RECRUITMENT, Part 2.

9:00

The five cadets woke up at different times, but minutes apart, and began to do morning exercises (push-ups, sit-ups, warm-ups). They dressed in their usual gray uniforms, and waited for hours for J'onn to come or to hear the voice of the possible boss on the loudspeakers. Watching the electronic clocks, they decided to go out to breakfast to the dining room. The dining room was as big as the recruiting and training room of the metropolis headquarters.

The talk was most comfortable among all, but very static. The five took the time to say how long they had been training, and what they wanted to do or know about. However, the most talked about topic was that everyone, except Diana, wanted to leave Gotham City in a short time, but they would stay for a while while they were important or did something useful. Diana never said anything about leaving Gotham City.

"I think you're overreacting this." Diana said. "We have not even started and they already want to leave. I thought everyone was here to help, not for comfort."

"We're here to help, Diana," Kal said. "But we did not want something like this, a place like that and a commander like that. But you're right. I am sorry. What if we promise to make the best of this?" He said while raising his plastic cup.

"I'll think about it," Barry, John and Shayera said in unison.

"I swear," Diana said as she raised her glass.

"Hello, cadets," J'onn said. "Major Wayne is waiting for you in the conference room, follow me."

The five of them had finished eating, so they got up quickly and went with J'onn to the conference room again. Upon entering the room, Major Wayne was standing in front of him at the high table. The five were standing in front of the commander. They wondered what he wanted to say. Everyone looked at him expectantly while J'onn stood with a neutral face. Diana wondered what she wanted to do or say, while the others hoped not to be expelled, but they did want to be transferred to another central.

"If I choose Kal as leader, would you follow him, Shayera?" Major Wayne asked.

"I would do it, without questioning anything," Shayera replied. "He is the best of all of us, sir."

"If I chose Barry as a leader, would you follow him, Diana?

"No," he said, "because I barely know him, but I would give him an opportunity, like everyone, sir.

"If I chose Shayera, would you follow her, Kal?"

"Yes, anyone deserves to be a leader. I must not underestimate, although I think that, like all of us, we would lack training or experience, but it is not a limitation, sir."

"If I chose John as a leader, would you follow him, Barry?

"Maybe ... I say yes. Always." he replied nervously.

"If I chose Diana as leader, would you follow her, John?"

"No, she told me she trained for two and a half years, and I consider her as not so prepared for everything." the latter said without flinching.

"You want to prove me?" Diana asked, looking at him angrily.

"Stop," said Kal, "Diana, you said you would do your best, this is not it."

After the last, Diana returned to her resting position.

"Attention," said the commander, "to the table, now."

The six of them settled around the table, wondering if they had done everything right. Suddenly, a hologram of the city appeared in the middle of the table. The table was holographic, so the cadets had to get used to it.

"Here," said the commander, pointing to a section of Gotham City with his thumb, although the map was already marked with red, "is a space for the main street artists of the city, but also for thugs of criminal organizations. Your mission is to find out what these people are planning to do and for whom they work. It is understood?

Everyone nodded, they were intelligent, so they could not misunderstand that order.

"J'onn will take them to the Hangar to get their vehicles," the commander continued. The coordinates will be programmed by him. They're just going to know the city, so they need a guide, and the truck system is good for that. Remember, they are no longer in training, and now this will serve as a prelude to their other missions or their dismissal, so do not spoil it.

"Follow me," J'onn said.

While they were being followed, Diana was still intrigued by this mission, or warming up, and by the commander. She was very prepared, but I wanted to show John that he was wrong. She could not stand telling me she was not ready.

The hangar was very large, and for the first time, the five saw patrol vehicles and pursuit. J'onn chose two vehicles without a roof that was for three maximum. Shayera dragged Diana to one, to be close to her, while the men were comfortable not being among girls. After J'onn inserted the coordinates to the two vehicles, the five left. Shayera was the one driving the car and John the other. They had learned to drive in training, but they had never driven one, but it was like training, so it was not difficult.

When they got there, the five left their vehicles and started walking towards the meeting point.

"Barry, if you're fast, explore the environment without being seen" John ordered.

"Hey, you do not order me what to do. The commander is our boss." Barry said.

"Someone has to explore," said John.

"And why you?" Shayera intervened.

"Because Barry is faster, Shay," Kal said.

"We can do it, Kal," Diana said. We are strong women.

"You're a rookie, Diana," said John.

Diana threw a punch that hit John's chest, which threw him two meters through the air and landed on his back.

"What do you have against me?" Diana asked.

"I have nothing against you, but this shows why you're not ready," John said.

After saying this, John threw a green hammer at Diana, which she could not stand and also sent her flying to other meters. The two looked like they were going to fight to the death, until Kal intervened between the two putting a hand on each other's chest.

"Diana, John, this is disappointing. Diana, I thought you were someone of good will, but you are very bad at this, and John, you are very shameless and disrespectful, so, if you do not help, we will do it without you. Barry, Shayera, come!

"But..." said Diana and John.

"The Justice League is here! cried one of the criminals. "To your posts!"

At that moment, dozens of people left the buildings, with knives, poles, metal knuckles and closed fists.

"Well done, Diana and John! For you they located us!" Barry yelled.

"Surrender and surrender, now. Or they will see what pain is, "shouted the leader or head of the place.

"Barry, run," whispered Kal.

"What?" Barry asked.

-"Run

At that moment, Barry ran at full speed and began to hit all the enemies.

"I know that you and John have issues to solve, Diana!" Kal shouted. "But we must help us to win."

The two nodded and began. Diana and Kal interchanged strong blows that made the enemies fly, causing them to shoot down others. John created objects like hammers or racing cars to knock down others, while Shayera sent electrical pulses to others, and Barry kept running. The five continued for a long time, until all five fell. Although they seemed weak, the enemies managed to be stronger and were much more than they, so they ended up losing the five cadets.

The five could not believe it, they were about to die on their first mission, at the hands of a rival they should not have underestimated, but the grudges between them and their rivalries gave them away, they deserved a quick and simple dismissal...

"And the exercise is over," said Major Wayne. "Thanks to all of you, you can go back to the headquarters and continue with your obligations, soldiers. Retire."

The soldiers took minutes to leave, but the cadets were shocked and tired they were gone. They were lost by emotion.

"What word am I looking for?" The commander asked. "Oh, yes, predictable and disappointing."

"What's going on here?" the five asked in unison.

"It was a training exercise," said the commander. "Simple and easy. You have to see what your soldiers are made of, and I saw what they could do. I did this because I know you hate being here, and I saw a lot of tension between you, so I had to fix it. Also, without having a specific rank, you can not be a mission."

The five filed complaints, including Diana. It seemed outrageous that a commander did this to them. The commander did not flinch.

"We are not finished," said the commander. "Nothing was solved, so we will resolve it now. They will fight among you, and I will watch them. It will be until they faint or until one is the victor. Now, fight."

Nobody did anything.

"Or I will dismiss you."

Diana and John started fighting again, followed by the other three. Shayera fought John, for his electrical pulses and his goal was because he wanted to win Diana's friendship. Diana fought Kal and Barry, but they took turns against everyone. Nobody stopped. They turned that area of buildings full of graffiti into buildings a bit demolished or marked by punches or body silhouettes on the walls. Only Kal proved to be the winner, although it can be said that Diana and Kal had a similar fight; Diana was angry with John and she, with the help of Shayera, defeated him, but Kal did not want to fight, so they fought but very harmlessly, until Diana gave her last fist of anger, and then Kal gave her one last blow. He did not knock her out, but he did leave her stunned.

"Let's go back to the headquarters," said the commander. The combat lasted one hour and seven minutes. It is time to recompose.

The commander helped the other cadets get up. Everyone was very stunned, but they felt different. Diana especially felt relieved. However, all five were upset by the training exercise. They wondered what all this was, but they were not going to do it, or at least not until they quit tomorrow, Kal thought, who already wanted to leave and not come back. Curiously, Kal banished that thought, otherwise he would be so interested in himself, and it would be like John and Diana, so he said he wanted to stay a little longer.

The commander went to the conference room, while the cadets went to the showers, to eat and to their lodgings. Nobody talked about anything, because they did not want to make the day worse. It started very strange, but it ended very badly. The five cadets went to their beds and fell asleep in a matter of seconds. Shayera slept with good thoughts, because she had helped Diana and maybe this would make her her friend.

Diana was still angry with the commander, like the other four, but she did not expect to feel better, because at least beating John with Shayera's help made her feel better, and she hoped that John would not continue telling her that she was not ready or that she was inexperienced The same thought that the commander was someone very intelligent, because he made a master plan that worked, but he wondered what was the purpose of all this, and if the commander was someone more interesting, if he knew him better.

Major Wayne was about to leave the conference room when J'onn J'onnz entered.

"I think you did an excellent job, but very hard with the cadets," J'onn said.

"I know, but it's the only way," said the commander. "This area needs Power Rangers, like the ones we had before, and you chose them, so I trust you. You have been my right-hand man for two years since I became the commander of this power station, so your opinion is very important."

"I trust you will decide the right thing. Those five are maybe our only chance."

"I'll handle it, thanks J'onn."

With that, the two left the conference room, each with different thoughts. J'onn wished that the commander did not fire them or transfer them, because he knew that the commander knew a lot about the Power Rangers, and that this area needed the Power Rangers very much.

In his room, Major Wayne walked around the room, until he lay down on his bed, thoughtful about what to do. He was someone very prepared and very intelligent, so he had to make the right decision. He knew a lot about the Power Rangers, and he wanted this area to have new Power Rangers, so it was a difficult decision. Although, I was thinking about how cadet Diana was impulsive, but he knew that, like the other cadets, she had a lot of potential, but he was very interested in how she was very honest and did not over-presume.

He spent the whole night thinking about what to do with the five cadets.

Next: Recruitment, part 3.