Another Friday begins. While brushing my teeth, I can hear my mother watching TV in the living room.
— "Once again, the Rangers have managed to save Angel Grove. After another attack from Rita Repulsa, the world can breathe easy for now."
Power Rangers. Superhumans who came out of nowhere and save the world every week. Not to brag, but I'm their number one fan. I know practically everything: names, powers, Zords, enemies. If there were an official quiz, I'd win it easily.
I wanted to stay and watch the rest of the report, but I had somewhere to be.
— "Dad, Mom, I'm heading out! Bless me!" I shouted from the door.
— "God be with you, my son!" my mother replied, while my father gave a nod without taking his eyes off the newspaper.
Where was I going? Salinas. A meteor shower was supposed to be visible from the beach, and my friends and I had planned to go. You know, unwind a little after a tough week.
I took my dad's car and picked up each one of them: Neto, Phellipe, Victor, Karol, and Aila.
The trip was smooth, but slow. The traffic was horrible, packed with people heading to the same place. By the time we arrived, the beach was overcrowded, and finding a parking spot was almost impossible.
Almost. With a little help from a parking attendant—and a hefty fee—we got a decent spot.
But in the end, we probably paid for nothing. The meteor shower was scheduled for 7 PM. Then 7:30 PM. Then 8. Then 9… And nothing.
As time passed, the beach emptied. By midnight, we were the only ones left. The food was gone, our phones were dead, and frustration was heavy in the air. I decided to look for something—anything—to ease the tension.
I walked toward the shore, watching the last few people leave. A couple. Why not ask them? Even with my shyness, I mustered up the courage.
— "Hey… Do you know if there's any place still open around here?"
They exchanged glances and shook their heads.
— "We're tourists too, but…" The woman smiled. "We just had some food. Want some? We have plenty left."
By their mercy, I got three bags of marshmallows and a few sodas. More than enough.
— "Be careful, alright?" the man said before walking off. Good people still exist, after all.
I returned as the last hope of my group. When they saw the food, the atmosphere shifted completely. We made a makeshift bonfire and ate like we were starving. And we were. Time flew by.
Before we realized it, it was almost 3 AM. And then, as if the universe rewarded our persistence—the meteor shower began.
And it was worth it.
The dark sky lit up in an instant. Shooting stars streaked across the heavens like brushstrokes of light. It was beautiful. Hypnotic.
But one "meteor" in particular caught our attention.
It was bigger. Faster.
And it was heading straight for us.
— "Are you seeing that?" Karol asked, pointing.
— "Yeah, but what the hell is that?" Neto murmured, already getting up.
There was no time to react. The meteor crashed just a few meters away. The wet sand softened the impact, but we were still thrown backward by the force of the explosion.
It could've been worse.
Gasping for air, I stood up, my entire body aching. And then, I saw it.
The meteor… opened.
Yes. It opened, like a capsule. And something stepped out.
An alien.
It was nearly two meters tall, with a claw the size of my forearm and armor that gleamed under the moonlight. My first thought?
We're screwed.
— "RUN! NOW!" I screamed, my throat burning from the effort.
They ran. And I should have done the same. But something held me back.
He would catch us easily.
My mind raced, formulating a thousand plans as my feet moved on their own toward the car. Only one plan seemed viable: stall that thing and hope the Rangers arrived in time.
The car was overturned. I climbed in through the broken window, struggling to open the jammed glove compartment. Using all my strength, I broke it open and grabbed the hunting knife my dad always kept there.
When I got out of the car, he was there. Waiting.
Watching me.
My heart pounded. I had never felt such fear in my life.
My hands trembled, but I raised the knife. The alien tilted his head, curious.
— "What are you doing?" His voice was deep, almost metallic.
I laughed nervously. What could I do? Defeat an alien even the Rangers wouldn't face alone?
I swallowed hard and muttered—what I thought would be my last words:
— "Just buying time."
He laughed.
— "You would throw your life away so easily? For a planet that will soon belong to King Mortuus?"
King Mortuus?
Not Rita Repulsa?
Crap.
Please, Rangers, hurry up.
I got distracted for a second—long enough for another explosion to echo. Another meteor? Or the Rangers?
I didn't have time to find out. The alien lunged.
On instinct, I dodged to the left and tried to stab him. Damn. His armor was too tough. The impact vibrated through my forearm, making my nerves scream.
I jumped back, clutching my pulsing arm. The pain was unbearable, but I couldn't give up. I had to aim for the gaps in his armor. It was my only chance.
He attacked again. Miraculously, I dodged strike after strike until I found an opening.
And I hit it.
I plunged the knife into his elbow with all my strength.
But it got stuck.
Before I could pull away, a kick hit me squarely.
The world spun.
I flew several meters before crashing onto the hard sand.
I coughed, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. My arm was numb. My ribs… broken, for sure.
I had bought time.
But… where were they?
My eyes were barely open. Pain pulsed through every fiber of my body, and my breath came in short, ragged gasps. The world around me blurred into shifting shadows until hurried footsteps cut through the silence.
Was it them? Had the Rangers finally arrived? I forced my eyes open, blinking through my hazy vision, but what I saw made my heart nearly stop.
No. It wasn't the Rangers. It was my friends.
"What the hell are you doing here?! Run, please…" The words died in my throat, choked by the warm blood rising with my breath.
That's when I heard something that made me question my sanity.
"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"
The voice rang out, powerful, as if the universe itself had stopped to emphasize those words.
My eyes widened, and with the last of my strength, I turned to face the impossible.
There they were—my friends, each with something on their wrists: a rectangular, metallic device with a glowing digital interface. The lights blinked in sync, projecting small holograms of the animals they represented.
And then, in an explosion of light and energy, their bodies transformed, clad in vibrant suits and gleaming helmets.
Neto, at the front, wore a scarlet suit with silver details. On his chest, the stylized image of a shark roared as if ready to leap. He was the Red Ranger.
Phelippe appeared beside him, his blue armor gleaming under the pale moonlight. The plates of his suit resembled the sharp scales of a swordfish. The Blue Ranger.
Victor, in emerald green, bore the silhouette of a crab on his uniform, with pincers drawn on his gloves like claws ready to seize. The Green Ranger.
Karol, wrapped in vibrant yellow, had the elegant image of a stingray on her chest. Her shoulders were adorned with fluid patterns, almost as if the ocean waves surrounded her. The Yellow Ranger.
And lastly, Aila, in vivid pink, with luminous lines pulsing like tentacles. The mark of a jellyfish adorned her helmet. The Pink Ranger.
I blinked, unable to believe what I was seeing.
"No fuc—" My sentence was cut short as more blood spilled from my mouth. My body finally gave in, and darkness consumed me before I could finish speaking.
The last thing I heard was Neto's firm voice shouting:
"Rangers! Attack!"
I woke up in the hospital. The cold light of the room blinded me for a moment, and the first thing my eyes focused on was the IV needle in my vein. My body was covered in bruises, shades of purple and green spread across me like an abstract painting. But strangely, it didn't hurt. It was just an inconvenience—a silent reminder that I was still alive.
As I tried to organize the jumbled thoughts in my head, a shrill voice snapped me out of my daze.
— "HE'S AWAKE, GUYS! HE'S AWAKE!"
Karol's voice echoed through the room like an alarm. Before I could react, a stampede of hurried footsteps filled the hallway, and suddenly, they were all there.
— "Dude, are you okay?!"
— "How are you feeling?"
— "Do you need water? Food? A slap in the face to wake you up properly?"
They all spoke at once, their words overlapping like they were trying to make up for lost time. I just wanted to lie down quietly, waiting for my head to stabilize.
That's when I noticed their wrists.
The marks were still there. Like they had tanned while wearing something on their arms.
It was real. It was all real.
I wasn't chosen.
A bitter taste rose in my throat. Honestly, I didn't expect my first feelings to be confusion and… envy. An ugly, childish envy that burned inside me. They were my friends, the people I had grown up with, and yet, I felt like an outsider. Like someone different.
Before I could say anything, the door opened. A doctor walked in with firm steps, the tired expression of someone who had seen everything—except this.
— "Alright, everyone, out. He needs space."
They protested but reluctantly left. The doctor did a quick check-up, and I saw his eyebrows raise in surprise.
— "This is… impressive. Given the state you were in, you should be here for at least a few more weeks. But honestly? You're doing pretty well. How, I have no idea."
I shrugged, too drained to even gloat, though the answer was on the tip of my tongue.
— "I'm Wolverine, haha."
He looked at me after that joke and laughed along with me, then signed the discharge papers with a few warnings about rest and a bag of strong painkillers.
The ride home was silent. The car felt like a moving coffin, with everyone lost in their own thoughts. But the bad mood was eating me up inside, and I decided to break the awkward silence.
— "So… you guys are Power Rangers now?"
The effect was immediate.
Neto, at the wheel, nearly choked. Phellipe—or rather, Ph—went stiff like a statue, and Karol turned to stare out the window.
— "What are you talking about? Must be the painkillers messing with you." Neto tried to sound casual, but the tension in his voice was obvious.
I scoffed, running a hand over my tired eyes.
— "I'm not an idiot. I saw everything. And, by the way, look at your own wrists. The marks are still there. Not to mention that Ph literally bent the hospital bed I was lying on."
Everyone turned to Ph at once, who raised his hands like he'd just been caught red-handed.
— "Sorry for not knowing how to control my super strength yet, okay?"
He crossed his arms, sulking like a child. Neto, eyes still on the road, glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
— "It's hard to explain... While we were running to get help, another meteor fell. It wasn't just a rock it opened up, and these things jumped onto our wrists. They were identical at first, until they scanned the environment. The sea, specifically. After that... well, we became what you saw."
He paused, as if searching for the right words.
— "We were chosen to defeat that alien. And from what we understand, this isn't going to end anytime soon. We found a base—yeah, a secret base—and to make things worse, we have to stay in Salinas. You were in the hospital for a week, man. Things have changed."
I just looked at them. I didn't say anything. I knew I was being childish, but the truth was, it didn't matter. I felt discarded. Like a side character in the story of my own friends.
When we finally got home, my family greeted me with hugs, faces full of relief. I muttered a vague excuse, claiming I was tired, and locked myself in my room.
There, alone, the mask fell.
I was angry. Angry at myself.
How could I feel jealous of the people who mattered most to me? How could I want something that, honestly, seemed more like a curse than a blessing?
But I wanted it.
I wanted that responsibility on my shoulders.
I wanted to be one of them.