By the time the last bell rings, I feel like my brain has been squeezed through a cheese grater.
Midtown isn't hard — not with perfect recall — but it's loud.
Too many people. Too much energy. Too many things I don't understand yet.
I walk out of the main doors with Peter, Jake, and Noah before we split off in different directions.
"See you tomorrow, Ash," Peter says, waving before jogging across the street.
I wave back, then slip around the corner of the building, into a quieter street where the noise of the city melts into background hum.
My heart's still steady, but the morpher…
It hasn't stopped pulsing since lunch.
Not strong.
Not dangerous.
Just… aware.
I pull out my phone.
If this is really a fusion of… whatever this world is… I need answers.
So I open the browser and type the most basic question possible:
"Are mutants real?"
I hit search.
Hundreds of articles pop up.
– GOVERNMENT DEBATES MUTANT REGISTRATION ACT
– New Mutant Sightings in Lower Manhattan
– Heroic Mutant Team Saves Passengers After Bridge Collapse
My stomach drops a little.
Mutants are public.
Feared.
Argued about.
Everywhere.
I click another tab.
"Avengers team members"
A list appears.
Not the team I expected.
Iron Man
Captain America
Black Widow
Hawkeye
Hulk
Vision
Then the headline:
AVENGERS OFFICIALLY FORMED AFTER ULTRON CRISIS LAST YEAR
Ultron.
Not aliens.
Not Chitauri.
This world…
This timeline…
It isn't the one I remember from the shows or comics.
It's something else.
Something mixed.
I lean against the brick wall, breathing slowly.
"Okay," I whisper to myself. "Mutants are real. Avengers exist. Ultron existed… which means Tony Stark is out there somewhere."
My thumb scrolls almost on its own.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. director"
Search.
Director: Nicholas J. Fury
I let out a low breath.
Fury is here.
Shield is here.
Everything is real.
Every. Single. Thing.
And I'm standing here with a morpher in my bag and three zords waiting somewhere in the universe like giant sleeping gods.
I close my phone.
This world…
It's bigger than I thought.
Stranger than I expected.
And it's only my first day.
A breeze moves through the alley, brushing my hair, cooling my skin.
For a moment, everything is silent.
Then—
The morpher pulses again.
Not danger.
Not a call to action.
Just a whisper.
You're meant to be here.
I tighten my grip on my bag.
"Yeah," I breathe. "I know."
I step out of the alley and start walking home.
Tomorrow, school again.
New faces again.
More weirdness again.
But the truth is settling in now:
This world isn't waiting for me.
It's already moving.
Already alive.
Already dangerous.
And sooner or later…
I'm going to have to join the fight.
But not yet.
Not today.
Today…
I'm just Ash Oliver.
Tomorrow…
Still just Ash.
But the day after that?
I don't know.
And for the first time…
I'm excited to find out