Inspired by "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" (2010)
Jason:
"Hey, man," I say. I put down my hamburger, wipe my hands, and stand up to shake my friend, Chris's, hand.
"Hey Jason," Chris says, shaking my hand. "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay," I answer. Turning my head, I look out the window and see nothing special. The people are walking around peacefully. The cars are driving around, and none are even speeding. The sun is shining. The birds are chipping.
"Strangely fine," I go on. "I can't help but get a little worried. Like, this is the calm before the storm."
"The calm before the storm," Chris repeats. "What are you talking about?"
Looking around, making sure no one is within earshot, I motion for Chris to lean in. Leaning in, I look around one last time before whispering.
"The Crime Syndicate."
Chris jumps when he hears the name. He throws his hands all over the table and knocks over my drink. Everyone looks at us after my drink hits the floor and spills everywhere.
"Sorry," I say, putting up my hand. "So sorry about that. My fault. My fault!"
I pick up my empty cup and lid and put them on the table. Looking around again, I turn to Chris who is looking at me with a raised eyebrow. Throwing some napkins onto the floor, I lean toward Chris again. As soon as I'm close enough, Chris hits me in the arm.
"Ouch. What was that for?"
"What was that for," Chris repeats. "That was saying C-R-I-M-E S-Y-N-D-I--"
"Okay, okay, stop," I beg. "You don't have to spell the whole thing. I get it. I'm sorry I brought it up but again, I'm a little worried. I mean, after what they did."
Pulling out my cell phone, I bring up photos of the moon. Or at least, what's left of it.
"The Crime Syndicate destroyed half of the moon and then just disappeared?"
"What are you complaining about," Chris asks. "You should be happy. The Crime Syndicate is gone. They were doing something on the moon, and whatever they were doing, kill them in the process."
"No way," I say, shaking my head. "It can't be that easy."
"Easy," Chris repeats. "The Big 7 may be gone but we still have all their thugs and henchmen to worry about, and with the Justice League gone, there's no one left to stop them."
As Chris and I lower our heads, they shoot up when we hear a loud crash, and then screaming.
"What in the world," I say. Chris and I get up and run out of Big Bob's Burgers. Leaving the restaurant, the first thing I see is Deadeye, the infamous red archer, shooting at an armored truck. From a nearby rooftop, Deadeye is shooting arrows at the driver and guard. The two scream as they try to stay down.
Jumping from the rooftop, Deadeye fires an arrow with a zip line. Hitting the side of the truck, Deadeye slides down the zip line. He lands on the street and runs to the back. Pulling out another arrow and shooting it, this arrow explodes, and the doors open. Running in, Deadeye comes back out with bags of money.
"Hey," I shout. Deadeye turns and looks at me.
"Jason," Chris yells.
I don't need Chris to remind me of what I just did.
"I can't believe I did that," I think. "Why did I dothat!"
I look around but all I see is an empty street with only Chris, me, and Deadeye.
Choking on air as I step back, I watch Deadeye drop the bags and pull out an arrow.
"Jason," Chris says, also backing up. "For the record, I always knew you would be the reason I would die."
"Yeah," I say, "I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be. You're not a bad person to die with."
Deadeye fires his arrow at us. Chris and I scream as we close our eyes and raise our arms. Through the cracks in my eyes, I see a bright light. Thinking I had died, I open my eyes and find myself in pitch-black.
"What," I say, looking around. "Wher--Where am I?"
"Jason?"
I hear Chris's voice and turn around but only see his outline. Not him.
"Where are we," Chris asks. "Are we dead? Is this the afterlife?"
I open my mouth to reply but someone beats me to it.
"Who's there," someone yells. The voice sounds like it belongs to a girl. Strangely enough, the voice sounds almost familiar.
"Wait. Mia? Is that you?"
"Who are you," Mia asks. "How do you know my name? Where am I?"
"It's me. Jason!"
"Jason? Where are we?"
"I have no idea."
"You are in my base," a thundering voice answers. Screaming and jumping into the air when I hear the thundering voice, the lights turn on and the first thing I see is a man with short black hair and sunglasses standing before Mia, Chris, and me.
"Hello," the man with the sunglasses says, nodding. Besides the sunglasses, the man wears long pants and a white lab coat. The room we're standing in looks like some sort of laboratory. Tools are hanging on the walls, machine parts are all over desks surrounding us, and in the center of the room is what looks like a giant tube with blue liquid.
"Uhhhh," a voice says. Turning our heads, I see a tall, thin teenager with dark skin and a bald head standing behind Chris. He's wearing a black hoodie, a red shirt underneath, and jeans. "Where am I? Who are you? Who are all of you!"
"Same," another voice yells. This time, the voice belongs to another girl. This girl had pale skin and long brown hair tied into a ponytail. She's wearing a purple jacket with a white shirt underneath. "Who are all of you? What do you want?"
The girl starts backing away with her hands in the air.
"Don't worry," the man with the sunglasses starts. "I am not here to hurt you. Any of you."
"Yeah," the teenager with dark skin says. "Uhh, why should I believe you? I don't know you. I don't know any of you!"
"My name is...Zordon," Zordon answers, bowing his head. "His name is Jason. His is Chris. Next to the two of them is Mia, and Silvia is over there. Feel better, Kashi."
"Uhhh, no," Kashi says, shaking his head. "I'm still confused."
"So am I," Silvia says.
"So are we," I say, pointing at the three of us.
"Please, allow me to explain. As I said before, my name is Zordon, and I brought the five of you here so you can become power rangers."
"Power rangers," I repeat. "What's a power ranger?"
Zordon sighs before he starts up again.
"Last year, the last and final member of the Justice League was killed. The Crime Syndicate attempted to hold the world hostage with the Q.E.D. Quantum Eigenstate Device. It was a bomb. A powerful one, capable of blowing up the whole world."
As Zordon goes on, I notice how everyone's eyes are widening. Siliva is even covering her mouth.
"Lex snuck onto their base on the moon and gain control of the Q.E.D. He adjusted it, before setting it off."
"The rumor is true," I say, looking down. I look at the floor before raising my head. "The moon's explosion? It was because of him. He set off the Q.E--whatever."
"Yes," Zordon sighs. "He sacrificed himself to give the world a chance."
"And what about the Crime Syndicate?"
"As far as I can tell, most of them are gone too."
"Most of them," Chris repeats.
"Yes. Most of them. I think at least one of them may have survived the explosion. I don't know how, but I know he now has control of all of the Crime Syndicate's operations. That includes all the hired helpers and the super thugs, and without Lex Luthor, there isn't anyone left to stop them. Until now."
Zordon reaches for something behind him. We all step back but relax when we see him pull a silver briefcase almost like from thin air.
"I built these for the five of you. I call them, your Protector morphers."
Unlocking the briefcase, the top flips open, and I see what look like tiny, rectangle-shaped machines inside. There are five of them in total, and each is a different color: red, blue, black, yellow, and pink.
It feels like the "protector morphers" are luring me. I feel a pull toward them. Looking left and right, I see I'm the only one stepping forward. Swallowing a rock in my throat, I walk to Zordon and reach into the briefcase.
"Hey," Zordon whispers. "Grab the red one."
Looking at Zordon, I look down and grab the red morpher. Despite how it looked, the morpher is light. Seeing some straps underneath it, I put the morpher on my wrist and tied the straps.
"Simple say Protect and Defend. Then, watch the magic."
"Okay," I say, nodding my head. "Protect...and Defend?"
As soon as I say those words, there is a burst of red energy. Everyone else except Zordon screams and jumps back. I scream too as I see something appearing out of thin air. Looking like armor, it attaches to my skin and grows.
"Ahh," I scream, watching as the armor runs all over my body. The armor quickly takes over my body and my head. "Ahh!"
"Jason," Chris yells.
"Jason," Mia shouts.
"Stop this," Kashi screams.
"You're hurting him," Silvia cries. "Stop it!"
Chris and Mia run to me but I shoot out my hand and stop them.
"No," I say. "Don't!"
Chris and Mia stop, their feet skidding against the floor.
"Don't," I say again, shaking my held-out hand. "Don't!"
Despite what is happening and my scream, this doesn't feel wrong. It feels right. It feels like something big, something from beyond, is accepting me. It's accepting and allowing me to become a part of whatever it is. Bending my back, my head falling back, I let out one last scream.
"Aahhhh!"
The energy disappears, my head falls back, and my back straightens, I bend forward with my hands landing and resting on my knees.
"How--," I say, panting like a dog on a hot day. "How it is?"
"Jason," Chris says, slowly stepping toward me. "Are you...in there?"
"In there? What are you--"
Before I can finish, I see my reflection on the floor. I'm wearing some kind of bright red armor with a cape and a helmet. The helmet has a large black visor which is how I am seeing myself.
"Oh my god," I shout, jumping back. "Is that...me?"
"Yes, it is," Zordan answers, too calmly. "You are now the Red Protector Ranger."
"Protector," I repeat.
I want to know more about "power ranger" and "protector" but before I can ask anything, the lights in the base turn red. Dark-red. Alarms also start ringing. Putting down the briefcase, Zordon pulls a remote control out of his pocket. He aims the remote control in the air, and what I can only describe as a holographic screen appears.
It shows Deadeyes terrorizing a street in a city. People are running for their lives as Deadeyes fires a bunch of arrows.
Pocketing the remote control, Zordan turns to the five of us.
"Listen. I know all of you still have questions, and I know I am asking for a lot. Possibly too much, but I also know this. I choose the five of you for a reason. It's because you have hearts. Strong, noble hearts. Strong, noble hearts that value the principles of justice and peace. Before, you couldn't protect people, but now you can. With these."
Zordon grabs his briefcase and shows us the morphers.
"Please," he begs. "Take these. Take these and become the new heroes this world desperately needs."