been recovered from your demon tombs, but the Cambion are a different threat entirely... so they can't be connected, can they?"

Carter nodded his head, "Yes Gabe, some of us at Lightspeed including Captain Mitchell and myself think there may be a connection. Our own demons had been defeated completely, but the suspect who had stolen this metal disc was believed to have fiery demonic powers of their own... at least according to the museum security guards who were hurt trying to stop him."

"The time of the Cambion attacks that we've monitored fall roughly in sync with the theft of this artifact. We think the disc has some greater evil purpose and if we couldn't make sense of these glyphs on the tablets, then we hoped perhaps you would."

Bishop looked again at the photos and felt his pulse quicken a little, "This is definitely some variant of the writing used by the Empyrian and Cambion races. It'll take a little time, but I might be able to piece some things together."

"Whoah! How cool is that? We actually have a connection to the Lightspeed Rangers and their monsters," Nick said in awe.

The White Ranger raised a finger to him, "Let's not jump to any hasty conclusions yet Nick. We have to figure out what that artifact is first and what the demons may be up to."

"I agree with Claire," Joe said solemnly, "Gideon's forces might have taken a beating recently, but until we know more, we're just going to have to stay on high alert for any more signs of danger."

Elsewhere, Archangel Gideon sat in displeasure as General Abaddon limped back into the throne room of the Dark Spire. The torches there flickered with a sinister hue as Abaddon dropped to one knee in exhaustion before his lord.

"You return from battle empty handed General," Gideon said evenly. "The Great Seal between our worlds grows thin and yet I hear you suffer another great defeat at the hands of our enemies. You lose an entire regiment of troops, Leviathan is maimed, and the Rangers claim the Greater Powers of Atlantis."

"My Lord, forgive me," Abaddon begged, "There's no way I could have known the Rangers would even be wielding the Greater Powers. We were caught completely off guard."

Gideon growled while sitting on the throne, trying to restrain his rage.

"You were caught completely off guard because you're always rushing headlong into battle without thinking or planning first," Shemhazai said chastising Abaddon from nearby, "You must take your time."

"Time is not always a luxury to be wasted," Abaddon fired back at the demoness, "While you sit here and do nothing but plan, the Rangers keep getting stronger and stronger. Plans without action is meaningless."

The Counselor rankled at the General's retort and prepared to argue again when the three Cambion leaders heard a voice from the shadows, "My Lord Gideon. May I be of assistance to you?"

Gideon's two commanders stopped their fight and turned in surprise as a tall lanky demon with dark jagged skin made of obsidian approached from the shadows. The throne room guards shifted quickly into attack stances, but Gideon waved them off to let the visitor approach. The tall monster had high curled horns, darkened skin, and red glowing veins of magma glowing along his body. His eyes glowed like red embers as he stepped forward and bowed reverently, "Lord Gideon, I am at your service again."

"It's been a long time since I have seen or heard from you Skaard" Gideon began, "I would almost think you might still harbor some loyalty for your former queen Bansheera."

Skaard shook his head, "Of course not my lord. Remember that I pledged loyalty to you before you had her sealed away... before the great war in Eden."

"Not well enough it seemed," Gideon quipped remembering how it had been Queen Bansheera that had originally seduced him to the dark side and encouraged him to lead his rebellion against his own angelic brothers and sisters. While Bansheera's own race of demons had existed before the Cambion, a few of them like Skaard had defected over to the Cambion ranks before the war.

Gideon decided to humor the turncoat, "Tell me then Skaard, how do you plan to help advance my goals?"

Skaard smiled devilishly, "My lord, I can't help but notice that your ranks have thinned after the battles with these Vanguard Rangers. I possess a way to replenish those ranks and provide you with greater fighting strength."

Gideon looked on as Skaard presented the circular brass disc with gear teeth. "In my hand, I have a key to the Cistern Diabolus."

"Cistern Diabolus?" Abaddon echoed in confusion.

Shemhazai crossed her arms contemptuously and explained, "The Devil's Cistern. It's a lost structure that dates back to before the war in Eden. Queen Bansheera created it to harvest residual dark energy from her own slain demon warriors for use at a later time."

"Precisely," Skaard said to Shemhazai. "It would seem that Bansheera and all her followers had been vanquished years ago by the Lightspeed Rangers. Imagine how much residual power must have collected there… all waiting for someone else to use."

"You know where this Cistern is?" Gideon asked curiously.

Skaard shook his head, "Not quite, but I believe I am close to locating it. I think this project better serves your plan than anything your two commanders have done so far... so I ask for a another chance to roam free on earth to find the Cistern."

Abaddon and Shemhazai gritted their teeth and growled as Gideon took a moment to consider, before giving a nod, "Very well Skaard. Show me that I'm right to place the Legion's faith in you this time."

The next day Carter and Bishop sat on some benches by the boardwalks watching as the 6 Rangers enjoyed a day at the beach. It was a hot afternoon outside, but the water and the fresh sea breeze was refreshing to everyone near the surf. Carter couldn't help but smile and think of the beach days his own team of Rangers would have on their days off as he watched the three boys wrestle amongst each other or chase the girls through the shallow waters to try and dunk them in. The sound of their laughter amid the splashing waters made its way back across the sands to them... even that of the normally dour Kara.

"It seems a little strange, just sitting and not being to do anything right now," Carter observed, "It's relaxing, but frustrating at the same time."

From his spot on the bench, Bishop glanced over with a smile as he continued studying Carter's papers while going over translation notes from his own tablet, "I'm actually more surprised you're still running around as a Power Ranger and still being so enthusiastic."

"It's my job to save lives and protect others," Carter sighed thoughtfully. "I had been a firefighter before joining Lightspeed so I guess it's in my blood."

"Your wife Dana," Bishop prompted, "She was a Power Ranger too, right? She's ok with you still working for Lightspeed and going on these kinds of missions?"

Carter laughed gently, "That's where you and I differ Gabe. You at least have the freedom and choice to go out there with your Rangers to put your neck on the line if you want. Me? I've got a young son now. I think Dana wants me to settle down a little so that I can spend more time at home with the family and work a safer kind of job, you know?"

Bishop returned the laugh as he continued to work on his tablet, "Well I guess it's only fair that you Legendary Rangers step aside every once in a while to let the rest of us earn our stripes."

Just then, Carter's morpher beeped and he picked up a report of a monster wreaking havoc near downtown Santa Barbara. "I think your Rangers are about to get one such chance."

The Red Lightspeed Ranger rose quickly and signaled out toward the waters where the 6 Vanguard Rangers stopped what they were doing and grew serious, instinctively knowing that evil never took a vacation, whether they liked it or not.

Tall flames burned from several nearby storefronts as Skaard ambled down the street amid fleeing tourists and shoppers. While the quaint white stucco buildings crackled in a blaze, a handful of local police officers rushed forward and pointed their pistols at Skaard and his entourage of Magog foot soldiers.

"Freeze monster! That's far enough!" one officer yelled, obviously terrified.

"Freeze? You've got to be kidding me," Skaard maliciously laughed as he waved a hand to scatter the police with a jet of fire. The burst instantly melted their guns and scared the officers off.

As he watched the cops flee, Skaard turned to a few of the Magogs, "Now keep an eye out. The Cistern is buried in those foothills and from here, we should be able to see the Yawning Stones."

"You'd better look again," came the voice of the Red Vanguard Ranger, "The only thing you're going to see is a one way ticket back to the Abyss!"

Skaard turned in the direction of the intruder to see 6 young people and an older man standing with them. In the teens' hands were the Empyrian Keyrunes, "The Vanguard Rangers. We finally meet at last... but I count seven of you."

"They've got friends everywhere, and I just happen to be one of them," Carter called out boldly as he stepped forward and revealed his Lightspeed morpher. "You're the one who stole that artifact in Mariner Bay, aren't you?"

"A Lightspeed Ranger," Skaard grinned in delight, "This just got very interesting. I might just get a chance to avenge Queen Bansheera after all."

Izzy stopped in surprise and turned to the others in confusion, "Did he just say Bansheera?"

"We'll worry about that later," Carter said cutting her off and turning to Joe. "You're our pointman Joe. Lead the way."

The Red Vanguard Ranger stepped forward amid the flames in the burning streets and raised his Keyrune bravely, "Let's go for it everyone!"

"Vanguard Ascend!" the other Rangers answered as Carter readied his own morpher.

"Lightspeed Rescue!"

In a brilliant flash all 7 morphed Rangers stood together to face down their newest foe. Skaard watched as the 6 Vanguard Rangers drew their gladius short swords in unison and took a ready stance.

The Red Lightspeed Ranger turned to the others and readied his own rescue baton to follow suit, "Is everyone ready?"

"We're right behind you Carter," Joe nodded rallying his team behind the veteran Ranger in their midst. Pointing his sword forward, the Red Vanguard Ranger called out as Carter led their charge, "Vanguard, take flight!"