Parental Consent
by Jeremy Ray Logsdon

"Mama," Carlos sighed. "I guess you probably want an explanation, huh?"

"Carlos," his father, Michael, said sternly. "We have been worried sick."

"I know, Dad," Carlos muttered. "It's..."

"You've been gone for forty-eight hours," Daniella said. Rushing across the room, she pulled her son into her arms and burst into tears. "We've been worried sick."

"I know, Mama, but it was honestly out of my control," Carlos said. Gently pushing his mother away, he asked, "Have you heard about the new Power Rangers?"

"Power Rangers?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," Carlos said. "Space Rangers. I have something to show you." Twisting his left wrist, his new morpher appeared with a black glimmer. He didn't bother with the special moves. He just punched in a three-digit code, calling out the numbers as he did. "Three, three, five... enter."

Although true black light does not look black, the light that flared up around him was black in the truest sense of the word. Daniella and Michael simultaneously shielded their eyes as their mouths dropped open in shock. The black light died down, and where their sixteen year old son had once stood, there now stood the Black Space Ranger.

"Carlos?" Michael asked.

"I'm the Black Power Ranger," Carlos said simply as he removed his helmet. His parents continued to stare in shock.

"Carlos?" Michael asked again as he began to step closer. He reached out a tentative hand to touch the shiny black armor on his body, but he ended up drawing his hand back to his body protectively.

"You can touch it," Carlos said. His father stretched a hand out and touched his son on the bicep. The material, which had an armor pattern that seemed vaguely similar to the muscle groups beneath, had qualities of both plastic and metal at the same time.

"My son is a Power Ranger?" Daniella asked, still in shock. The pride she felt, however, could be seen in her eyes.

"Yes, mama," Carlos answered, blushing slightly. "I was also the Green Turbo Ranger. You see, our headquarters were blown up, and this man named Zordon was captured by evil forces. If Zordon should be captured, the entire universe is doomed. So... well, TJ, Cassie, Ashley, and I went to N.A.S.A.D.A. and boarded a space shuttle. It's kind of a tricky situation, but they let us take it. There was a wormhole that sucked us up before we even got out of the Earth's atmosphere, and when we came out of it, we were about three galaxies away." Carlos paused and looked at his parents to see how they were taking the news. He then continued, "We met another guy named Andros, who was the Red Space Ranger. He gave the four of us powers like his, which is how I became the Black Space Ranger. And... well, we're needed. In outer space."

"Wh-what?" Daniella asked, unbelieving.

"This fight won't take place much on Earth," Carlos explained. "We'll have to go to outer space to do our fights. And that means we have to stay on Andros' space shuttle to monitor the situation in space. I can always teleport down to the planet, and I'm even going to be going to school at Angel Grove. I'll be able to spend some time here, but for the most part, I'm going to have to stay on the shuttle. That's the safest thing for everyone."

"Carlos, you don't honestly expect us to let you live in outer space, do you?" Michael asked. "We won't allow it."

"Dad, please," Carlos said. "This is more than just about us. It's about the entire universe. We-"

"Enough, Carlos," Michael snapped. "I am not letting my son LIVE IN OUTER SPACE!!! Do you have any idea how ridiculous it sounds that I should even have to think about this?!"

"Michael," Daniella said. "Carlos, wait here. Come on Michael."

"But-"

"Come on, Michael," Daniella said, a bit more sternly.

~*~

"Do you think I like this anymore than you do?" Daniella asked. "Do you think I like this? But we can't keep him here. He's probably going to go whether we give our blessing or not."

"Daniella," Michael began, but she cut him off.

"No. I don't like this... at all. But he's already been fighting for the planet, apparently right under our noses and we never knew about it. Now he trusts us enough to tell us this. He obviously didn't have to. He could have traipsed off to God knows where, done his job, and left us here to worry ourselves sick. But he didn't." She paused at that point, and her eyes landed on a picture that had once belonged to her great grandmother. It was a stereotypical image of Jesus with a halo of light surrounding him. "If God thinks our son is good enough to fight for all of the goodness in the universe, then who are we to challenge his judgment?"

"God didn't give Carlos that... armor," Michael sighed.

"But he hasn't taken it away from him, either," Daniella challenged.

"You've been talking with Alice Skullovitch, haven't you?" Michael asked, an amused grin on his face. It was a well-known fact that Rev. Skullovitch thought the Rangers had religious origins. Although Michael hadn't given it much thought, his extremely religious wife readily accepted the theory.

"Michael," Daniella said, "we have to let him go. It's out of our hands. I don't like it at all, but we have to let him go."

"Well, come on," Michael said sadly. "We can tell him together."

~*~

"You be careful," Daniella told him as she hugged her son tightly.

"I will, mama," Carlos promised. "And I'll stop by for a little while every day after school, too. Okay?"

"You better," Michael said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Take care."

Carlos glanced back at his parents. Even though he would still be seeing them every day, it was very odd to think that he was essentially moving out of his house. However, before he had time to think about that, black light flashed before him, and D.E.C.A. teleported him into outer space.

~*~

"Come on in," Carlos said. "Hey, how did your parents take it?"

"Not real well," Ashley answered. In a perfect replica of her mother's voice, she said, "Ashley Jade Hammond! If you think I am going to let my only daughter go cavorting into outer space to do God knows what to God knows who you've got another thing coming!"

Carlos patted the spot beside him on his bed as he said, "My dad really didn't want me to come. Mama neither, but she was okay with it."

"Cassie's parents didn't even fuss at her," Ashley said. "She's really hurt by it; she insists they honestly didn't know she's been gone for the past two nights."

"TJ's parents almost didn't let him come," Carlos told her. "They were really concerned." Chuckling, Carlos said, "His little sister wanted to see the space ship."

"I already miss Earth, though," Ashley sighed. "It doesn't seem right to be spending this much time away."

"We'll be back Monday morning for school," Carlos interjected. "It'll be all right. Doesn't everything always turn out all right? We're the Power Rangers."

"But no Justin," Ashley murmured. "It seems weird he isn't here. He was our link to the past, but now... it's just us."

"We'll do okay, Ashley," Carlos promised. "I'm sure of it."

"Me too," Ashley agreed. "And just think, we don't have to make excuses to get away from our family to fight Pirahnatrons."

"No more secrets," Carlos mused. "It's a good thing we're in outer space. I don't know if I could look at my parents with them knowing this secret."

"Ashley, please report to Deck One for Holo-Training," D.E.C.A. said over the ship's intercom. "Ashley, please report to Deck One for Holo-Training."

"That's me," Ashley said. "See you later, Carlos."

"Bye," Carlos called as Ashley quickly hurried out of his room. He stood up from his bed and walked over to the small window set in his wall. The vast expanse of the universe stretched out before him. "That's an awful lot to defend."

But then, he thought of all of the people he had to take care of. His parents, his two sisters and lone brother, not to mention other family members and dozens of friends. "I won't let any of you down," he said. "I promise."

End