Chapter 2
Test of the Leader

Location: Zord Cockpit

There was a lot going through Bryan's mind. He went on vacation for a week to see his family in Mariner Bay only to return and be practically abducted by his friend Aiden. He was pulled into the world of the Power Rangers. Superpowered humans. A giant floating head. Easily excitable robots. The long-standing legacy the heroes had. The idea of ever becoming a Ranger had been so far beyond his wildest dreams, he still wasn't sure he was awake.

That is, until the crash.

The sound of metal bending and screeching seared through Bryan's helmet as he yelped and stepped on the gas. He was attempting to dock his Triceratops Dinozord with the T-Rex, but his attempt had failed.

Aiden spoke through Bryan's helmet. "Stay focused, Ranger Blue. Watch the targeting system and make adjustments as necessary."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered as he tried again. Unfortunately, he wasn't very adept at making minor adjustments, as he constantly over-corrected and crashed into the T-Rex Zord's knee at the wrong angle, causing that horrifying screech of warping metal. "Oh, come on!" he yelled. He had to get this! What if he couldn't drive the Zord? Would that mean they'd kick him off the team?

Bryan's freaked out daydream was interrupted by alarms blaring. "What?!" he demanded. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing," Aiden said as the simulation shut down around Bryan. The new Blue Ranger jumped from the simulator cockpit to see Aiden had turned the exercise off, but the alarm was still going. "That's the monster alert. We need to get back to the main room. Let's go."

Bryan's heart jumped in his chest. Was this it? His first battle as the Blue Ranger? He took a deep breath and ran for the door.

Location: Sierra Pelona Mountains, California

The Command Center

Bryan raced in just behind Aiden, but immediately began to feel a little conspicuous as the only one morphed. He considered demorphing, but that didn't make sense with the alarms going off. He tried to ignore his self-consciousness for now as he turned to the others.

Aiden was watching the viewing globe expectantly. He was a Korean guy, muscular and fit (though that part was true of all the Rangers), with short black hair spiked in the front and brown eyes hidden behind thick glasses. Aiden was always so calm and collected. He took charge when he needed to, but stayed back when necessary. He was smart and a good leader... which made Bryan wonder why he wasn't the leader.

Standing next to him was Thuy, Aiden's pick for the Yellow Ranger. The daughter of Chinese and Vietnamese martial artist immigrants, Thuy was a very focused and disciplined woman. Aiden had selected both Thuy and Bryan from the martial arts studio where they all study, though Terri was miles ahead of either of them. She was always quiet, and never seemed to miss anything.

The others began to arrive one-by-one in flashes of color. First was Kerri, the new Pink Ranger. Serious minded, Kerri was first in line to be Valedictorian, always voted "Most Likely to Succeed," and tended to take everything seriously. She was popular with the guys, admired for her blonde hair and careful attention to her appearance, but her priority was always her mission, whether that was school, work, or martial arts. Jake met her through their dojo, and they had been friends for years.

A few moments passed before Pirantishead's image appeared on the screen. He was rampaging through town and sending machines flying, generally causing chaos across the city. "Great," Aiden muttered. "I was kind of hoping Zedd had destroyed him for his failure." The last part of the sentence was delivered in a deep, pseudo-menacing voice, like he was mocking the forces of evil. Bryan chuckled under his helmet. "Where are the others?" Aiden asked.

"They should be on their way soon," Billy said. "They received the alert. They're probably just looking for a place to teleport privately."

Aiden nodded before turning to Bryan. "Demorph for now. Better to conserve your energy."

Bryan mentally slapped himself. "Uh, right. Power down!" The suit shattered around him, falling off in shards and vanishing. Bryan still felt conspicuous, but shrugged it off as he looked around the room at the others. Bryan had short, curly black hair that was shaved very close, and his very dark skin contrasted the light blue t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. He never really saw himself as much of a fighter, since he enjoyed martial arts for the discipline and camaraderie. Still, Aiden must have seen something in him, right?

Everyone turned when a flash of brilliant green light indicated Ty's arrival. Ty, or Tyler, was another friend of Jake's, and another attendee of his dojo, which was pretty much the running theme for recruitment. Then again, where better to find superheroes specializing in hand-to-hand combat than a dojo? Ty had short brown hair, all spiked up. His green eyes were bright (though it was really more his expression than the eyes themselves) and he always had a smile on his face. Ty was kind of a 'bubbly' sort, liked to crack jokes and loved superhero comics. According to Jake, when the offer to become a Ranger was extended, Ty couldn't say yes fast enough. It made Bryan wonder if Ty knew what he was getting into.

Finally, a flash of red light brought forth their field leader, Jake. Jake was a tall, imposing sort, and reminded Bryan a lot of the first Red Ranger, Jason, who he'd seen in the Command Center archives. He also looked a lot like Troy, the Red Mega Ranger. Athletic, brown hair parted on the side with a small, well-groomed tuft hanging over his forehead. Dressed in a red and white athletic jacket, Jake was a star athletic something or other at school. Wasn't really Bryan's cup of tea, honestly, but the guy was pretty well-known. Jake was a bit of a hothead and somewhat stubborn, and Bryan was a bit nervous about working with him. But he was going to follow every order to the letter and hopefully everything would be okay.

"What's going on?" Jake asked.

"Pirantishead is back," Aiden explained. "Doesn't look like he's calmed down much, either."

"Let's get out there," Jake said, reaching behind his back.

Zordon's booming voice stopped the group cold and they all turned to look. "Be careful, Rangers. Pirantishead's flute allows him to take control of mechanical devices. He is not to be underestimated."

"Yeah," Bryan piped up. "In the original battle against the first Rangers, Pirantishead nearly destroyed all their zords and turned the T-Rex and Dragonzords against them." He suddenly felt self-conscious again, but he knew his information was good. "They, uh, had to upgrade the zords to defeat them."

"Don't worry too much about that," Billy said reassuringly. "Your zords are much stronger than the original zords were. Ranger tech has come a long way in the last few decades." He smiled slightly, then gave a small nod to Jake.

Jake turned to the others. "Let's do this. It's Morphin' Time!"

Location: Angel Grove

"Hey, Cod-for-Brains!" Ty yelled as the Rangers arrived on the scene. Civilians had mostly fled from the area, and the monster turned his attention to the multicolored superheroes in the street. "I thought sea life was pacifishtic!"

The entire team and the monster stopped to stare at Ranger Green. "Did you seriously just say that?" Jake admonished.

"Less talking, more punching!" Aiden said. The others returned their focus to Pirantishead who began firing energy blasts from his fish flute thing. Jake, Aiden, and Kerri rolled out of the way, but Bryan and Thuy took the hit, sending them flying back several feet.

"You guys okay?" Kerri asked.

"Fine," Bryan said, jumping back to his feet. He couldn't make mistakes. He had to be more careful!

"Attack!" Jake yelled. Four Rangers rushed forward, weapons in hand while Ranger Pink began firing energy arrows rapidly at the monster. Pirantishead dodged most, but took a light hit on the final arrow before the others arrived. Bryan's Power Lance and Aiden's Power Axe slammed down on the monster hard, but his tough scales took the hit for him. With a push, Pirantishead shoved the two Rangers back, leaving him open to Jake and Thuy's approach. Ranger Yellow's daggers were now attached to metal chains which she swung around, netting several quick strikes on the monster. She pulled the chains in allowing Jake's jump attack with his sword. The blow was glancing, and for all his effort, Jake was rewarded with a swift kick that sent him across the street.

The battle continued for a few more minutes with the Rangers making little headway. "Why is he so much stronger this time?" Jake demanded. "It only took two of us to beat him before."

"Maybe Zedd souped him up," Bryan replied.

"Should we try the tactic from last time?" Aiden asked. "If you guys can keep him distracted long enough..."

"If he is souped up, it probably won't work. Plus, he's wise to it now. Still, I don't have a better idea..." Thuy's voice trailed off.

Everyone looked to Jake. "Alright, let's go."

"For this to work," Aiden added, "he needs to be completely distracted while I get into position and charge up the attack." The Rangers rolled out of the way of a blast, splitting them up a little. "Kerri, I'll need rapid fire cover, even if he blocks most of it. Keep his attention."

Jake shot Aiden a look he could see even through his helmet. Aiden held his hands up briefly in surrender before privately saying in Jake's helmet, "Sorry, this is your show." With that, he ran around the back of the monster. Kerri started firing arrows rapidly. Most glanced off, but it was keeping the monster's attention. The other Rangers kept making all-out attacks that often got them knocked around, but the monster never noticed Aiden's relocation to a nearby rooftop. He cocked the sliding grip of his Power Axe and allowed it to charge, a low whine emitting from the weapon. "C'mon," he said impatiently to no one while the other Rangers fought on. After what seemed like forever, the axe was ready. "Now guys!" Aiden shouted into the radio. The team simultaneously backed off the monster, and in the next instant, Aiden released a blast of chilling energy that enveloped Pirantishead. He screeched and struggled, but ultimately succumbed to the ice, freezing completely.

Knowing he had to hurry, Aiden leapt from the rooftop with his weapon in axe mode, and slammed down on the monster's head with every bit of force he could muster. Simultaneously, twin daggers, twin lances, a Dragon Dagger, a sword, and several arrows struck the monster, shattering the ice violently. The explosion from the monster sent Aiden flying into a nearby pawnshop, but the damage to himself was minimal. The pawn shop was in need of repair, but that was already an issue before the fight started.

Bryan ran to Aiden and gave him a hand up, pulling him from the shattered display window of the store. "Nice!" he said, patting Aiden on the back.

"Thanks," Aiden replied before the two ran to the rest of the team. "We did it! Our first big battle as a team and..."

"MOVE!" The voice was Adam's, and it was in everyone's helmets. The team uttered various sounds of confusion for a few moments before Adam started yelling again. "MOVE NOW! GET BACK!"

The team instinctively began running away from the site, only to be rocked by a moderately powerful explosion and a loud groaning sound. As the Rangers turned to look, Pirantishead was back and larger than life.

"Oh! ...ohhh," was all Bryan could muster.

"Oh man, these guys look even bigger in real life."

"We gotta call the Dinozords!" Thuy yelled.

Jake held up a hand. "No, if we do that, we're putting everyone at risk. Pirantishead might take control of them."

That realization sank in for the other Rangers, who suddenly felt very deflated.

"Billy, is there anything we can do to prevent this thing from taking our zords away?" Bryan asked. Any clue, any idea could be of help.

Billy's voice came back over the radio. "The zords should be fine. Emphasis on should. They're installed with similar technology as the jamming system I used to free the zords before. Theoretically there shouldn't be any problems."

"That's a lot of unsure words there, Billy," Jake said.

"We have to try," Ty pointed out.

"Let's try something else first. That roof, go!" Jake yelled. The group ran and leapt straight into the air landing on the roof of the nearby bank tower. "Use your Blade Blasters!" The Rangers removed the baton-like devices from their holsters, moving the handles down and pushing the top forward to form a gun. "Go for the eyes!"

Pirantishead at this point was stomping anything he could, and had already taken out several buildings. The multicolored laser beams struck the creature's eyes with deadly precision... but there was no effect. The Rangers fired repeatedly, but it simply wasn't working.

"We need to call the zords!" Aiden said.

But Jake was sticking to his guns. "No, we can't risk it. If he takes control of the zords, we're looking at the end of everything."

"Don't be so dramatic," Kerri said.

Aiden chimed in. "We need a plan. If we can beat him fast enough, we may not have to worry about it."

"Yeah, we need the zords!" Ty said.

"NO! And that's final! Keep firing! Pink and Black, switch to your primary weapons!"

Sighing, the group continued their assault, leaping from building to building. But Pirantishead kept going, and barely even seemed to notice the group was there.

"Enough is enough," Thuy said, exasperated. "We need to call the zords now!"

Jake remained firm, however. "Stop questioning me and keep shooting! Find a better angle, look for a better target, something!"

Bryan opened a channel to everyone except Jake. "How much longer are we going to do this?"

Ty was arguing with Jake at this point, even shoving him. "We're not accomplishing anything!"

Jake shoved him back. "We would be if you'd listen!"

Aiden suddenly piped up. "Ty, keep him busy. Keep him arguing. Don't let him notice we're gone. I have a plan. Rangers Yellow, Blue, and Pink, you're with me." Aiden bolted away while Jake's back was turned, and the other Rangers followed suit, leaping from the top of the building to the ground below. "You guys ready? Because we need Dinozord power now!"

Jake was still arguing with Ty when he saw it happen. The Mastodon Zord was rolling up from behind the monster. Before Pirantishead could notice, however, the Pterodactyl flew down from the front, lasers blazing. The blows annoyed Pirantishead and he tried to swat the Pink Ranger's zord away. As the zord began to circle around for another strafing run, Pirantishead brought the flute to his lips and fired gray beams of energy from it. Kerri expertly dodged, but it was close. As the monster prepared another attempt, Bryan charged in, firing the Triceratops's horns and knocking the flute from the monster's hands.

"Great shot Bryan!" Thuy said as the Sabertooth Tiger zord appeared on the scene.

"What are you doing?!" Jake demanded. "I didn't authorize you to-"

"Put a cork in it," Ty said. "You made a bad call. Get over it."

Before Jake could argue, the Mastodon had crawled up right behind the monster. "Let's do this!" Aiden yelled as he slammed his fist down on a large blue button. The trunk of the zord fired a blue beam of chilling energy, one much larger than his axe. The monster attempted to turn around, but the chains from the Triceratops zord held him in place as the ice crawled slowly up the fish's body. He yelled out, but there wasn't much he could do. As Bryan disengaged the Triceratops' horns from the monster, the ice completely enveloped the creature, keeping it locked in place.

"NOW!" Aiden yelled.

Pink laser beams fired from the Pterodactyl, and a bright yellow bolt of energy emitted from the tail of the Sabertooth Tiger. Bryan fired the horns once again and the combined attacks shattered the monster into a million pieces.

The Rangers breathed a sigh of relief as they slumped back in their chairs. "Oh man," Bryan said. "How many more times do you think that ice tactic will work?"

The group in the zords laughed. "I'm surprised it worked this many times. Zedd's monsters are pretty damn dumb."

Thuy looked out the window of her zord. "I think Jake's pretty mad..."

Location: Command Center

"You directly disobeyed my orders!" Jake raged. "You could have endangered everyone!"

"You were endangering everyone!" Thuy shot back. "Every second we weren't in the battle, another building or car was attacked!"

The Rangers yelled at each other back and forth, though Bryan stayed back. This was getting too personal.

"That's not your place to decide!"

"From what I've seen, it's not yours, either!"

"Someone has to lead this team!"

"And you think that someone is you? Being in red doesn't make you a leader!"

"ENOUGH." Zordon's voice once again stopped the group cold. Billy and Kat looked on, waiting to see what he would say. "Jake, the place of a leader is indeed to make difficult decisions, but it is not enough to solely order others around. Your team had a plan you refused to listen to, and you allowed your pride to take over, leading to a severe tactical error. When your plan didn't work, you should have listened to your team."

Jake grit his teeth as he listened. "Fine. I'll remember that for next time." He didn't sound particularly sincere, but Bryan could see his face turning flush with embarrassment.

"You misunderstand," Zordon continued. "There will not be a next time. It is easy to see you have lost the confidence of your team." Jake looked around to see the group looking at him with a mixture of contempt and pity. "If your team has no faith in your orders, your effectiveness will severely drop. This simply cannot happen. I'm afraid I have no choice but to revoke your leadership of the Power Rangers."

The looks on everyone's faces changed to surprise. They hadn't expected such a harsh punitive action, even if it was deserved and needed. "You are not losing your place on this team, but you simply cannot lead it."

The Command Center went silent. Jake's face became even more flush as he felt the eyes of everyone on him. His own mother was standing there staring with pity in her eyes.

The Rangers stood in silence for what seemed like forever before Zordon continued speaking. "Your team does need a leader, however, and it is your choice who that is, Rangers."

The silence returned as no one wanted to say anything. Bryan didn't want to add insult to injury by talking like Jake wasn't even there. But no one spoke. Everyone was avoiding eye contact. How much longer could this go on?

Finally, Bryan broke the silence. "Look, I know I'm the new guy and I'm not sure if you guys really want me to...you know."

"You're as much a member of this team as any of us," Ty said. "Your opinion counts."

Bryan took a deep breath. "I honestly think Aiden's the best choice. I've known him a long time and he's always been the kind of guy who knows how to make a decision. And the plan to defeat the monster today was his. Both plans were, actually. Even though they were the same plan. You know, on different scales." He was babbling. "Um, anyway, I vote Aiden."

The rest of the team, save Aiden and Jake, nodded solemnly.

"Is this your decision then?" Zordon asked.

The group nodded.

"And Aiden, do you accept?"

Aiden looked conflicted. He turned to Jake, whose eyes were still trained on the ground before looking at the others. He wanted to ask if they were sure, but it would have been redundant. He looked back to Zordon. "For as long as they'll have me, I accept," he said simply. He looked at Jake again, who still hadn't moved.

"Very well. Aiden, you will be the new Red Ranger, and you will lead-"

"Wait, what?!" Aiden demanded. "I mean- no disrespect intended Zordon, but do I have to switch powers? I like my weapon. I like my zord. I don't see why I can't lead in black."

Zordon paused a moment then seemed to look at Billy and Kat. They both gave a slight nod before he turned back to the Rangers. "Very well, Black Ranger. You will be the team's leader in the field. May the Power protect you."

There was another pause for a few seconds, as nobody really felt like celebrating. Jake finally looked up and walked to a console. He hit a few buttons, then vanished in a bolt of red energy.

"Let him go," Aiden said before anyone could protest. "He just needs time. We all do. We should probably get some rest."

Each of the other Rangers gave Aiden a small congratulations before teleporting away. Finally, Bryan walked up to their new leader. "Do you think things will be okay with Jake?"

Aiden sighed. "It was a hard lesson to learn. But if he can move past it and still be our teammate, I think we'll be alright." He looked up from the floor at Bryan and smiled. "You did great today, by the way. Welcome to the team."

Bryan smiled as he teleported home.

Location: Angel Grove - Aiden's Home

"Can you still work with him?" Adam asked his son as they sat down to dinner.

Aiden pushed the rice around on his plate with his fork. "I hope so. He took it pretty hard. Jake's the kind of guy whose pride is wounded pretty easily, I think. Still-" Aiden was interrupted by his communicator vibrating and playing the little tune. The red lights were flashing. "It's him," Aiden said, standing up from the table. "I'll be back." Adam nodded as Aiden walked into his room.

"Hey Jake," Aiden said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Jake said over the device. "I'm fine. Look, I don't want to have a big touchy-feely conversation with you, but... I just want you to know that I'm with you. I'm not happy, but I'm still a part of this team and I'll do as you say."

"I understand," Aiden said. "Thanks." The line went dead.

Aiden sighed. "We're a team, one way or another..." He looked out his window at the moon. "Better we fight Zedd than each other."