Episode 35: Part 2
Kara and Professor Bishop stood paralyzed in horror as they watched the Vanguard Rangers disappear in a cloud of Gideon's fiery magic. As the shockwave passed over the grassland, a bright mote of light emerged and flew to Bishop, landing in his hand. To the Professor's shock, he found Auriel's Trumpet in the palm of his hand. If it had returned to him, it was quite possible the other Rangers had all been killed in that final blast.
As the Rangers' Herald stared at the Trumpet now left in his safekeeping, Kara gave a pained whimper before reaching for her gladius. She drew it quickly and gripped it as a terrible fury began to rise within her chest.
"Kara, what are you doing?" Bishop said, looking to her in alarm and reaching out to her.
"Get out of my way Professor!" the Gold Ranger spat in rage, "I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill that bastard Gideon myself if I have to!"
Across the battlefield, the Archangel took a few wheezing breaths and fell to his knee before collapsing on his side. The Lord of the Cambion Legions should have been gloating in victory, but he had been dealt terrible injuries and instead grimaced in pain. In an instant, several demon officers of the remaining Magog battalion rushed out to aid their lord and prop him up.
"My Lord," the captain of the battalion began, "You've been wounded. We'll take you from this place so that you can be treated."
The Archangel wheezed again and grabbed the officer by his collar, "Destroy… destroy the city."
"Lord Gideon?"
The bloodied Archangel was lifted up, but fixed his eyes on the captain, "Those mortals did this to me and I want revenge for this insult. Burn Hyperion Falls to the ground. Kill anyone who resists."
The captain nodded as Gideon was carried away before turning to the rest of the demon troops, "You heard Lord Gideon! Move out!"
Back on the other side of the field, Kara and Bishop watched as the Magogs swarmed to protect their wounded lord and begin advancing in their menacing ranks. Bishop felt sweat drip from his brow as he watched the advancing enemy soldiers, "Kara… we have to fall back and regroup. There are too many of them out here and we don't stand a chance."
"It doesn't matter anymore!" Kara shouted in anguish, "For all we know the others are all dead now! Better that we make a stand and take as many demons as we can with us!"
"No!" Bishop said, "You know that there's no reason to needlessly throw your life away. The other Rangers wouldn't have wanted that. They need us to keep fighting… and they need us to be smart."
The Gold Ranger stopped and turned to him, moved by his words. As she took one more look toward the advancing mass of demon troops, she sheathed her blade and nodded. "We don't have much time. We need to retreat back into the city."
As the bright white light faded, Danny Winthrope found himself behind a large desk in a clean bright office. He blinked for a moment in confusion and looked down. He noticed that he was wearing a dark blue suit and tie before glancing at some of the small framed pictures on his desk. There was one of his college graduation, taken with his parents. Another picture showed him with his other Ranger friends, and another one beside it of him and Izzy, probably out on some fancy date night.
He rose from his chair and looked out the windows of the office to see downtown Hyperion Falls. The city looked clean, pristine… and safe.
How could this be? Was this all a dream? The last thing he remembered, he was on a scorched plane fighting the Lord of Demons with his friends. His thoughts were interrupted as a younger looking intern hurried in with a large stack of papers.
"Oh, Mr. Winthrope… here is the newest draft of the contract proposal for you to review."
The Blue Ranger blinked a moment and stared at the younger kid.
"Um… do you need anything else Mr. Winthrope?" the intern asked hesitantly.
"No… that's fine. Thank you," Danny said sitting down and dismissing his coworker. He glanced at the contract again, before looking up and seeing the glowing form of a magnificent Archangel with a blue aura. Danny nearly fell backwards in his seat as Archangel Fandaniel extended a gentle hand, "Do not be afraid Daniel Winthrope. You and I have much to discuss."
As the white glare faded from her eyes, Claire Li blinked and found herself in what looked like a hospital pharmacy. She reached over and moved the bright lamp that was blinding her and looked about the pharmacy where rows of medications were neatly stacked around her.
To her shock, she found herself already dressed in a white doctor's lab coat and as she glanced at her own hands, she found a silver wedding ring already on her finger. When on earth did that even happen? She looked about in confusion while other hospital staff in scrubs buzzed by her before she removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
As she put her glasses back on, she was startled to see the benevolent form of a female Archangel before her, glowing with gentle white light.
"Archangel Sandalaphon… I… what's going on here?" Claire asked in fear.
"Calm yourself Claire Li," Sandalaphon said gently, "You have nothing to fear. Come with me."
Nick Adler squinted his eyes and opened them again, finding himself standing in the middle of a farm field. As the bright light of the sun glared down from above, a gentle breeze blew causing the stalks of golden grain to sway around him. He wasn't quite sure where he was or how he got here. He had been in the middle of a ferocious battle with miles of flat grassland around him… but now this?
The Green Ranger reached out his hand and gently ran it along the swaying grain stalks. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the peaceful sensations around him, the warm sunlight on his face, the cool breeze on his skin, and sounds and touch of the grain stalks at his fingertips. This must have been Heaven. As he opened his eyes again, he saw a large form of an Archangel glowing with a green aura.
Nick gasped and stepped back in momentary alarm, "Archangel... I… I'm not dead… am I?"
Archangel Hashmael slowly shook his head and spoke in what almost sounded like a mildly amused laugh, "No, Nicholas Adler. You are very much alive… but having seen this field, there is still other important work left to do."
As the white glare of light faded, Izzy Herrera blinked her eyes, only to find herself standing in front of an overhead projector at the head of a classroom. As she straightened up, she saw the eyes of all the grade-school students in the room watch her curiously.
"Um… Miss Herrera? Is everything ok?" asked a little boy with short blonde hair as he raised his hand.
"Yes… everything is fine. Sorry," Izzy stammered clearing her throat and looking back at the projector, "Um… what were we doing now?"
One of girls called out, "We were going over the words before today's spelling test."
The Pink Ranger nodded and examined the words on the screen. She didn't have time to figure out what was going on until she took care of this first, "Of course. Now… how about we try this next word…"
She was cut off as the bell rang. Izzy gave a sigh of relief and looked at her watch seeing it was noon. "Ok everyone… we'll get back to this after lunch. Dismissed."
As the children hurriedly filed out of the room, laughing and being noisy, Izzy sat back in her chair and gave a sigh of relief. As she did, she saw an Archangel with a pink aura sitting near one of the desks.
"Dios mio!" Izzy exclaimed in shock, nearly falling out of her chair as Archangel Ambriel rose to her feet.
"Be not afraid Isabel Herrera. I mean you no harm… but I do need you to listen to me. This future that you see right now depends upon it."
Joe Hale slowly cracked his eyes open and shifted his weight. He could feel a soft pillow under his head and felt the gentle light of the bright morning sun on his face as it streamed through his bedroom window. As he rose from bed, the Red Ranger looked about the unfamiliar surroundings. It was a very clean, but comfortably furnished room and he found a dark suit with a white shirt and a red tie already laid out for him. Giving a frown, he began trying to piece together his memories… of the battle with Gideon… of the others.
Joe put on the slacks and dress shirt and walked down the hall into what looked to be the kitchen of the house only to find a shocking sight. He found Claire at the stove-top frying some eggs and bacon while a one year old boy sat in a high chair burbling over a bowel of oatmeal.
"Claire… what… what's going on here?" he stammered.
She placed the food on a plate and turned to greet him with a smile and a good morning kiss, "What does it look like silly? I'm making breakfast. You'll have to hurry though. You don't have a lot of time this morning, remember?"
Joe raised a questioning eyebrow as Claire sighed and began to tie the red tie around his collar, "You've got that big jury trial verdict to get to downtown."
Joe blinked and turned to the cooing baby in the high chair, "What about him?"
"Oh, don't worry," Claire smiled, "I'm off today so I thought I'd take little Tyler to the park."
This was all getting too weird for him. When did all this happen? Practicing law, marrying Claire, and having a baby? His thoughts were interrupted as baby Tyler gave a happy squeal while grabbing his bowl of oatmeal and dumping it on top of his head.
"Oh no!" Claire gasped rushing over to try to clean up the oatmeal covered infant while Joe stood in the kitchen listening as he heard his name be called several times from seemingly out of nowhere.
"Joseph Hale!"
The Red Ranger blinked his eyes and found himself on an empty white plane of light. The kitchen had vanished and he stood alone... save for the fiery being before him, Archangel Auriel.
"Auriel... am I... dead? What happened to the others? Are they ok?"
The Archangel regarded him quietly for a moment, "The other four Rangers are alive... as are you."
Joe gave a deep sigh and nodded, "Good... I'm glad then."
"What you did was reckless and foolish Joseph Hale," the Archangel said in a gentle but reproving way.
"What do you mean?" Joe replied indignantly, "I tried to protect my friends by trying to kill Gideon. I tried to act as you would have done."
"You are not me, and the Vanguard Rangers are not the same as the original defenders of Eden," Auriel said authoritatively, "You have great valor and understand the meaning of sacrifice, but in your drive to be a hero, you forget one critical thing."
Auriel spread his hands gently, "You cannot do it alone. Victory over Gideon is something that can only be achieved together, with the efforts of all your friends. Pride is the flaw that caused Gideon to lose the war in Eden and he believed he could win the battle himself. But you must also remember that each of the Vanguard Rangers is a worthy hero in their own right as well... isn't that so?"
Joe stopped a moment and nodded his head, "Yeah... they are."
Auriel nodded and gestured behind the Ranger.
The Red Ranger turned in surprise as he saw his fellow Rangers materialize from behind him. As they gathered together again, they rushed to greet each other with quiet laughs and hugs, relieved that everyone was still safe and alive. After their brief reunion, the five Rangers turned to face the five Archangels gathered in front of them.
To everyone's surprise, Claire was the first to step forward and address her angelic counterpart, "I'm glad everyone is ok… but I don't understand how we're all still alive right now."
Sandalaphon nodded her head and gestured to her fellow Archangels, "That was our doing. Remember that the five of us are connected to the Keyrunes and by extension, you. Just as you draw elemental power from them, we drew your energies into the Keyrunes to save you from Gideon's last attack."
"So you basically pulled our bodies and souls into the Keyrunes… with you?" Danny asked in astonishment.
Fandaniel tilted his head thoughtfully, "In a manner of speaking… yes. But there is another reason we did this."
The Rangers fell silent as Ambriel extended a hand, "We showed you these visions of possible futures to remind you five of what you are fighting for… and why you must continue to do so."
Hashmael cleared his throat, "You already understand the Past... the history of Eden, who we were and why we were. You understand the Present, who you are now... descendants of our race, guardians of our legacy, Power Rangers... it's important to understand where you need to go... the Future of peace and prosperity that awaits."
The five Rangers gave solemn nods in silence as Auriel waved a hand and created a glittering road behind them, "We did everything we could to save you this day, but the rest will lie with you five. Know that our spirits and our powers will endure through you, so long as you hold your Keyrunes with love for the world in your hearts."
"Thank you Auriel... everyone... for all that you've done," the Red Ranger said, "We won't let you down."
Giving a final wave, the five Rangers began to hurry down the road into a tunnel of light that continued to grow with intensity. They continued to run until they were blinded and found themselves lying unmorphed on the tattered battlefield they had left behind. A thin haze of smoke still hung over the Alabaster Flats as they found the battlefield empty.
The Rangers had returned and were whole again... albeit sore, dirty, and ragged from their first battle with Gideon. As they each sat up slowly, they suddenly felt how sore and tired the battle had left them, but the thoughts of saving their city kept them moving. As the smoke cleared somewhat on the now empty field, Danny looked toward the city in the distance with growing dread. "Everyone... the city is burning."
"Where is Gideon?" Nick grunted rising to his feet with Izzy's assistance, "We have to help Kara and Bishop... wherever they are."
"We will," Joe assured him, putting a steadying hand on his roommate's shoulder before turning to walk in the direction of the city. "If I know Bishop, he's going to keep that Trumpet safe for us when we return... so let's not keep him waiting too long."
A/N:
De Profundis: Latin for "From the Depths," in reference to Psalm 130, used as a penitential prayer for the faithful departed. The theme of the Psalm itself reflects deep sorrow while asking for God's mercy.