Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue. This is technically a POV fic, it won't make any sense if you have no knowledge of Power Rangers, however it contains no spoilers. I leave it to the reader to decide who the narrator is.
On Being a Ranger
Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't swap being a Power Ranger for anything. When someone asks you to help save the world you just can't say no. Or at least I couldn't. It's the most important thing I've done in my life. It's probably the most important thing I'll ever do.
There are some things they don't tell you when you sign up to be a ranger. It's not just the impossible hours, you are on call every second of every day. Or the total lack of a normal life, how can life be normal when you keep dashing off to battle and spend most of your time with the same small group of people? It's the exhaustion and the physical abuse your body and clothes take on an up to several times daily basis. I've yet to find anything that can survive an unmorphed rangers v. footsoldiers battle. On a day with a mission whatever you're wearing tends to end up fit for the bin.
You have to be willing to drop everything the moment you get a call. You get to enjoy a fancy new 'watch' which you wear all the time, and you get to save the world. You get a cool costume and 'super' powers but you also get to wonder what's been pushed out of your head to make room for fighting skills, weapon techniques and the ability to pilot a zord.
Sometimes the world you are fighting for shrinks down to just you and your fellow rangers. You may not know each other well at the beginning but after the first few missions you'll trust them like no one else. You will be family. Oh, there'll be times when their little quirks will annoy you; or worse, put you in danger. All the same, you know that they'll come through for you. You know they'll keep fighting, you know that whatever happens they'll never give up and never let you give up. It's a little scary to have a group of friends you know you would risk your life for in less than a heartbeat, scarier that they would do the same for you. It may even become a regular occurrence but that doesn't change the fact that it is an honour to be part of such a team.
The not giving up is I guess part of what it means to be a ranger. It's a lonely life, there aren't many people you can share your feelings with. Fighting monsters on a daily basis isn't exactly a normal existence but it is one that all rangers know. We fight because that's what we do; it's not fun, it's exhausting and you have to risk your life to save the world. But, there is no decision to be made. It is what we do.
Oh, you get scared, you get beaten up; you get sick of the bruises and the tiredness. You get blown up, shot at and thrown into solid objects. You get to go into fights out numbered several to one. You get to see your closest friends tired and hurt. Put like that no one would take the job, least of all an ordinary person like me.
I took the job because I was asked. I'm proud to be a ranger. I'm proud of what we do. There are days when I just want to rest, yet I know the call to action could come at any moment and I know however tired I am, I will go out and do my part.
I didn't sign up for the glory, I signed up because I couldn't say no to such a request. It's a fairly thankless task but the buzz of standing there as a foe falls is like no other. I know I won't be an active Power Ranger forever, but once a ranger always a ranger, it's a part of who I am now. For now, I'll do everything I can. It's a rough life, but there are so many experiences to be had. I admit, some of those experiences I'd like to forget; especially the ones involving lots of slime. But those experiences have changed me. I'll never be who I was before I became a ranger again, but I don't want to be, I like who I am now.
It's hard being a ranger, I probably could have lived without knowing how it felt to hit with a sword, ride out an explosion or electrocuted. That's the trade off we make. It is worth it though. I wouldn't swap it for anything and I do mean that. Anyway, have to go, duty calls.