Episode 23: Part 2
"Well, that's the last of them," Nick sighed watching as the final Magog keeled over and burst into a puff of fiery ash.
He glanced over to where the other morphed Rangers stood, scanning the battlefield for any other threats. To their relief, the streets were empty.
"I don't know about you guys, but doesn't this all seem a little strange?" Claire asked holstering her blaster pistol, "This was way too easy. There was no leader… only a small pack of Magogs."
"Perhaps this is some sort of diversion?" Kara suggested stepping beside her.
The Red Ranger sheathed his gladius and gave a thoughtful shrug, "Maybe… but if it was, a second attack would be breaking out right now."
"Or maybe Gideon is just running out of troops and getting sloppy?" Nick asked hopefully.
"Doubtful," Claire sighed, "But we can always hope, right?"
While the other Rangers took a moment to speculate amongst themselves, Izzy glanced over to see Danny slump down tiredly and take a quick rest on one knee. It wasn't late at all and the Blue Ranger had not been hurt in the fight either.
"Are you ok there Dan?" she asked hesitantly as she walked over and extended a hand. He looked up to her quietly before rising to his feet, ignoring her hand, "I'm fine. I was just feeling a little lightheaded."
The Pink Ranger could only give a small sigh as he waved to the others and took off from the battlefield, "I need to go check in on Lily. Let me know if there are any more monsters, ok?"
Giving a reluctant shake of the head, Izzy turned and followed her other friends as they started heading back home for the evening. Something strange was going on and she was determined to figure it out.
The next afternoon, the Cambion succubus disguised as Lily sat on a desk in an empty classroom. While she waited for the Blue Ranger to arrive, Lilith held her purple stone pendant in her hand speaking into it quietly as it glowed.
"Have you learned where the Rangers' base of operations is?" Shemhazai's disembodied voice asked from the crystal, "Or have you learned who they may be taking direction from?"
"No," Lilith replied, "But I have learned some things about the Rangers... their friends, and the places they frequent. Still, they did not take the bait when I sent my Magogs to attack the other night."
"We're still going to need to do more if we hope to please Lord Gideon," Shemhazai said, sounding a little impatient.
"I understand mistress, but I've decided a different approach may be in order. Instead of gathering more information right now, why not eliminate them one by one and reduce their fighting strength?"
"You would drain the male Rangers of their life force?" Shemhazai asked curiously.
Lilith nodded with a devilish smile, "I've already begun on the Blue Ranger. The fool is so smitten, that he doesn't even realize that he's becoming fatigued."
Shemhazai thought a moment before nodding, "Very well. Keep me informed of your progress then."
The light from the crystal dimmed as the demons cut the connection and Danny entered the classroom. He knocked on the door and gave a smile as he walked in, "Hey Lily. Sorry I'm late. Are you ready to go to lunch?"
Lily tucked her pendant away quickly and turned around to face him with a sweet smile. "Danny! Hi! I'm so happy to see you!" she said hopping off the desk and throwing her arms around his neck. Before he could speak, she pulled him in and gave him an enthusiastic kiss.
"Wow. I can tell," Danny replied breathlessly as he broke away for a moment. "Um, are you ready to eat?"
Lily's lip curled slightly as she continued to keep her arms around him and gave a suggestive look, "Yes… but I was actually thinking maybe we could start with a little dessert?"
Danny looked around the empty classroom in surprise for a moment, "Wait… um, really? Here? With me?"
Lily gave a feral smile and leaned in, kissing him again. The Blue Ranger felt his heart race as the kiss grew deeper and more intense until he caught the faint glow of the purple pendant around Lily's neck. Before he could break the kiss, he glanced up to see his girlfriend's features had slightly taken on a demonic appearance. In an instant, the succubus felt a rush of the Ranger's life force be absorbed into her pendant as he passed out and went limp.
Looking down at him for a moment, Lilith gave a thoughtful smile. It would be a terrible shame to have to kill him. He had been so amusing, and useful. Perhaps he could still serve as a vessel to feed from later. The succubus hoisted Danny's limp form up and dragged the unconscious Ranger by the scruff of his blazer collar over to a corner. After she did, she plucked Danny's Keyrune from his pocket, denying him his ability to morph or make use of any water magic.
She would be back for him later, but in the mean time, she had two more targets to take care of. If she could neutralize the other two male Rangers, then defeating the remaining 3 females would be much easier. She took a moment to smooth out her mussed hair and clothes before walking out of the classroom and locking it behind her.
Later that day, Izzy made her way out of the campus Mathematics building and prepared to head home when she spotted Lily quickly walking by herself down one of the main sidewalks of the quad. Taking a quick glance around, the Pink Ranger melted into the crowd of other students on campus and began to follow the suspicious looking freshman. While she pursued Lily, Izzy made sure to keep a safe distance while staying near spots she could use for cover like trees, buildings, or groups of loitering students. She continued to follow the girl across campus until she came to one of the greenhouses for agriculture students.
Giving a confused frown, the Pink Ranger stayed out of sight while Lily entered the seemingly empty greenhouse and look around. To Izzy's surprise, she spotted Nick standing by himself at one of the tables. He had several potted plants in front of him and he whistled a cheerful song while working on a lab report about acid levels in the soil.
Upon spotting Lily in the greenhouse, Nick stopped and put his pencil down in surprise. "Oh! Um, hi Lily. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did you get lost again?"
She gave a giggle and shook her head, "No. I just thought I'd come by to admire the flowers and the ferns."
"Well, you came to the right place then," the Green Ranger grinned proudly. "I've got a couple fresh samples of blue aster flowers right here."
Nick lovingly stroked the petals of one flower as Lily walked up to take a sniff. "They're beautiful… and my favorite color."
"Um… I'm not surprised," Nick replied suddenly realizing how close the girl was now standing to him over the flower.
Turning toward him, she brushed aside her hair with a suggestive smile, "Danny told me you know a whole lot about plants and flowers. Would you… maybe like to show me more?"
The Green Ranger felt his face grow a little warm as she moved close and began fiddling with the buttons on his shirt, "Oh, gee… I don't know about that."
While he couldn't help but admit that the girl was extremely attractive, Nick was shocked this was happening. He was surprised, embarrassed, and maybe feeling a little ashamed too.
From her hiding spot, Izzy covered her mouth in outrage before Nick gently stepped away from Lily and raised his hands, "Listen Lily, I don't know what's going on here, but this isn't right. Danny's a good friend of mine and I'm not going to let you fool around behind his back… especially not with me."
To the Green Ranger's shock, Lily lashed out and gripped him violently by the collar of his shirt, lifting him slightly off the ground.
"I don't think he'd mind," the succubus said revealing her demonic features, "Since I left him in the English building, he's not in any position to argue anymore."
The Green Ranger gasped in fear before the demoness easily hurled him through the door of the greenhouse and out into the lawn. Nick groaned in pain and slowly sat up amid the remains of the broken glass door. He had been winded from hitting the ground hard and saw he had a minor cut on his forehead too. To his horror, he saw the succubus Lilith loom over him with an imperious sneer, "Too bad. I think you could have been useful to me... and fun to play with."
"Try playing with this you skank!" came a cry as the Pink Ranger burst from her hiding spot and knocked Lilith away with a flying jump kick from behind. Before the demoness could recover, Izzy stood over her stunned friend and held out her Keyrune, "Take cover Nick!"
The Green Ranger ducked low and curled up as Izzy called up a powerful pink gale of wind that lifted up the glass shards on the ground and swirled around the succubus for a brief moment. Lilith roared in fury as the shards sliced at her face and her delicate features, marring them with several ugly gashes.
When the wind died down, Lilith snarled furiously at Izzy, "You! I'll do much worse to your pretty face Pink Ranger!"
At that moment, the two Rangers were joined by Joe, Claire, and Kara who had responded to a quick SOS from Nick.
"I'd like to see you try!" Izzy called back defiantly standing front and center of the Ranger's formation to lead the morph, "Everyone? Vanguard Ascend!"
In flash, the five Rangers stood ready to face the succubus and back the Pink Ranger up. "Ha! I knew there was something off about Lily," Claire smirked giving Nick a light punch in the shoulder, "I'm two for two now."
While the Green Ranger rolled his eyes, Lilith snarled, "Is that it Pink Ranger? You wanted to bring some friends? Why don't you meet some of mine!"
With the wave of her hand, the demon drew her own light blade and called a whole platoon of Magogs to slow the Rangers down.
"Wow, she's got a lot of friends," Joe quipped to the others, "She must really get around."
Without waiting, Izzy quickly raised her Keyrune and traced the sigil of Archangel Ambriel, calling her golden Archon Armor. The others scrambled in momentary confusion while Izzy leveled her rapier at the succubus and charged forward by herself. "Vanguard, take flight!" she called.
"Hey! You stole my line Iz!" Joe sputtered in outrage as the others rushed to catch up and take one the foot soldiers.
While the others did battle with the minions, Izzy plowed through the enemy center and vaulted toward Lilith in a flying gymnastic corkscrew flip. Lilith growled and clashed rapiers with Izzy kicking up another burst of wind. Undeterred, the Pink Ranger ducked and twirled amid a blinding flurry of sword strikes as she exchanged blows and parried aside her enemy's advances.
As the two combatants exchanged another storm of strikes and locked blades again, Lilith forced her way through Izzy's guard and grabbed her tightly by the neck, pulling her close. "It may not work as well on you girlie, but how about a little kiss?" Lilith sneered puckering up.
"Kiss this!" Izzy retorted bringing around her other fist in a nasty armored left hook. Lilith recoiled for a moment, clutching her mouth where Izzy punched her giving the Pink Ranger just the opening she needed. In a heartbeat, the demon looked up to see the Ranger lunge forward and strike her with a barrage of pink charged rapier thrusts and kick up another powerful gust of air. As Lilith gave one last pained cry, she exploded on Izzy's blade as the Pink Ranger impaled her through the heart.
As the smoke cleared and the rest of the Magogs fled, Izzy sighed in exhaustion as she lowered her sword and took a deep breath. She felt the White Ranger put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Hey Iz... are you ok?"
The Pink Ranger glanced to her before spotting the Blue Keyrune laying on the ground where Lilith was destroyed. She quickly grabbed it from the ground and powered down. "Oh my God! Danny! We have to make sure he's ok!"
Before the others could reply, she took off running back toward the heart of the school.
Izzy rushed back across the campus pushing past other students to get to the English building as fast as she could. In her hand, she gripped Danny's Keyrune tightly, silently praying that he would be alright. As she burst into the building's main hall, she saw that it was mostly empty after classes had ended for the day.
The Pink Ranger took a moment to catch her breath before hurrying down the side halls peering into each room or opening closed doors to search for her missing friend. Finally, she came to the last door at the end of the all and found it to be locked. Gripping the doorknob in frustration, she gave it a few twists and a shoulder ram to no effect.
Undeterred, Izzy pulled her Keyrune and shoved it into the door, jimmying the lock open successfully. As she entered, she spotted Danny still laying on the floor in the corner of the room where the succubus left him. The Pink Ranger hurried over and fell to her knees, putting her fingers to his neck while tilting his head up slightly.
To her relief, she felt his pulse and saw that he was still breathing. "Oh thank God you're ok!" she exclaimed in relief putting her forehead to his and holding his face with her hands. Overcome with relief and emotion, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his quickly.
As she rose slowly to her knees, she stopped and frowned, feeling a strong tingling sensation spread from her lips to her whole body. As she began to feel faint and woozy herself, she glanced at Danny with a groan realizing it must have been from some after-effect of a powerful succubus kiss. "Oh you stupid son of a..." She never finished her sentence as she fainted and toppled over onto her side.
Some time later, Danny groaned and cracked his eyes open in a stupor to see the relieved faces of Joe and Claire coming into focus. "Can I open my presents now?"
"Welcome back Danny," Joe laughed helping the Blue Ranger sit up.
"It looks like Lily really got you good," Claire grinned.
Danny only gave a groggy frown, "Tell me about it. That tramp was a Cambion demon."
"Succubus to be exact," Kara called over from nearby, "Female demons who seduce men and prey on their life force. They're especially known to have a venom on their lips with a powerful narcotic effect."
Nick sat on a desk nearby and crossed his arms in amusement, "Lips huh? Looks like you two must have been really been going at it then."
The Blue Ranger ignored his friend's taunt and turned to see Izzy propped up along a nearby wall.
She looked just as groggy and disoriented. "What happened to you Iz?"
"I fell," the Pink Ranger said quickly trying not to sound too out of it, "When I found you here... I tripped, and I fell. The rest of you guys believe me, right?"
The other Rangers stared at her blankly before exchanging puzzled looks.
"Well, whatever happened, let's just get you two back to the dorms," Joe said hoisting Danny up and supporting him with his weight, "After that little scare earlier, I think we could all use a little bit of a rest now."
The next day, Izzy lay on her bed in her dorm room staring at the ceiling. Both she and Danny were still taking a little more bed rest after recovering from her "fall" and the powerful succubus venom the other day. Unfortunately, that meant she was still too fatigued to go the football game and party with Jen. Despite her disappointment, after everything that had happened that past week, it almost seemed fair in a way.
She was surprised when she heard a soft knock at the door and saw Danny poke his head in. "Hey Iz... um, can I come in for a minute?"
Like her, he was still wearing a t-shirt and pajama bottoms too. She sat up in bed and nodded, allowing him to walk over and sit down nearby.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
She shrugged, "Better now, but kinda disappointed about bailing on Jen. I'm also really sorry because I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me to the game and the party today."
Danny looked up in surprise as she continued, "I admit I had acted kinda thoughtless toward you earlier in the week and it wasn't right of me. I'm really sorry Danny."
He smiled and shook his head, "Don't sweat it Iz. I was acting pretty stupid too, getting so head over heels with Lily and it turns out you were the one who rooted her out as a monster."
"Well, even if we both missed the game, I guess all is well?" she asked hopefully.
The Blue Ranger reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "Yeah... though I am a little confused about one thing."
Izzy raised an eyebrow as he continued, "You're a very nimble fighter Iz. I've seen you take out a ton of demons in battle all by yourself. Yet, when you come to find me yesterday, you trip and fall?"
"Why not?" she asked hesitantly, "I could have."
"Come on Iz, don't mess around with me here," Danny said leaning closer to her and looking her directly in the eyes, "You didn't trip and fall, did you?"
The Pink Ranger felt her cheeks grow warm as they sat very close together having a moment, "No."
Another heartbeat passed and Danny slowly broke out into a grin, "Then that could only mean one thing."
"Umm... what?" Izzy asked in confusion as he suddenly pulled away.
Danny rose to his feet and headed back out toward the door with a laugh, "Oh come on Iz. You shouldn't be embarrassed. You must have let that succubus seduce you too, huh? I gotta admit, that's pretty kinky of you."
The Pink Ranger blinked a moment and stared in disbelief as she watched him leave. Flopping back down on her bed, she put her hand to her cheeks. It was good she took the day off because it seemed that she was starting to feel that same headrush from yesterday all over again.