Episode 36: Part 2

Bright sunlight streamed into Professor Bishop's lecture hall as the Vanguard Rangers finished their last Final Exam of the year. Everyone else stirred restlessly in their seats, waiting on Nick to finish his exam. It had been a surreal month and a half since the final confrontation with the Cambion demons and the Rangers were still trying to adjust back to the feel of being regular college students.

It had been a little difficult recently as they had achieved instant celebrity status on campus and throughout the city of Hyperion Falls. For all they knew, they may have been considered heroes to their entire home state of Colorado by now.

As Joe sighed and drummed his fingers on his desk, Danny turned and nudged him with an elbow. Giving a grin, the Blue Ranger muttered quietly, "You'd think that after saving the world and all that, Bishop would've just given us all A's for this test.

At the front of the room, Bishop glanced up from his desk and cleared his throat, giving Danny a gentle frown before Nick rose triumphantly and handed in his test.

"Well guys… at least I passed that one," the Green Ranger said proudly as he returned.

"Nick! That's a terrible attitude to have," Claire frowned as she gathered up her books.

From where he sat, Danny shrugged and laughed, "I'm guessing you didn't really study for the test either huh, big guy?"

The Green Ranger laughed and exchanged a high-five with him, "C's get degrees preppy."

In an instant, Izzy huffed and gave Danny a light slap on the arm, "Stop it Danny! Don't encourage him!"

As the others began to erupt into a petty argument, Kara sat examining her own copy of the test paper, "I have to admit, this was definitely a difficult exam for me."

Joe rolled his eyes and gave the Gold Ranger a gentle poke to the side of her head, "Kara, for the last time... you're not even in this class or getting a grade, remember?"

"That reminds me," Bishop said as he closed his briefcase and headed toward them, "Now that the demons are gone... I guess there's no longer any reason for all of you to coordinate your schedules with my courses."

At that, Claire shook her head and gave a smile, "We know Professor... but if it's ok with you, the rest of us all decided we'd still take a class with you every semester going forward."

Bishop stopped and looked to the faces of his students with a soft smile, "Thanks everyone... I'd like that."

As the class adjourned for the year, the Rangers made their way out of the lecture hall with Professor Bishop.

"So Professor," Izzy asked hopefully, "Any chance we can all go on another little field trip this summer? If not Santa Barbara, maybe somewhere exotic… like Paris, or Tuscany?"

Bishop laughed, "I'm afraid not Izzy. The school is already paying enough money as it is to repair all the damage from the demon attacks."

"Too bad they didn't trash the lecture hall instead. Then we wouldn't have had to take this exam today," Joe quipped before Claire gave him a gentle elbow in the side.

Bishop ignored the wisecrack and scratched his chin, "Actually, I was planning to take a few weeks off and go back home to Chicago. Maggie's never been there so I figured I'd take her with me and show her around town."

Nick gave an approving nod and smiled, "Well you two have fun then. The rest of us will just have to make do and keep an eye on things here."

As they all left the building and walked outside, they took a deep breath of fresh air. It was a beautiful late Spring morning and they had nowhere else important to be. The Rangers' Sophomore year and semester classes were finally over.

"You know… it's funny," Claire mused as they all began to walk out toward the recovering grasses on the main quad, "For such a terrible battle having been fought here, the quad still looks pretty good."

"Too bad we can't say the same about the Mugshot," Danny sighed as he and Izzy walked hand in hand, "That café was probably the most tragic casualty of this entire war."

Izzy patted his arm sympathetically and nodded, "To think… we'll all have to wait until the start of next year to get our coffee fix again."

"I'll still look forward to going there again," Kara said with a hopeful smile, "Just like I'll look forward to seeing all of you return again for the Fall semester."

Bishop put a hand on her shoulder while the other Rangers gave a quiet nod and returned her smile. The group fell into a long companionable silence before the Green Ranger took a deep breath and spoke.

"Well fearless leader," Nick said finally turning to the Red Ranger, "Now that all is said and done... where do we go from here?"

Joe stopped for a moment and gazed up into the bright blue skies as a gentle breeze began ripple through the air.

"I don't know," he finally said as he turned toward his friends with a thoughtful smile, "Today... I was kinda thinking we'd just go wherever the wind takes us."

He felt Claire slip her hand into his as the other Rangers smiled and fell into line around him. As they did, the six Rangers felt the gentle breeze at their backs prompting Danny to glance sideways with a confident wink, "Ready when you are."

Joe smiled and gestured forward as he began to walk, "Vanguard... take flight."

As the six Rangers and their professor began to walk away from the main quad, they couldn't help but glance upwards toward the radiant sun and the bright blue skies above. It had been a long perilous road full of hardship, fear, and struggle. But it had also been a journey filled with adventure, discovery, friendship, and love.

For now, the Vanguard Rangers couldn't be certain where these new winds of hope and promise were going to carry them... but as they all continued to walk forward into the light of the sun, it was clear that their futures never looked more bright.

The End

*Roll the credits and let the song Stars by Arrows to Athens take us home through the Epilogue.