==Stanford, California, United States==
Monday morning came around and it was time for everyone at the university to start their classes. Raylan's and Tyler's alarm clock went off at 8AM for them to get ready in the morning. The two slowly propped themselves up and got off of their bed.
"Man, I'm still tired as hell." Raylan scratched his eyes before yawning.
"Tell me about it." Tyler groaned. "This is too early for me."
Both Rangers jumped when there was a loud knock on the door. Raylan scratched his hair and walked over to his door. He sighed and opened it to find Emma completely dressed to start the day.
"Wow, someone's early." Raylan chuckled.
"And two people are really lazy." Emma commented, looking at Tyler and Raylan. "You guys should get ready if you want to get a head start."
"Who needs a head start?" Raylan asked. "I just need a nap..."
"Come on, get your clothes and get into the shower." Emma dragged Raylan and Tyler by their arms.
It took a good ten minutes of pulling and pushing, but Raylan and Tyler finally finished their showers and got ready for the day. Tyler popped on his usual sweater vest with black pants and a pair of dress shoes while Raylan went casual with a red Polo, khakis, and a pair of brown Sperry's.
"Wow, you guys are looking sharp!" Emma complimented the boys. "But you don't want to be late for your 9AMs, so let's get off to class!"
"Can we skip?" Raylan pleaded. "I'm still dead tired."
"Yeah, that whole 'operation save Courtney' thing last night got me super tired." Tyler admitted. "It was too late at night for me."
"I agree." Emma nodded. "But we have to stay super happy for our first day of classes!" she smiled.
"Man, you're way too cheery." Raylan chuckled. "How are we together again?"
Finally, after a rough day of starting right off the bat, the three in the trio were finally done with their classes. All three went to Raylan's and Tyler's room and instantly fell down.
"I am sooooo dead." Emma groaned as she lay on Raylan's bed. "Wake me up when life matters."
"I could sleep for an entire month straight." Tyler agreed and fell onto his own bed.
"Are you really leaving me on the floor?" Raylan asked before falling onto the carpet. "You know what? I don't care, I'm tired."
Just when they started to doze off, a loud alarm woke them all form their naps. In a state of shock, Emma quickly fumbled to pick up her phone. She saw that it was a call from Ryleigh.
"H-hello?" Emma answered, evidently tired.
"Hey." Ryleigh replied on the other end. "Is this a bad time? You sound awful..."
"No, no, it's fine." Emma assured her friend. "Just a bit tired after classes."
"Okay, you have to check the news." Ryleigh informed her. "Anyways, I have to go. Johnny wants his after-classes call and I don't want him to worry. I'll talk to you later. Bye!" she hung up.
"What's going on?" Emma asked as she put her cell phone down.
"What happened?" Raylan asked. "That kinda woke us up."
"Turn on the news." Emma told her boyfriend."
"Okay..." Raylan groaned, picked up the remote, and set the TV to the news channel.
"This is Beatrice Crowley reporting from the scene of the crime." the reporter said.
"Hey, doesn't that look..." Raylan squinted his eyes.
"Just last night the Rangers thwarted a crime that could have turned much worse. They hadn't been seen since the attacks on Smalltown just a year and a half before. If it weren't for them, the suspect wouldn't be in custody. While we are unaware of any circumstances, we are aware that the suspect was participating in an initiation of some sort. He wouldn't reveal to the authorities what it was, but they are hopeful that they will uncover all of the information."
"Hey...they're talking about us!" Tyler exclaimed. "Sweet!"
"This just in: the suspect in custody was reported to have killed himself. James Thomas was a junior at Stanford University and was revealed by the police to have kidnapped his sophomore classmate Courtney Wright. It is reported that he took a cyanide shot when his handcuffs were finally removed."
"Whoa!" Raylan exclaimed.
"That's not good...at all!" Emma added in.
"That must mean that if there's a failed initiation..." Tyler started
"...then the member would have to kill themselves." Raylan concluded.
"Which also means that this isn't any ordinary mission." Emma nodded.
"You're right, we're dealing with a human life here. We have to treat these things with extreme caution." Tyler stated.
"And if this is a club initiation, we're going to see a lot of this going on." Raylan said. "So we have to be very careful."
"But what are we going to do about it?" Emma asked. "If this is actually going on, what can we do?"
"We need to have tight regulations on the initiate." Raylan instructed. "They're unpredictable and they're our only link to answers."
"Does this mean everybody loses?" Tyler asked.
"What do you mean?"
"If we watch the girl, then we lose out on the guy. If we watch the guy, then we lose out on the girl. Either way, we lose." Tyler explained.
"You're...you're right." Emma realized. "And proven by what happened when an entire team of authorities lost an eye on the suspect, we're going to need more than three."
"Yeah, that's true." Raylan sighed. "We're going to need the rest of us. I don't think Johnny, Sydney, and Mike are in college, so we can bring them in. As for Shane and Ryleigh, they're going to need to help out only when they can."
"Are you sure about this?" Emma asked. "I thought we were past Ranger activities."
"Does it look like we have a choice?"