A few days later, Joe walked with Claire and Nick back toward their dormitory after class one afternoon. The leaves of the trees had just started changing colors to red and yellow while the brisk autumn air swirled gently around the three freshmen students.
"You know, right about now is when we'd be starting football practice back in high school," Nick remarked absently to the two. "To be honest, I actually kinda miss it."
"Well, maybe we can throw a football around for a little while when we get back," Joe suggested brushing a stray leaf off his short black hair, "Claire, you wanna join us?"
"Sorry, sports were never really my thing," she shrugged adjusting her glasses, "Besides, I've got a lot to study tonight."
"Oh, you're always studying," Nick said rolling his eyes, "and when you're not, you're already worrying about next week's homework assignments before we even get them."
"Well, maybe some of us here actually care about their studies," Claire shot back defensively.
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Nick growled back.
Before Joe could even get a word in, the three students were suddenly interrupted by an older man in black clothes that approached. It was the same priest who had interrupted Professor Bishop's lecture a few days ago. In his hands was a large clasp envelope used for holding stacks of documents.
"Excuse me," the older priest said, "You are Professor Bishop's students?"
The three looked to each other, then nodded hesitantly. The priest raised a calming hand, "I apologize, my name is Father Santos, pastor of the local parish in Hyperion Falls. Professor Bishop is a colleague of mine and I was on my way to deliver some research to him. I'm in a bit of a rush today and was wondering if one of you could deliver these papers to him."
Seeing his two classmates stall and look away, Joe gave a sigh of mild annoyance, "All right, fine. I'll do it. Where can I find him?"
Father Santos pointed back toward the other side of campus, "His office is in the old Rookery Building at the east edge of the college. These are his office hours, so he should be in right now. And thank you again young man."
As the older priest hobbled off, Joe turned to his two classmates and began walking in the opposite direction, "Well, I guess I'm off to see the wizard. I'll see you two later."
Nick and Claire gave a small wave before turning back to each other and continuing their petty argument right where they had left off.
After walking for some time, Joe finally found himself at the eastern edge of the campus where many of the older buildings and historical sights of the school were located. As the light of the late afternoon sun began to wane, he looked about and caught sight of the Rookery, an old stone building shaped like a round castle turret. Compared to the locations of the other school buildings, the little tower sat off to the side looking a bit lonely and forgotten. As he approached, he was met by the sight of his classmate Izzy Herrera approaching the tower from an opposite road.
"Hey Izzy! I wasn't expecting to see you here," Joe called greeting her at the building's door.
"Oh hi Joe!" Izzy replied sheepishly, "I was just on my way to see Professor Bishop... I uh, had some questions for him about our semester term paper."
Joe gave her a questioning look before shaking his head and opening the door, "Well, I'm just delivering some mail so I won't hold you up. Let's go."
As they entered the tower's front door, they could see that the reddish sandstone of the building had faded while many corners of the edifice appeared to be worn with age.
"My Professor, I love what you've done with the place," Hale muttered quietly to himself as the two ascended a narrow spiraling staircase to Professor Bishop's office.
When they finally reached the top, they came to an old wooden door and gave a knock. From behind the door, there were sounds of surprised movements and shuffling before they finally heard the voice of their teacher, "The door is open. Come in."
Hesitantly, Izzy opened the door and entered the lonely office. Despite the shabby unkempt appearance of the rest of the Rookery, Professor Bishop's office was fairly roomy, organized and inviting. In the corner was some comfortable looking reclining furniture as well as several bookshelves with old manuscripts in them. Lining the room were other interesting looking artifacts and eclectic pieces of art.
Professor Bishop looked up from the paperwork at his desk and gave a surprised but warm smile, "Mr. Hale... Miss Herrera… from my history class, right?"
"Yes sir," Joe answered carefully, still looking about the room in wonder. "This place is amazing."
"You think so, huh?" Bishop muttered, "I was more under the impression that the university just forgot about this tower… but I admit, it still has its charm."
Bishop noticed his students' surprise before giving a little laugh, "I'm sorry for the mess. I'm generally not used to having students even come to visit during office hours. What can I do for you two?"
Joe held out the large clasp envelope and handed it to Bishop, "I was asked to deliver this to you by a priest… I think he said his name was Father Santos."
"Ah, yes." Bishop reluctantly sighed tossing the envelope to the side of his desk, "More Latin translations and medieval texts to sort through. The old man never quits."
"Sounds kinda interesting," Joe remarked, "Old Church scriptures maybe?"
"Something like that," Professor Bishop said studying the two students for a long moment. After a brief silence, his lip curled into a small smile, "I don't suppose you two would like to see what I'm working on?"
Pulling out a wooden box, Gabriel Bishop opened it to reveal 5 large key shaped objects made of brass. Although they looked ancient, they bore intricate symbols and sigils, along with a stylized wing motif near the top of the key. At the heads of the keys were old faded gemstones, each with a different color. After taking a moment to marvel at the artifacts, Izzy turned to her professor, "What are they?"
"I'm not entirely sure yet." Bishop admitted. "I've taken to calling them Keyrunes. The Church had actually given these to me for study and it seems convinced that they have some kind of religious significance."
Joe caught the tone in Bishop's voice before asking, "But what do you think they are?"
Bishop gave both his students a conspiratorial grin and pulled out a notebook full of personal study notes. "Based on some scattered historical and archeological evidence, I have a theory that these objects are linked to an ancient race of people... winged people with supernatural powers and abilities. Tell me, do either of you believe in angels?"
"What? Angels?" Izzy asked in shock, "I… don't know. I guess I was raised to believe in them, but… it's not like I have any proof that says they don't exist either."
"That's what I've been trying to tell many of my colleagues," Bishop sighed, "but they don't seem to want to even entertain the thought."
Joe forced a polite smile and exchanged a look with Izzy, thinking that Claire probably was right. Either something weird was going on around here, or everyone in this school was just plain crazy. "Well Professor, it's getting late. I should probably get going and start in on my homework."
As he turned to leave, the three heard a scuttling sound coming from nearby the professor's desk. As Izzy looked over to where the wooden box with the Keyrunes sat, her eyes went wide in horror at the sight of a little black creature with wings scooping them up. The little imp had leathery skin and gave a grin that was both mischievous and grotesque at the same time.
"Eww! What the hell is that thing?" Izzy cried jumping backward and grabbing Joe's sleeve.
Professor Bishop turned in surprise toward the little imp and shouted angrily, "Hey! Drop it! Get away from there!"
Grabbing an umbrella from a nearby coat-rack, Bishop began furiously swinging it at the creature. Giving a raspberry with his tongue, the little imp nimbly dodged the blows and bounced about the room, taunting the three humans.
"Don't let him get away!" the professor shouted, prompting Joe to dive forward and try to tackle the little monster. As the young man missed and crashed headfirst into a bookshelf, the imp cackled and seemingly burst into a thick cloud of black foul smelling smoke.
Joe, Izzy, and Professor Bishop sputtered and coughed as the black cloud quickly dissipated, the imp nowhere to be seen. Glancing over to his side, Professor Bishop gasped in shock as he rushed over to the now open window. Sticking his head out, he looked around and caught sight of the imp scrambling down the side of the tower with the Keyrunes.
"Uh oh..." the imp cried in its squeaky little voice as it redoubled its efforts to escape.
Turning back to his students with a stern look, Professor Bishop began hurrying out the door, "Both of you, go back to your dorms and lock the doors. Stay inside and don't go anywhere tonight."
"Wait! Professor!" Joe called but his teacher charged past him down the stairs to give chase to the imp in the growing twilight.
The two students sat in stunned silence for a minute before Joe rose to his feet and started for the door. Izzy gave a panicked look, "Hey! Where are you going?"
"I'm going to help Professor Bishop," Joe said quickly, "We need to stop that... thing. Besides, those keys seemed really important, whatever they are."
"Are you nuts?" Izzy protested, "What if there are more of those creatures out there?"
Joe sighed, "I'll be careful. Listen, something is going on around here and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. Izzy, you should head back to the dorm and tell the others from our class. If I don't meet you guys at the main quad in one hour, then you can all come looking for me."
With that, he took off running down the stairs and into the darkness after his teacher and the thieving imp.
Meanwhile, Professor Gabriel Bishop charged into the nearby woods at the edge of campus. Not far ahead of him, he could hear the jingling sounds of the Keyrunes and he spotted the form of the little imp scurrying through the brush.
"You won't get away you little bastard!" the professor shouted as he broke through a nearby tree line and dove forward, catching the monster. Tearing the Keyrunes from its small grip, he gave it a furious kick, punting the little creature further into the clearing. As he looked up though, Professor Bishop froze and his blood went cold. There in the fading light of the clearing, he could see the large form of a fearsome monster that seemed to be waiting for the imp.
As the sniveling little creature hid behind the large demon's leg, Belial fixed his furious gaze on the startled professor. "You there! Human!" it called in a booming voice, "Give me those Keyrunes!"
Bishop tucked them back into his sweater and slowly tried to back away, "I know what you are demon. I know all about you, and I won't let you have them!"
Belial gave a snarl and raised his clawed hand, "Then I will just have to take them from you!"
In a flash, a jagged bolt of forked lightning erupted from his claw and exploded nearby Professor Bishop, violently throwing the man backwards. As the stunned teacher scrambled amid the haze of smoke, he could make out another form quickly rush out from the dark tree line and try to help him up saying, "Professor, are you ok?"
Joe Hale hurried over to his teacher's side and stopped a moment as he saw the demon Belial in the twilight, then froze in terror.
"No way..." the young man stammered with wide fearful eyes. His attention came crashing back as Bishop reached into his sweater and shoved the five Keyrunes in his student's hand. "Joe! Take the Keyrunes and run! Don't let that demon get them."
"Demon? I... what?" Joe gasped in terrified confusion as he kept trying to pull his teacher to his feet. Instead, Professor Bishop gave him a shove back toward the campus, "Don't argue with me! Go now!"
Joe gave a hurried nod and took off running back toward the campus as the demon roared again in fury and began to give chase.
Back on the school campus, Nick rubbed cold hands as he restlessly paced around the fountain at the north end of the school's quad. Claire sat on a nearby bench idly paging through a textbook while Izzy sat next to her pulling her pink sweater closer to ward off the early evening's chill.
"I still don't see why you had to drag all of us out here into the cold," Danny sighed to Izzy as he reclined along the fountain's edge while texting on his phone.
"Aren't you worried at all about what's going on around here?" Nick scolded him, "One of our teachers and friends might be in trouble!"
"Friends? We all still barely know each other," Claire said without looking up from her book. "Besides, I highly doubt there's something supernatural running around the school."
Izzy frowned and shivered, "I'm not making this up you guys! We really did see a monster."
Nick grimaced and checked the time on his phone, "Well, it's almost been an hour now."
As he said that, the four freshmen caught sight of several bright flashes of light and streaks of fire erupting from the other side of the campus. They stood transfixed by the unusual sight until they heard several panicked cries of students and faculty who had been attending evening classes. As more streaks of fire erupted, the four watched in shock as a small crowd of terrified students swarmed into the quad, fleeing past them.
"What the hell is going on?" Nick gasped looking around, trying to make sense of the calamity. Moments later, Danny squinted and pointed in the near distance, "Look! Over there!"
The four turned to see a familiar red track jacket dashing into the quad at a full sprint. While another fire blast exploded nearby, the four rushed out into the grass and stopped their panicked classmate.
"Joe! What's happening? Where is Professor Bishop?" Izzy cried fearfully.
"There's no time! Just start running!" Joe panted, trying to push the others toward safety.
Just then, the large form of a monster rounded the corner of a building and fixed its eyes on the five students.
"There you are," it laughed, "Did you really think you could run from a demon?"
"Did he just say… demon?" Claire gasped in disbelief.
Before the others could react, the demon waved its arm and unleashed another crackling bolt of lightning, scattering the five young people and throwing them down in a violent explosion.
As the smoke cleared and small fires burned on the quad, the five dazed students struggled to rise as the demon slowly approached. Squinting through the smoke, Joe caught sight of the Keyrunes that had been scattered on the ground and he reached out to grab the one nearest him, the one with a red gem. "Everyone… grab the keys! Don't let that monster get a hold of them!" he coughed.
The other four reached out and grabbed the other keys nearby and suddenly stared in wonder as the artifacts began to glow.
Upon seeing the colorful glowing lights intensify, Belial halted in his tracks and recoiled in sudden fear. "Not again!"
The five students rose slowly, holding the glowing Keyrunes upward as the wings on the keys opened. In a radiant flash, they felt a powerful surge of energy flow through them. As the light faded, five majestic Power Rangers stood ready. They were adorned in different colors, but unified by the white and gold trim of an angelic design that faintly resembled the armor of the ancient Roman soldiers.
As they confronted the demon, each of them could almost sense the instinctive knowledge and experience of some ancient warrior deep within the recesses of their minds.
"Is this really happening?" Claire asked aloud taking in her white uniform, "We look like Power Rangers…"
"Wow! I feel incredible," the green clad Nick exclaimed, flexing his limbs enthusiastically.
"And I look incredible," Izzy remarked, marveling at her pink suit "The professor was right. Those keys really are magic."
"We'll worry about that later," Joe called stepping forward to face the monster, "Right now, people are in danger and we're the only ones who can stop that thing."
Danny turned to his classmate, "Are you even sure about this?"
"No," the Red Ranger said glancing to the Blue Ranger, "but we have to try. Are you all ready?"
The others formed up together and gave tense nods as Belial approached and summoned a small platoon of red skinned monstrous humanoids. "Go, Magogs! Destroy them!"
As the gibbering Magog soldiers charged forward, the celestial Rangers instinctively moved in unison, drawing their side-arms: silver gladius short swords with golden pommels. "Feather Sabers!"
In a flash, the Rangers collided with the Magog minions and tore through them with their weapons. With superhuman speed, Danny parried aside several spear attacks from his foes and slipped past their guards to deliver punishing counter thrusts that broke their armor. Nearby, Nick barreled into another group of the Magogs, taking broad powerful slashes and grappling other nearby enemies with more of a brawling fighting style.
Across the quad, Claire and Izzy fought together to fend off the enemies. Claire used her speed and agility to fight defensively and sidestep several of the Magogs' strikes, as she saw Izzy tumble through several more foes with the grace of an Olympic gymnast and land at her side. Turning to stand back to back, the two girls swiftly drew golden energy pistols with the call of "Feather Stingers!"
In an instant, they opened fire on the Magogs, taking them out with a volley of golden blaster fire.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the quad, the Red Ranger wove through the furious melee, deflecting blows from the Magogs while deftly counter attacking. As the remaining minions gathered to try and rush Joe, the Red Ranger took a high leap backwards into the air and summoned a pair of bright angelic wings. In an instant, he dove forward and mowed them all down in a powerful swooping strike.
As the last of the Magogs fell, exploding into clouds of fire and ash, the demon Belial advanced with a growl, "Useless creatures. I'll just have to destroy you myself."
Regrouping, the Rangers swiftly reached for their Keyrunes in unison and inserted them into the pommels of their short swords calling, "Astral Armament!"
As the Keyrunes locked into place, each of the Rangers' gladius blades transformed into greater weapons in a flash of light.
The demon paused in surprise as the Red Ranger leveled a shining saber sword and rushed forward, "Let's finish this quickly!"
Belial took an awkward swing at the agile Ranger, but Joe parried the demon's claw and landed a powerful counter strike infused with the blazing element of fire. As Joe tumbled away, Belial was struck by a volley of icy elemental bolts from the White Ranger's bow. Claire gave a grin and fired again, striking the monster's legs and freezing them to the ground. As Belial roared and tried to free his frozen feet, Nick leapt forward and pounded a large two handed hammer into the ground. The resulting strike sent a shockwave of dirt and earth, which slammed into the demon and sent it reeling.
Scrambling to his feet, Belial growled and fired off another thunderbolt from his claws, but Danny stepped in and caught the lightning with the edge of a brilliant blue spear. Driving the spearhead into the ground to dissipate the electricity, he braced himself as Izzy leapt off his shoulders and delivered a flying strike with a rapier that kicked up a small vortex of wind.
The demon roared again and shook the dirt from its eyes as the small whirlwind dissipated. To Belial's horror, all five Rangers now stood with their Feather Stinger pistols leveled at him. "Ready on three!" Joe called.
"Three!" the other Rangers immediately answered as they all unloaded a merciless barrage of blaster fire.
Belial roared in fury as he keeled over backwards and exploded into a large fireball while the Rangers lowered their weapons. Powering down, the five returned to their original forms. "I can't believe it! We did it!" Danny laughed deliriously. Nick and Izzy gave loud cheers and exchanged a relieved hug while Claire stood motionless in shock.
Joe glanced down in wonder to the Keyrune in his hand, before examining the ruins of the quad and the spots where several small fires kept burning in the grass. "That did not just happen." he whispered to himself, vainly wishing he could convince himself of that statement.
As the new Rangers stood together in silence for a long moment, they turned when they heard the shuffling of feet. From the shadows and dim light of the dying fires, the five Rangers gasped as they saw the ragged form of Professor Bishop limping toward them. Despite the dirt and ash covering him, he wore a proud smile on his face and gestured for his students to come. Looking to each other for a moment, the five Rangers began walking toward Gabriel Bishop, praying that their professor would be able to explain exactly what was going on.