The alarm clock sounded and Blaze mashed his hand down on it to silence it. Waking up in a bed that was large enough to be considered a trampoline, covered in deep, burgundy silk bed clothing, he started to make his way to the edge of the bed. He got up, heading for the window and looked out over Coral Harbour. His family home up in the hills had a magnificent view over the city, somewhere that he and his family could look down all that was theirs, and one day, would be his by birthright!

His family was not just one of the richest in Coral Harbour, but the world. A few years ago, when Morph-X was in its early development stages, very few were willing to invest in it, preferring reliable investments like oil. What they didn't know was that as well as just an environmental consideration, there was another reason the Government was reaching out for private investors in Morph-X development. Fossil fuels were running dry. Unbeknownst to most to avoid a panic, the planet only had about a decade of most resources left before the breakthrough. The upshot was that only half a dozen families invested a majority share in Morph-X technology while most still thought of it as another environmental fad. By the time it rolled out, it was projected to end up replacing fossil fuels altogether and those same families now owned the controlling share of the market on the sole energy resource on the planet. Blaze's family was one of those families. The Winchesters, once again, would be on the ground floor of the industry that would run the world!

The Ranger program had now been running for close to six months, coming close to the half-way point, and the field was being culled more and more each day. He had little to worry about, he was one of the top-scoring recruits across the board, but his father didn't become the man he was by being 'one of' the best in his business, he got there by being the smartest, most cunning, most capable, and when the occasion came for it, most cut-throat person in any room. He had learned long ago that talent and hard work spoke loudly, but the thing that really spoke volumes, was position and power. He didn't just want to be a Ranger; he wanted to be the Red Ranger, the leader, the one at the very top. Taking orders was never something he was brought up to do, and he didn't plan on starting when he was a Ranger.

He went down the hall to his own home gym to begin his morning routine that always started at around 5AM. It was fully equipped with the latest top-of-the-range exercise technology, including a holographic sparring program that allowed him to practice at home to keep him nice and sharp. The gym was also lined with trophies all along the shelves high above the floor. He'd been put into Karate by his parents at a young age to hone his wits, discipline and killer instinct. Things his parents always believed would serve him well when he inherited the family business that they had built from the ground up by seizing every opportunity by the throat. By the time he was ten he was already a black belt, and by now, he had won dozens of Regional and State championships and had retained the World Championship in his weight category and the open weight category for the last four consecutive years.

His workout always ended with a steam, a spin in a Jacuzzi, a rubdown from a robotic machine, and a shower. He went into his walk in closet, which was larger than many people's apartments and picked out his outfit for the day, some designer jeans and a T-shirt, and a custom made leather jacket. By the time he got to the kitchen, his robotic butler had already fixed his breakfast. He took a cold glass of OJ from its hands.

"Master Blaze, would you like to know the morning headlines?" The butler asked.

"Do I ever?" He snorted. The butler just took his glass as he finished with it, before starting on his cereal. He really didn't care much what was going on in the world beyond his own home. It wasn't his problem if someone else hadn't figured out how to make their own life a success. "What's on the schedule?"

"Your Karate class this Evening." The robot butler informed him.

"Any calls from my folks?" Blaze asked.

"Your father just wanted to call and ask when the graduation ceremony is." The butler asked. Blaze's parents were on a business trip as usual, leaving the mansion all to Blaze. He smirked.

"I have to be chosen first." He chuckled. "So…end of the month if there's any justice, but I guess they have to let the others think they have a shot. Anyway, time I was going. Clean that up will you?"

"Very good sir." The butler responded. Blaze headed outside and mounted his motorcycle, before starting up and gunning the engine, weaving through traffic, completely ignoring the enraged horns blaring. He just smiled as he passed by a patrol car, which didn't even bother to turn on its lights. Even if they did catch him, all the cops knew his motorcycle. No one was dumb enough to try and pull over a Winchester, much less give them a ticket.

At the base, Zoey was just finishing up her shift and heading back to her dorm to get changed when she almost bumped into Nate. He was carrying a rabbit in a cage, and had to move quickly to keep from dropping it.

"Wow, we really need to stop meeting like this." Zoey commented.

"It would probably be for the best." Nate said in a nervous little laugh. Zoey's eyes suddenly grew wide and she looked to the cage.

"Aw, she is adorable!" She commented. "Is she yours?"

"Not exactly, he's a test subject." Nate told her.

"Test subject?" She asked. "Right, you were doing something with animals weren't you? Um...please tell me you did that...thing on him and didn't..."

"No, he hasn't had so much as a single piece of fur removed." Nate assured her. He'd quickly figured out that Zoey really loved animals. He could only imagine what kind of monster she'd think he was if he was harming the test subjects in his lab, and the last thing he'd ever want is for Zoey to never speak to him again, even if she did think his IQ had to be somewhere in the single-figure range thanks to the fact he seemed to completely lose the ability to speak like a functioning human being around her.

"What an adorable little rabbit." She commented.

"Jackrabbit." He corrected her. "It's a kind of hare technically."

"Oh, well, I guess I got that one wrong too. Sorry little guy." She said, reaching through the bars and stroking him gently.

"Say, I'm actually done with him, I was going to take him back to the woods to release him." Nate told her. "You wouldn't like to go with me would you?"

"I'd love to, really I would!" She gushed. "But I...really need to shower and change. Commander Shaw's written me up twice already, and just between you and me...I think the General doesn't really like me too much."

"Really?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, I just kind of see him glaring at me at times." Zoey told him. "I don't know, I'm probably just being paranoid. Anyway, I really need to go."

"Alright, I'll see you later!" Nate called out, waving as she left. "And...she probably thinks I'm a lunatic."

As he was about to leave, he felt an arm around his shoulders and someone pulled him around.

"Hey there, it's...Nate, right?" Roxy asked him.

"Uh...yeah?" He said as she started to walk with him. "I was actually going..."

"Oh, you don't need to worry, this won't take long." She assured him as she walked with him. "So, you and Zoey, you're both friends right?"

"I...guess so?" He said a little nervously, not knowing where this was going.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She replied. "Now, here's the thing. A little while back, Zoey found a little present addressed to her from a friend. You...wouldn't know anything about that right?"

"No, why would I?" Nate stammered out, hoping that somehow his brain would start to work. He had no idea how he was able to beat the Deep Blue chess programme before he was fourteen but somehow speaking to a girl was the most complicated thing in the world.

"Really? You don't know about the present?" She asked him. "That's a shame, because I think it was a really sweet thing someone did for her."

"I suppose." Nate gulped. "I really should be..."

"Come on, let's walk and talk Nate. You're fine with that right?" She asked, but she didn't wait for him to answer. "Good. Now, here's the thing. The present was addressed from a friend, so naturally Zoey thought it was from me. I didn't correct her because, well, how would she believe me when I didn't know who did leave it? But anyway, that's not important. What is important is I started to think, a friend? Now, who is friends with Zoey on this base other than me?"

"Lots of people." Nate rushed out. She just shook her head.

"Now, that's not quite right now is it?" She asked. "I mean, she SHOULD have loads of friends around here, she is such a sweetheart. So kind and funny and always helping others, but we both know that the whole competition's starting to get really George R R Martin around here isn't it?"

"I suppose that's true." Nate said a little nervously.

"Now, like I said, I was trying to think who are her friends. Now, Ben and Betty, she's always hanging around with them..."

"That's it!" Nate rushed out. "It must be Ben or Betty! That's it!"

"I don't know, I'm not so sure." Roxy replied, tapping her chin with a finger thoughtfully. "I don't really think it's the kind of thing they would give someone..."

"They're the General's kids; they would easily have access to the books!" Nate blurted out. Roxy just stopped.

"I...never said that the gift was books." She told him. Nate just wanted to drop dead right then and there. She had completely caught him with that one. There was no point in trying to deny it now.

"Look, I only wanted to..." He started to say, before Roxy came around in front of him, squealing a little excitedly and clapping. "Um...what are you...?"

"I was right! I was so right!" Roxy gushed. "I've seen you talking to her; you are totally into her aren't you?"

"What?" He said nervously. "I...I..."

"Nate, relax, really!" She told him. She put her arm around him again and started walking with him. "Look, I'll tell you what. How about you ask one of the sixty or seventy thousand other lab types to cover for you for a little while and head to Riptide this evening, say around about six o'clock?"

"I...well I should...huh?" He asked.

"I'm taking Zoey through some lessons." She told him. "A 'friend' might just happen to be there and we do work up quite a thirst."

"You're...You want me to...huh?" Nate asked.

"I'm going a little fast for you? Alright, I'll slow it down then." Roxy told him, pulling in close and whispering to him. "Be at the gym. Think you can manage that?"

Nate just nodded. Roxy smiled and started to walk away.

"Oh, and lose the rabbit!" She told him. Nate just stood still for several minutes, while the rest of the world continued around him. He just blinked as he tried to process everything.

"It's a jackrabbit." He finally found himself able to say.

Roxy spent the whole day with Zoey between training and classes. While they were still strictly speaking competing, Roxy wasn't taking things to quite the same bloodthirsty levels as some of the others. By now people were starting to realise that those other students around them might be the one obstacle between them and becoming a Ranger and now, things were starting to get a lot less friendly. People were reporting disciplinary infractions far more frequently, pointing out flaws in procedures, failings and stumbles in training...people were desperate to find ways to thin the herd. To Roxy though, she had always believed in just concentrating on her own performance and if she passed or failed, she would do so on her own, rather than try to get others cut to lower the bar.

"Alright, I thought today would never end!" Roxy exclaimed as the class ended and they all started to gather their things. She leaned over to Zoey. "You still on for our lesson?"

"Absolutely." Zoey responded. "I just need to check on the laundry and then I'll meet you there."

"Cool, catch you there!" Roxy said, giving her a finger-gun greeting. She watched Zoey leave and started to get excited. She was a romantic by nature, and she had noticed Nate and Zoey talking and seen him looking at her a few times. It was just so cute watching him, but she just felt like maybe with a gentle nudge in the right direction, maybe she could make him feel a little more comfortable around Zoey, perhaps even comfortable enough to actually meet her outside of the base.

She just needed to deal with the second part of her plan, getting Ravi to come too. She thought that with more than just her and Zoey there, maybe the whole thing would seem a lot less like a set-up and a little more casual. She was about to head over to Ravi when she saw some other cadets surrounding him.

"Well, look what we have here, yet another A+. Isn't that a coincidence?" One of them said, looking at a test paper he'd had returned to him.

"Give that back." Ravi warned him.

"Why? You don't need it; mommy will probably just give you another one!" One of the others teased him.

"I said, give it back!" Ravi snapped at him.

"Dude, you should give it back." One of the others chuckled. "You wouldn't want him to tell his mom on you."

"I don't need my mom to mop the floor with..."

"Hey!" Roxy interrupted, inserting herself between the two sides. "Do you geniuses only have one joke? Because if you're not smart enough to think for another, I really wonder how you're going to last here."

"Please, we all know this guy's cruising his way on his name!" One of them complained.

"Come here and say..."

"RAVI!" Roxy called out, getting right into his face. "Don't give him the satisfaction, he's not worth it!"

Ravi just grabbed the rest of his things and stormed out of the class. Roxy followed him outside. By the time she got to him, he looked ready to explode. There were veins popping up in his neck and head she had never seen before.

"Ravi, calm..."

"What's it going to TAKE?" He yelled at her. "I give and I give and I work and I do everything right and no matter what happens those assholes STILL think I'm only here because of my mom!"

"They're just jealous because you're kicking their ass! You're top of the class by a country mile!" She protested.

"That doesn't matter to them!" Ravi yelled at her.

"And that's the reaction they're going for! They know you're kicking their asses so they're trying to get you to throw it away!" Roxy tried to reason with him. She came closer, looking into his eyes. "Ravi, look at me...this...this is what they want."

"They won't want it when they wake up..."

"And you'll feel great about it for about ten minutes until the General kicks you out!" She reminded him. "Ravi...don't give them what they want."

He started to take slow, deep breaths. He hated feeling this way. He knew that she was right, that there were some of the cadets trying to get others cut so that they could get an easier route to the team. But no matter how many times he reminded himself, whenever they started their routine, he had to struggle not to give in to his desire to show them exactly why what his years of training could do.

"Look, let's just...take a break OK?" She asked him. "That girl I've been giving pointers to, Zoey? She's meeting me at the gym for another lesson. I was thinking maybe she's ready for some pointers from someone else?"

"I don't know..."

"We're going to work out then get some drinks." Roxy told him. "Come on, it'll be fun. It'll give you some time to forget all those dicks and just relax. Have a little fun?"

"Thanks, but I really don't feel like I'll be much fun right now." Ravi told her. "I think I'm just going to work out on my own."

"You shouldn't..."

"You know nothing relaxes me more than a good sweat." Ravi told her. "I'm just going to train, I promise."

"Well...OK, and if you feel like joining us..."

"I won't, but I appreciate it." He said, reaching to her, stroking her hair gently. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

"I do." She said with a little smile. With that, he pulled her in, kissing her softly, before walking away.

Up in her office, Commander Shaw was looking out of the window, watching her son and Roxy. She took a long sip of coffee, before heading to her desk.

Later that evening, Blaze arrived outside Riptide Gym a short time later, speeding his motorcycle right onto the sidewalk outside, blocking the bike rack. The local parking attendants knew exactly who the bike belonged to and that it was more than their careers were worth trying to give him a ticket. Blaze strode inside, pulling off his helmet as he went.

He smiled as he saw Ravi was working on some Kata. Even now, in his own little head space, he could see the frustration in Ravi. Every move was like he was trying to destroy an invisible opponent. He knew that Ravi was easily the biggest competition for the Red Ranger position. He really didn't care too much whether or not Ravi ended up making it onto the team, though the thought of Ravi having to salute him did give him a little bit of a kick.

On another mat, Roxy appeared to be taking another student through some exercises, standing by a frame holding a board and explaining how to perform a destruction technique. Ravi and Roxy were, alongside him, the strongest contenders for the Ranger program. They also helped him run the Karate classes at the gym.

He recognised the girl Roxy was working with, the laundry girl. At least, that was what she was to him. She was on the program but she was one of those scholarship types that places needed to hire to be seen to be "fair" to everyone in society. She was barely scraping together passable grades because she also worked full time in the laundry in addition to her training. He didn't know why Roxy wasted time working with her. First of all, she was competition, someone that could take her place if the rankings really changed in the next couple of months. He was also still a little sore about the fact she'd gotten him into trouble with the Commander. He was a lot more careful with his behaviour now, but he could still remember the humiliation of being made to stand naked in the canteen until she dismissed him two hours later. He hadn't pursued the matter, knowing better than to risk running afoul of the Commander again but he did have it in the back of his mind to find a way to make her pay for that.

He noticed another of the Grid Battleforce staff a little way off, Nate. The kid with the glasses he always saw following around the Commander like a little puppy. He was wearing gym gear, but was sitting with some paperwork in front of him. Blaze didn't know why he pretended he was at the gym to do anything of value; he could see that he was spending the whole time staring at Laundry Girl. With a smirk on his face, he headed over, scattering the papers on the floor.

"OOPS!" He said insincerely as Nate threw his hands up.

"You did that on purpose!" Nate protested. Blaze just laughed.

"Oh, what is this, the third grade?" Blaze asked him.

"That would require you could get past the third grade without your mom and dad paying off your teachers!" Nate snapped back. Blaze suddenly tensed up.

"What's that meant to mean!"

"Leave him alone Blaze!" Zoey said as she came over. She and Roxy had seen the incident from across the gym. Zoey had taken it upon herself to intervene and Roxy wasn't exactly quick to stop her.

"I don't recall this being any of your business." Blaze stated, shoving a hand in her face. "Do you think you're important? You're just some scrawny little dweeb Commander Shaw feels sorry for!"

"Blaze!" Roxy protested. He just scoffed and ignored her.

"You know what? You probably think just because you run numbers or polish blasters or do maintenance or something that you're a big thing don't you?" Blaze snapped. "I'm going to be a Ranger! You're just going to be polishing my boots!"

"Blaze, leave him alone!" Zoey protested again. Nate though couldn't take any joy in seeing her standing to his defence. He liked her, and he wanted her to see him as...well...he didn't really know what he wanted her to see him as, but as the scrawny kid she had to rescue from a bully? He wasn't exactly a chest-beating "alpha", whatever nonsense that was meant to mean, but even he had a little bit of pride and right now, he didn't feel in the slightest bit impressive.

"It's OK Zoey." Nate replied, before looking to Blaze and laughing. "Wait, do you really think I work maintenance?"

"Or research or something, what do I care?" Blaze asked. Nate just shook his head and started gathering his paperwork. "That's right, just run off…it's not like you'd be prepared to back up that smart mouth of yours is it?"

"Blaze…at least PART of me is smart." Nate replied. "Which is more than I can say about you!"

As he walked away, Roxy turned Blaze towards her.

"What?" He asked.

"Blaze, why did you have to be an asshole to Nate?" Roxy asked him. "He never did anything to you."

"So?" He asked in response.

"So, you don't even know who he is! Hell, I'm not sure I've ever said more than a few words to him either." Roxy told him. "You have no idea what he's capable of!"

"Yeah, and I don't care either." He replied arrogantly. "Now, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Blaze, I was just thinking, Zoey's been doing really well in my classes lately." Roxy told him. "I thought she might benefit from taking some of yours."

"Really?" He asked, folding his arms and staring down at her. "What do you think?"

"I think I like a challenge." Zoey replied. She knew Roxy had said she had an idea to help her, but she didn't know this was what she had in mind. Although she couldn't deny Blaze's talent, she didn't exactly feel like he was exactly the kind of instructor that she wanted. He just looked down at her gi.

"Tell me, that belt you're wearing. Is it black or brown?" He asked her.

"No." Zoey said. "But I'm about to sit a grading…"

"Sorry laundry girl, but my class is an advanced class." Blaze interrupted her. He had no interest or patience in teaching beginners. His class was strictly the advanced class; he had Blaze and Roxy work with anyone below a brown belt. He patted her on the head. "Come back when you're worth my time."

"Jerk!" Zoey snapped. Blaze just turned back.

"Oh, and when you're washing my uniforms, use a little less starch. My collar got kind of itchy last week." He taunted her. "Maybe if you spent less time pretending to be more than you are and were a little more like the dweeb, you'd actually do your own job right."

Just then, there was a loud crash. They all turned towards the frame, finding the pieces of the board on the floor, but no one in sight. Blaze walked over to it, picking up the pieces, before turning to the class.

"Who did that?" He demanded. "I asked who did that."

No one answered. Blaze just threw the pieces aside.

"I'm going to get changed." He told them. "Warm up, I want everyone on the mats in five minutes!"

From his spot just by the door, Nate watched Blaze storm into the changing rooms with a little smirk on his face, before blowing on his knuckles, turning and heading out the door.

Meanwhile, back in Grid Battleforce, Commander Shaw went into General Burke's office. He was just finishing up a phone call when she got there.

"I'm sorry to disturb..."

"No, that's fine; we've been friends far too long. You know my door's always open." He assured her. "What can I help you with?"

"I just wanted to make you aware of some amendments I wanted to make to the Grid Battleforce handbook." She told him.

"Really?" He asked.

"Just some regulations I thought might need a little tightening." She told him. "I know it'll be a while before our chosen Rangers have to follow any of these rules, but I thought I should get an early start."

"This could have waited until..." He said, flicking through the book. "I'm sorry, I...I'm not seeing any amendments."

"Right here." She said, turning to one page and pointing out one paragraph. General Burke read it, but then kind of screwed his eyes up a little as he read it again, then once more just to be sure.

"In the interests of team unity, as well as to ensure that all Rangers adhere strictly to the priority of life protocols, fraternization between Rangers is strictly prohibited. The penalty for violation of this will be summary dismissal." He looked to her and furrowed his brows. "You wish to forbid Rangers from dating?"

"I believe there is precedent." She told him. "The team will need to abide by very strict priority of life protocols. Do we really want to risk one of the team rushing to protect a partner and leaving civilians to be harmed?"

"I suppose I never considered putting it in writing." He said, before getting his pen and signing it. "Very well, I'll have admin make the appropriate amendment."

Commander Shaw watched him signing the amendment, and a part of her instantly regretted her decision. She loved her son, but she had seen him torture himself to try and prove himself to people that would never believe he had earned his place. She saw how miserable it made him, but in one brief moment, one fleeting second, she had seen something that she always wanted for him. With Roxy, she had seen true joy in his face.

She knew that her son would never quit of his own accord, and she hated the thought of him working every day and being miserable. But she thought she might have just found a way to save him from a life that would slowly destroy every ounce of happiness in his life.

After all, being a Ranger? That might last a few years. True love? That could last a lifetime, and who could blame him for choosing that?