Planeteers: A New Generation

Hope Island...

A frail, sickly Gaia dropped to her knees on the sand, coughing. Wiping her lips, she was horrified to find blood on her palm. She was coughing up blood. This was not a good sign. Shivering, she stood slowly, surveying her surroundings. Plant life on Hope Island was dying. On the shores of the island lay dead and dying sea creatures. The water was dark, murky. All kinds of waste floated toward the island, threatening to close in on a dying Gaia. Someone had to stop this. But who? The five young teens she had summoned before had now retired from their posts. She needed a new team of warriors who would fight for Earth's survival. Gaia's wellbeing was tied to the fate of the planet and she had to act fast. Or she would die. She opened a leaden box containing five glowing rings whose light pulsated weakly like slowing heartbeats. Earth... Fire... Wind... Water... Heart... Hello, old friends, Gaia thought. The time has come once again to reawaken you.

Calamba, Laguna

Philippines...

Carlo Ochoa woke with a start, looking around his room. He was in his room in his hometown of Calamba—his room with wooden walls and a large capiz-shelled window. His guitar was in the corner, on its stand. A poster of sexy Filipina actress Joyce Jimenez was taped to the wall. There were other posters and pictures lining the walls of his room. Posters of foreign and local bands. Rivermaya, M.Y.M.P., Metallica, System of a Down, Five For Fighting... There was a framed black-and-white picture of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, whom he considered to be his hero and inspiration—his guiding light. Favorite movies—both Filipino and American... The wooden chess set he had inherited from his grandfather was still on the table by the window. The fan on his desk was humming softly, blowing cool air towards him. He took it all in, taking a deep breath. He was glad to be in the safety of his room instead of on that island in his vision with dying vegetation and a dying nymph. It was a depressing sight. He loved nature and hated to see it being destroyed. He couldn't get it out of his mind. He shook his head. He would never understand why humans bit off more than they could chew. The earth was giving them everything—and in return, instead of giving back and protecting it, they were taking more. Nature gave them a hand; man wanted two whole arms and both legs. Sometimes he felt like he was the only one who cared about nature these days. But he wasn't the only one, however. He spearheaded a club called Anak Ng Kalikasan (Sons/Daughters of Nature) dedicated to reforestation and to rehabilitating sick, injured, or displaced woodland creatures, tending to their needs, then rereleasing them into the wild. He saw himself as a guardian of nature. He was on just such a mission that Saturday morning. There was a knock at the door.

"Are you ready yet? You'll be late for your trip," Carlo's mother called in their native Tagalog.

"Coming!" he said, in kind, jumping out of bed and putting on a tank top. "What time is it?"

"It's 7:30 already," his mother answered.

"Alright," he said, coming out of his room and into the dining room where breakfast was waiting for him. His father was on a business trip to Manila and his sisters were still asleep. They loved to sleep in on Saturdays. It was only Carlo and his mother who were awake. He devoured his breakfast like a hungry soldier, brushed his teeth, went downstairs to take a bath, then got dressed for the day's activities. A group of illegal loggers had hacked several trees around Mount Makiling just the other day. He and the ANK club had to go there to plant some new trees and to find as many injured animals as they could—animals that had been injured in the process.

Usually, Carlo was the one barking out instructions to the group and the one who was also busy planting and digging with them. Today, however, he was mostly standing around, seemingly distracted. He couldn't get Gaia's face and the dying plant life out of his mind.

"Are you okay?" his best friend Marco asked in Tagalog.

"I'm fine," he replied, likewise in Tagalog. "I just need to take a little break, if you don't mind."

"Break? You're not even doing anything," Marco teased with a laugh. "You're just standing there like a statue! What break are you talking about? Just kidding! Do what you have to do."

"Salamat," he said, walking away from the team and sitting under the shade of a banyan tree. And as he sat there, there she was, approaching him. She held a box in her hand. Carlo stood quickly, startled. "Who are you?"

"I am Gaia," Gaia said, opening the box to reveal the five rings. "I have chosen you to be one of the Planeteers. Earth needs your help."

"I know you," Carlo said in awe. "I saw you last night..."

"I may have reached out to you," Gaia said. "Will you be a Planeteer and help me? Help Earth?"

"It would be a great honor, Gaia," Carlo said. "I will join the cause."

"I'm glad you will," Gaia said. "Now take your ring."

Carlo reached out and touched the Earth power ring. It was as though it were an old friend calling to him. He put it on. He had chosen the power of Earth—or rather, it chose him.