Episode 32: Part 2
A thin haze hung over the battlefield as General Abaddon leveled his axe in a challenge. "The six of you have stood in the way of Lord Gideon long enough! It ends today and I will deal with you Rangers for good!"
"That's strange General. The last time we faced you, I remember you running away scared with your tail between your legs," Nick shouted back, tightening his grip on his own weapon.
Abaddon smirked and lightly ran a hand over the amulet Shemhazai had given him, "Not today Rangers. Today we fight to the very end. No more holding back."
"If that's the case, we won't hold back either," Joe called raising his Keyrune and prompting the others to follow suit. In an instant, the first five Vanguard Rangers traced the sigils of the Archangels and summoned their golden armor to combat the demon commander.
"Rangers, split up and take it to him!" the Red Ranger barked as he leveled his saber.
Kara was the first to react and channeled her power of thunder. In the blink of an eye, the Gold Ranger surged forward and struck the General head-on with a powerful dual thrust from her scimitars. To her shock, a glowing energy field radiated from the amulet on Abaddon's breastplate and completely deflected her attack. Kara gasped and did a spinning tumble sideways, trying to slow her momentum and regain her balance.
Before she could shout a warning, Nick and Izzy followed up in a combined attack to try and force back the Cambion General. Both Rangers took flying leaps and brought their weapons to bear while Abaddon swung his axe in a counterblow. Nick was the first to strike and stopped the battleaxe with his own hammer, locking weapons in a powerful collision. As Nick grunted and tried pushing back against the General, the Pink Ranger did a flying pirouette around him and launched a blinding flurry of charged rapier thrusts.
Again, Abaddon's force field amulet activated and absorbed each of the strikes. Izzy's eyes went wide in shock before Abaddon gave an annoyed sniff and sent her sprawling with a dismissive backhand. Seeing Abaddon's greater display of power, the Green Ranger let up on his pushing for a moment but it gave the General his opportunity to break through his guard. He turned Nick's hammer aside and dropped his own shoulder, knocking him backwards with a powerful shoulder-check.
As the Green Ranger rolled off on the ground, Abaddon was struck by a volley of icy arrows from the White Ranger. While the damage of the attacks was deflected by his shielding charm, the demon was still pushed back momentarily by the force of the shots. Joe, Danny, and Kara regrouped and used that moment to attack together in a coordinated storm of blows from their melee weapons. Abaddon only laughed harder as the three Rangers darted and maneuvered around him, landing blows that harmlessly bounced off his warded armor.
Even as they attacked together in unison, Claire continued to circle strafe with her bow, trying to break through Abaddon's force field with her supporting fire. The demon General gave another growl before swinging his battleaxe in a circular motion, sweeping the Red, Blue, and Gold Rangers back and knocking them down. As Claire stopped to watch in shock, Abaddon turned on her, and blasted her off her feet with a projectile fire burst of his own.
While Claire tumbled toward the other Rangers, the demon general brought his battle axe around and hammered the earth causing a great shockwave of dark energy to erupt from the ground in a wave. The shockwave slammed into the Vanguard Rangers and sent them crashing to the ground in a heap.
"Damn! How did he get so tough?" Nick groaned, trying to shake off the blow while getting back to his knees.
Danny nodded, "Nick is right. For some reason we can't seem to break through his defenses."
"It must be demon magic," Kara grunted using one of her swords to try and pull herself up, "Abaddon must have some sort of talisman that's creating a force field."
Abaddon strode forward with a confident smirk and loomed over the Rangers, lifting his battle axe menacingly, "You Rangers humiliated me once before… but now, I will have my final revenge."
From where he lay on the ground, Joe gripped his saber tightly and forced himself to rise to a kneeling stance. As he charged his blade for a desperate last ditch attack, he saw Abaddon suddenly freeze and stagger in place. Abaddon's pendant began to glow with a strange light as Joe moved to protect his friends.
The Red Ranger brought his charged saber around in a Radiant Smite, slashing Abaddon across the midsection, shredding into the demon's breastplate. The wounded General staggered sideways and gave a shocked grunt as he dropped his axe to the ground.
The other Rangers watched in equal shock as Abaddon struggled to move, but suddenly found himself paralyzed by a magic binding spell. The frozen General looked down to see the protective pendant on his chest was now glowing with a sinister light. It was then that everyone on the battlefield heard the malevolent laugh of Lady Shemhazai emanating from the charm.
"Shemhazai! What is the meaning of this?" Abaddon roared in fury, "Answer me you treacherous witch!"
The Vanguard Rangers remained silent and listened, letting the feuding demons have at each other. They heard Shemhazai speak again with a mocking tone, "Such a proud fool you are General… to think that you could best the Rangers with your own strength alone?"
"I was winning the fight!" he snarled trying again to regain the use of his body.
"You would have perished in the opening moments," the Cambion Counselor rebuked him, "You relied so much on my amulet that you rushed in, letting your guard down. The Legion ill needs a leader who is so wasteful and reckless."
"You gave me the amulet to protect me for mortal blows," Abaddon growled, attempting to wiggle his shoulders free of the binding magic.
"And it did," Shemhazai answered, "But do you really think it was to guard your life? No. It was to lure you to your destruction. The amulet you wear is a trap to bind you in place so you can be destroyed."
The Rangers exchanged puzzled glances amongst each other while Abaddaon's eyes grew wide, "What are you talking about? You would betray me here and now?"
Shemhazai laughed, "You've been a disgrace to the Legion and a thorn in my side for too long General. I'm doing this to cull weakness from Lord Gideon's ranks. For this one time we share a common enemy Vanguard Rangers. Strike now."
"Shemhazai! You accursed traitor! You cowardly dog! How could you?" the demon general raged while the Vanguard Rangers recovered and rose to their feet.
"I don't know what's going on, but let's not pass up an opportunity when we have one," Joe said prompting the other Rangers to prepare for a finishing blow on their now vulnerable enemy.
The demon general's eyes grew wide as he watched the Vanguard Rangers quickly assemble their Radiant Arbalest and level it toward his heart. A bright light flared from Kara's hand as she locked her two blades together and transfigured it into a crackling bolt of energy to load into Rangers' weapon.
As she did, the Red Ranger aimed it while the others braced to fire. "Everyone, we need to make this shot really count. Focus all your power into it."
The light of the loaded bolt intensified as the five Rangers dispelled the power of their golden Archangel armor and used it to empower their weapon further. The paralyzed Abaddon could only roar in defiance as he saw the six Rangers steady the Arbalest again and take aim.
"Fire!"
A brilliant white hot light burst from the Arbalest and split the air light like a holy thunderbolt. As the Rangers stumbled from the tremendous recoil of the shot, the searing bolt of super powered energy struck Abaddon in a blinding explosion. Amid the fire, sparks, and shredded armor, the bolt tore clean through him, blowing a large gaping hole through the Cambion general.
"No!" Abaddon cried in a horrible raspy gurgle looking down at the ruined flaming hole punched through his cuirass, "This... can't be... I won't fall..."
The Cambion Commander fell to his knees and collapsed face-first into the ground, exploding in a violent fireball of dark energy.
Despite their fatigue, the other Vanguard Rangers gave an ecstatic cheer and lowered their Arbalest. Danny was the first one to pump a victorious fist in the air. "Damn! That was totally amazing!
Nick gave a relieved laugh and threw an arm around Kara bumping the side of his helmet with hers, "Nice shot Kara. We couldn't have done that without you!"
The Gold Ranger simply nodded and smiled behind her helmet before Izzy looked out over the fiery remains of Abaddon, "Everyone... I can't believe we just took down one of Gideon's top commanders just now."
No sooner had she said that when dark swirling wisps of energy returned to a chunk of the General's remains and absorbed into a now glowing sigil.
"Damn! We spoke too soon. Abaddon must have been branded with a Cambion sigil!" Joe growled as the General's remains began to grow in size until it took the shape of a colossal demon warrior.
Giving a laugh, the revived General spoke out loudly into the air, "It seems I have the last laugh Lady Shemhazai. For all your planning, you never thought that I would have myself branded with a sigil, did you? I knew that if I were to fall by your treacherous hand, than I would still return and take my revenge on you."
"Maybe we should just sit this next one out and let those two commanders have it out," the White Ranger muttered to her friends, "To think... the demons are having drama too?"
As an afterthought, the giant Abaddon turned toward the Rangers on the ground and gave a roar, "But first... I have a score to settle with you damned angels."
While the Vanguard Rangers regrouped, Joe pulled his Keyrune out and began configuring the sigil combinations on it, "Ok everyone... I know it's been a while, but I think it's time we call the zords again and saddle up."
All six Rangers grabbed their Keyrunes and turned the sigil dials to the correct combinations, summoning their zords. Abaddon simply stood by with an amused expression as he watched six celestial titans descend from the skies. With a shrill cry, the Red Griffin zord reared up and spread its wings as the other zords swiftly maneuvered into formation before fusing together. As the Vanguard Megazord stood ready, Kara's own Pegasus zord descended and took a ready stance beside it.
From the cockpit of the Megazord, Danny tapped the console with a grim smile, "Well… it's been a while. I almost forgot we had this thing."
"Stay focused everyone," Joe reminded him, "We got a lucky break taking Abaddon down the first time. I don't think he's going to be pulling any punches now."
"This is it!" Kara called spurring her Pegasus forward, "Here we go!"
Abaddon hefted his battle axe and roared in maniacal laughter as the Pegasus charged forward, ramming into him and driving him back several steps.
"What a worthless gesture," Abaddon snarled as he grappled the titanic horse by the neck and pitched it sideways with a grunt. While the earth rumbled from the Pegasus getting tossed, the Vanguard Megazord moved forward and brought its great fists around, hammering the colossal demon with several punches.
Despite the earth shattering blows, Abaddon shrugged them off and blocked the next strike with his axe.
"I did not become the greatest warrior of the Cambion army for nothing Rangers," he laughed, outmaneuvering the Megazord and landing several counter strikes with his axe. The Rangers grunted and held on for dear life as the Megazord rattled and shook from the punishing strikes. Giving a furious shout, Abaddon brought his axe around and knocked the Megazord to the ground face-first with a colossal blow.
Taking a moment to recover his footing and catch his breath, the giant demon general laughed, "You fought well Rangers… but not even you are going to stop me from destroying this city or getting my revenge of Lady Shemhazai."
From the ground, the Rangers scrambled in their cockpit to keep the Megazord's power and system from failing. Izzy took several deep breaths and turned to the others, "Ok… what are we going to do now?"
"We're going to have to get that weapon out of Abaddon's hands," Claire answered, "Only then will we get a shot."
Joe nodded, "She's right. Nick, get ready to pivot the legs. Claire, I need you to buy Danny a minute to snare that axe. Got it?"
"You can count on me," the Blue Ranger said with a nervous thumbs up.
Above them, Abaddon Raised his axe for a finishing blow, "It's over Rangers!"
To his surprise, the Vanguard Megazord rolled on its side and aimed its White Wolf arm upward, blowing an icy cloud of energy into the demon's face. Abaddon roared and shielded his eyes for a moment as the Megazord's other blue manta ray arm reconfigured and lashed out the manta's tail like a whip, snaring the axe.
"What? What is this?" the demon general shouted in outrage. By now, Kara's Pegasus zord had recovered to its feet and launched a ball of superheated lightning at its foe.
General Abaddon screamed as he was blasted sideways and toppled to the ground while the battered Vanguard Megazord returned to its feet. As the Megazord picked up Abaddon's fallen axe, it turned to the Pegasus and the Red Ranger gave a nod, "Ok Kara. I think it's time we bring it together and finish this clown."
"I couldn't agree more," the Gold Ranger answered bringing her zord forward to fuse with the others.
By the time Abaddon recovered his senses and rose to his feet, we has confronted by the winged Vanguard Megazord mounted on the Pegasus resembling an old Hussar Cavalry warrior. He clenched his empty fists and ground his teeth in fury, "Come on Rangers! I'll tear you apart with my bare hands if I have to!"
From their united cockpit, the six Vanguard Rangers turned their controls forward and charged down on the demon general. To Abaddon's surprise, the Megazord wielded his own axe against him and raised it at the last moment to strike not at his armored torso, but at his neckbrace where Shemhazai's pendant was attached.
In a thundering blow, the Megazord's passing axe blow shattered the pendant and cleft deeply into Abaddon's neck guard. As the mounted Megazord circled back around, it saw Abaddon lurch to one side before falling to his knees, sputtering and gurgling in fury while the axe remained lodged in his collar.
Giving one last futile curse, the giant demon general collapsed to the ground and exploded in a great cloud of fire and brimstone. Amid the fires, the Vanguard Rangers gave a sigh of relief, still trying to process the fact that they had just killed the Field Marshal of the Cambion armies.
In the distance, they could see the several battalions of Magog soldiers fall back and withdraw into the city limits. Having just witnessed the death of their high general just now, the Cambion armies decided on a temporary stalemate. Their advance had been checked, but they still controlled the city proper of Hyperion Falls. Looming over the city, Gideon's Dark Spire continued to cast its threatening shadow, as if goading the Rangers to keep fighting.
"The demons are falling back for now," Kara noted, "We've stopped their advance."
Nick pounded his fist, "We should press forward while we've got momentum! Maybe go for the Spire and end it all now."
"No," Joe said shaking his head, "Look around you Nick. The Megazord took a bad beating and we've burned through a lot of power today. We need to fall back for now and recover too."
The Blue Ranger put a hand on Nick's shoulder, "He's right. We were already taken by surprise and we barely stopped this first wave today. We'll come up with a new strategy to take back the city while the demons lick their wounds right now."
The hot blooded Green Ranger hated to admit it, but his friends were right. As they continued to watch the Cambion armies fall back and dig in around the city, they could only hope that the terrified people of their city would be able to hold out hope for a rescue.
A/N:
To answer a Guest reader's questions:
-Yes to an eventual Vanguard-Oceania team up.
-Both Ranger teams battling Leviathan together? Quite likely, but I haven't completely thought the details out just yet.