A/N: I already posted this in Chapter 1, but I feel I should reiterate it one more time.
This story contains some imagery and motifs inspired from Judeo-Christian mythology. I have no intentions to offend anyone, nor do I want to promote any sort of religious biases or agendas in this story. While the Powers are angelic in appearance, they are derived from elemental power and the magic of an ancient race. I will reveal all in time, but I only ask for all readers to be open-minded, patient, and most importantly, respectful toward each other.
Special thanks go to JediPrime for bringing this to my attention as well as all of you readers for your continued support and understanding. Thank you all.
Warm yellow light crackled from the nearby fireplace as the 5 new Power Rangers stood assembled in the tower office of Professor Bishop. Each one of the students looked exhausted and dirty, still trying to come to grips with the idea of having defeated a terrifying monster. Professor Bishop reclined in his leather arm chair and grunted from the pain of his bruises sustained earlier in the evening. A silence settled over the room as Claire handed Bishop a cup of hot tea.
Standing by the fire, the tall slender form of Danny turned and held up his blue Keyrune, "Professor, I think it's time you told us exactly what is going on around here. Joe and Izzy said you may have an idea what these things are and why they turned us into... I don't even know what."
"You mean Power Rangers?" Nick interjected while Claire shook her head to herself.
"No. That's impossible. I mean... yes, they exist in the world, but the sheer probability of us having anything to do with Power Rangers is, well... really unlikely."
"In that case, I'd better buy a lottery ticket tonight." Joe quipped tiredly from a nearby couch.
Professor Bishop cleared his throat, "Nick is right Claire. What I saw tonight has only confirmed my suspicions about the Keyrunes."
"So what are you saying?" Izzy suddenly asked, "That we're part of some religious war now?"
Bishop shook his head and reached for his notes. "No. Let me try to explain. Some time ago, historians and archeologists uncovered remnants of an unknown civilization dating back to antiquity. Based upon what I've gathered from some old tablets, this race of ancient people called the Empyrians were unusually gifted and wise. Early humans claimed that these Empyrian people could fly and call forth the elements from their fingertips. I believed that those Keyrunes were artifacts of those people, or maybe even belonged to some of their warriors."
"That kinda explains why the Church would be interested in the Keyrunes then," Joe said thoughtfully, "because benevolent winged people helps to support their narrative."
"Or the narratives that people in authority want us to believe." Bishop added, "Like I said, many modern scholars don't want to admit these records even exist."
"But that still doesn't explain the monster," Claire added with a shiver.
Bishop grimaced, "All I know is that a great disaster brought about the downfall of the Empyrians. There was a powerful figure named Gideon who led an army of monsters called the Cambion. They fought the Empyrians, but were all driven into some prison called the Abyss.
"Well, it seems like there's been a jailbreak," Danny muttered sarcastically, "What happened to the Empyrians?"
Bishop shrugged, "No one knows. They just kind of disappeared. It's always been my belief that the five artifacts you have now are, forgive the pun, the keys to unlocking that mystery."
The five students sat in silence staring at the professor in the firelight for a long moment. If he had told them this before tonight, they probably would have thought he was crazy like everyone else... but fate was strange that way.
"When we became... Power Rangers," Izzy began hesitantly, "It was almost like I knew what to do out there. When we fought or moved, it felt like we were acting on natural instincts."
The others nodded quietly as Bishop gave a thoughtful frown, "Perhaps the magic of the Empyrians? Or maybe knowledge left over from the Keyrunes' previous owners?"
"But why us?" Claire asked aloud, "Of all people, none of us are really anyone important."
"Well, the Keyrunes seem to think we're important enough." Nick answered.
From the couch, Joe crossed his arms pensively, "Whatever the case is, these Cambion monsters are loose and we may have to do something about it."
"Are you serious?" Danny exclaimed indignantly, "There are other teams of Power Rangers out there in the world. Why can't they take care of it?"
"Do you see any of them lining up to help right now?" Joe countered with a grave look, "Whether we like it or not, we are responsible for the Keyrunes now and that might mean accepting the duty of finishing what the Empyrians started."
The room fell silent again before Danny shook his head and left the room, "Unbelievable. You're all insane."
Professor Bishop sighed, "It's been a long night. It's probably best you all get some sleep. We can worry more about this tomorrow."
The Rangers gave tired nods and shuffled out of the room in silence as Bishop glanced over to his desk. Still sitting on the corner of it was the large envelope of research that Santos had left for him. Opening the envelope, Bishop pulled out the papers and quietly began to read.
That Saturday morning, Nick Adler ambled down into the dormitory cafeteria and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He was still dressed in his pajama bottoms and blearily shuffled through the breakfast line. Amid the chatter of other students, he heard a nearby television reporting on the calamity that struck the campus last night. According to the news, several gas lines had exploded causing numerous fires and hysterical accounts from hallucinating people. As he left the line, he could see Joe and Izzy sitting at a nearby table, and he went to join them. They were dressed in casual weekend clothes and seemed to be debating on some topic.
"I might have to rethink this Power Ranger business," Nick said sitting down and gesturing to the TV. "Seems like we don't even exist."
"That's because we haven't established our identity yet!" Izzy grinned quietly as she pulled out a notebook and handed it to Nick. "Check this out."
Nick looked to her quizzically as Joe stirred his bowl of cereal with a patient sigh, "Izzy seems to think that if we're going to be superheroes, we need an official team name and image."
Nick glanced at the notebook, "Angel Force? Feather Five? Sky Fighters? Uh... Iz, I'm sorry, but these names are kinda dumb."
"I'm working on it!" she huffed snatching the book back.
"I don't suppose you've seen Claire or Danny have you?" Joe asked his roommate as he finished his own meal. "I haven't seen them come down for breakfast."
Nick shook his head, "I haven't seen them since last night, but they both seemed really bothered by the idea of becoming Rangers. I can't say I'm exactly thrilled either, but you have to admit that it is pretty exciting, and we look pretty cool too."
"I know what you mean," Izzy sighed thoughtfully, "Now if only my other clothes could show off my curves as well as that pink Ranger suit..."
Both the boys' faces momentarily went red at the thought before Joe cleared his throat and he rose from the table trying to maintain some dignity, "Well, I think I know where Claire might be. I'll go talk to her and make sure everything is ok."
Nick gave a nod, "If we see Danny, we'll try to make sure he's on the same page too."
As Joe left the cafeteria, Nick turned to Izzy, "Now let's get back to work on that name. Who knows when the next monster will show up?"
Meanwhile, in a dark swirling plane of reality far removed from Earth, the monster Gideon stood, looking out into the Abyss from his dark prison tower. The massive turret was made of black stone and completely bound by miles of magical silver chains engraved with Empyrian runes. Outside dark elemental forces of pure Chaos magic swirled and roiled violently in a storm lit only by the occasional flash of lightning.
Gideon turned from his window and went to sit down at his black throne where two demons stood waiting to attend him. One was a large powerful figure with bulky menacingly shaped black armor. The demonic warrior had a scarred face and snarled restlessly as he gripped a large fearsome battleaxe. The other attendant, a female creature in a gray flowing dress. Her skin was pale and she wore an ornate golden headpiece with a crest that covered her eyes. In a way, she looked almost like a mockery of angelic beauty.
As the princely monster folded back his six twisted wings to sit, the warlord attendant turned to Gideon with a growl, "Master Gideon, Belial has been destroyed in battle. There is rumor that the five Empyrian guardians have returned."
Gideon gave a look of almost complete indifference, "I have seen that, General Abaddon. Belial was a fool who outlived his usefulness a long time ago. When the seal that binds us to the Abyss has worn away, it won't much matter anymore."
"But what of the Empyrian Keyrunes?" the female demon asked. "Surely their owners will oppose you again."
Gideon waved a hand, "I will send another servant to deal with them Shemhazai. The humans of earth will suffer for their arrogance in thinking they could inherit the legacy of the Empyrians... one which rightly belongs to the Cambions."
Later that morning, Claire Li sat by herself in a second floor corner of the University library. It was a big stone building and while the architecture appeared somewhat Gothic on the outside, the inside had been modernized with state of the art computers and study rooms. Giving a sigh, Claire removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes as she closed her thick science book. It was useless. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, her mind kept going back to what happened yesterday night. Her gaze repeatedly drifted out the window toward the quad where she and her classmates had engaged in an unbelievable battle. As she undid the ponytail in her hair and leaned her head back, she was startled when she heard her name being called.
"Claire? Hey! There you are. I've been looking for you," Joe called coming over from the aisle.
Claire sat up in surprise and blew several stray strands of dark hair out of her face. Sitting across from her was their new Red Ranger. Unlike most of the stereotypical Red Rangers known, he wasn't built like a football linebacker that awed others with their striking good looks or charismatic personality. Instead, Claire found it odd that their Red Ranger was a very soft spoken and average looking person with more of a lean athletic build... and probably more common sense than the average hot blooded heroes who wore typically wore the red.
Joe gave an amused smile as his brown eyes drifted over toward her homework and books. "Taking refuge in the mundane huh? Can't say I blame you."
Claire shuffled her books and papers aside in embarrassment, "Oh, sorry about the mess. I probably look like one too right now."
Joe shrugged with a playful grin, "Suddenly worried about your appearance? Sounds like Izzy is rubbing off on you after all."
Claire frowned slightly and gave a huff tying up her hair and putting her glasses back on. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I wanted to talk about last night." Joe answered taking a quick glance around.
"There's nothing to talk about." Claire said quickly crossing her arms defensively. "We saved the school. Battle is over. End of story."
"Except it's not," Joe said giving her a pointed look. "If some other creature comes to attack the city, we're all going to have to be able to count on each other and work together. That means you too."
"I didn't ask to be a Power Ranger Joe," Claire hissed, "Besides, I can't call home and go, hey Mom and Dad, my first week of college went great! I met a bunch of wacky people, fought a horrific monster, and became a Power Ranger!"
"Well, it's not any easier for me either," Joe replied. "The rational part of me agrees with you and Danny... that this is all insane. But, there's another part of me that kinda wants this too."
Claire gave him an incredulous look, "Really? Why?"
Joe gave a sheepish look, "This is gonna sound really stupid, but do you know why I want to go to school and become a lawyer?"
Claire shrugged, "Money? Status?... Chicks?"
Joe gave her a reproving frown before shaking his head, "All those things are great I guess, but no. I want to fight for others and do good by them."
"So you've got some kind of hero complex, huh?" Claire retorted raising an eyebrow.
Joe sighed in frustration and shook his head, "I know it sounds corny, but no. There's a reason."
At that moment, a passing librarian interrupted him with a shushing sound and a reproachful frown. Joe waited for the librarian to pass before lowering his voice and looking away with a sigh.
"When I was younger, my dad was a pretty successful businessman with a big firm... until he blew the whistle on his company. Despite what people say about whistle-blowing laws, my dad got buried in legal actions when the company decided to get revenge on him. That always bothered me and I remember how hard it was for him and my mom to get back on their feet."
"I'm sorry," Claire said suddenly, "I had no idea."
"Well, it's all in the past now," Joe replied offhandedly. "But maybe being a Ranger is part of that calling... I don't know. What I do know, is that Nick, Izzy, and I can't do this alone. We need you guys and I'd like you and Danny to join us. What do you say Claire?"
Claire looked to him for a long moment before her expression softened slightly. Reaching out, she took his hand and shook it with a sigh. "If my grades start slipping from being a Ranger, I swear I'll never let you hear the end of it."
The two broke out into a small mutual grin before they rose from the table. "Come on." Joe said, Let's go see if the others managed to talk some sense into Danny."
A/N:
Thanks again to everyone for reading and I'll try to update again soon. In the mean time, to all my fellow readers and authors from the U.S., have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend! Happy Birthday America!