A/N: It's time for some old-school Power Ranger shenanigans!

Chapter 9
Breaking Black

Location: Angel Grove High School

"So..." Kerri prodded. "Who are you asking?"

Thuy sighed as she pulled the spoon of yogurt from her mouth. Three Rangers were eating lunch together in the cafeteria, and Kerri was being particularly boisterous. It was February, which meant the big Valentine's Day dance was around the corner. "I don't know that I'm asking anyone, and I don't know who I'd ask even if I were to ask someone."

The dance's premise was basically the old Sadie Hawkins concept, where the girls asked the guys to the dance. It wasn't traditional to combine the dance with Valentine's Day, but the girls loved it despite the more assertive guys' grumbling. Most of the guys in school, however, were happy to have the pressure off, even if they'd never admit it. "Someone's going to ask you, Aiden. Any thoughts on who that will be?" She was only this excitable because she'd already asked out a guy in her Government glass and he agreed to go with her. Aiden had wondered if anyone on the team would end up dating each other, but it seemed they all had the same idea - dating within the Rangers would cause more problems than it would solve.

Aiden glared at the sandwich he was eating. He hated pimento cheese. "You think they'd get mad if I morphed and vaporized this sandwich?" he asked quietly, causing Thuy to snicker.

"You grab your dad's lunch again?" Thuy asked.

"I lost all respect for him when I learned he liked pimento cheese," he joked, though there wasn't much mirth in his voice. "People wonder what superheroes are like outside of their superhero lives? Apparently it's pimento cheese. Never meet your heroes."

"You're being dramatic again," Thuy warned.

"You're both trying to change the subject," Kerri warned back, onto Aiden and Thuy's little game. The two had been friends longer than the rest of the group, and they had their own codes and signals to fall back on. "Aiden, a little bird told me..."

"You are a little bird, Pterodactyl," Aiden grumbled.

Kerri glared, but continued undaunted. "...told me that Maria Fuentes might be asking you to the dance."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Kerri, do you have to be so... high school about all of this?"

"Hey, we deserve normal lives, too," she argued back. "No matter what else goes on, we get to enjoy the high school life, even if it's a bit more hectic for us." Aiden simply rolled his eyes in response. "Is he always this uptight?" she asked Thuy.

"Leave him alone," Thuy shot back. "We're all under a lot of pressure."

"Look, I'm not going to the dance, alright?" Aiden said, finally tossing the sandwich in a nearby trashcan and gathering his belongings.

"Why not?" Kerri asked, similarly disposing of her trash and getting ready to follow.

Thuy turned to Kerri. "He has his reasons. He doesn't have to..." She was stopped by Aiden putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine," he said as the group began to leave. Their next stop was one of the school's computer labs to catch up on some homework. "Kerri, the premise of this dance is that girls ask guys out, right?"

"Yeah." She wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"If a girl asked me out to a dance, I'd say no," he asserted. "I'd have to."

Her eyebrow cocked in confusion. "Any girl at all?"

"Yep." He remained deadpan as they turned a corner.

"Even Maria Fuentes?" she confirmed.

Aiden and Thuy exchanged glances. Kerri either wasn't getting it, or wasn't comfortable drawing the conclusion. "Yes, Kerri. Even her."

"And why... would... you...?" Her words slowed as the synapses began to connect. "Oh. OH! Oh."

"I think she got it," Thuy said with a chuckle.

"Ohhh..." Kerri muttered as the group entered the lab. It was empty, as it always was at lunch, plus they always selected the most out-of-the-way lab to use. The three sat down next to each other and powered on their computers.

"Did we break her?" Aiden asked.

"Oh?" Kerri responded.

"You know, Kerri, there are twenty-five other letters to choose from," Thuy said with another eye roll. "You're not limited to that one."

"Oh..."

"Kerri, I'm gay, not the secret princess of Luxembourg," Aiden said with annoyance.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. Aiden facepalmed. "You know, I've heard rumors that Tim Broker, the guy from yearbook..."

"Oh my god, stop it," Aiden interjected. "You are not going to set me up with some random guy because you heard he might be gay." Thuy was cackling at this point. "Oh, this is funny to you, is it?"

"My point, Aiden, is that the dance isn't closed off to only straight people," Kerri insisted. "I'm sure it's fine if you ask a guy. Surely you must have someone you're interested in." A pause. "I swear to god if it's Jake..."

"Oh hell no," Aiden blurted without thinking. "I mean... no, it's not Jake. Never Jake." Thuy kept cackling. "Keep laughing, Thuy. Let it all out." She was unfazed by his piercing glare.

Kerri leaned in, and Aiden soon realized his mistake. It's not Jake. Indicating that there was someone Aiden was interested in, and now Kerri was not going to let this go until she knew. "Oh god fine. His name's Eric. He goes to our martial arts studio. Has for years. He's also in Chemistry with me."

"Aiden can't take his eyes off him," Thuy 'helpfully' added, earning a glare from him. "Especially in that sleeveless gi."

"Silence is golden," Aiden hissed. "But duct tape is silver."

Kerri leaned in even more, causing Aiden to recoil a little. "So, you two have... chemistry." Aiden nearly fell out of his chair in disgust. "When are you going to ask him out?"

Aiden started trying to stammer out a response, but Thuy cut him off. "He won't. Aiden doesn't think he's good-looking enough to attract Eric's attention. The guy's last boyfriend looked like a Bowflex model."

"Thuy!" Aiden hissed, teeth clenched. "That's. Not. Helping."

Kerri just laughed and was about to offer some words of encouragement, but the familiar tone emitted from their Communicators. "Saved by the world-ending threat," Aiden said. "Hopefully we don't miss class over this."

Location: Command Center

Ty arrived in a flash of green energy. "Sorry! Sorry, I was in traffic of all things. Hard to teleport in traffic." The Command Center was all but empty. Billy was who-knows-where, but the rest of the Veteran Rangers had day jobs.

"What were you doing in traffic?" Bryan asked. "It's the middle of the school day."

"I do a thing at the local elementary school. Tutoring kids in reading. It's fun."

"Rangers," Zordon's voice boomed, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "I'm sorry to call you at such an inconvenient time, but Zedd has sent a monster to The Grove."

Aiden looked at the others. "Not another shopping trip."

"Does this one have a gimmick?" Bryan asked.

Alpha piped up. "Our sensors haven't picked up anything yet, but its appearance seems to be modeled after an upcoming Earth holiday."

"Oh, don't tell me..." Jake lamented as the group turned to the Viewing Globe.

It was all kinds of pink. It looked like a jackal in Valentine's Day-themed armor. Its face was covered in dark brown fur, and its armor was several shades of pink with several of its plates being heart-shaped, covered in spikes, and the monster had wrist-mounted cannons on each arm. It was growling and tearing up patio furniture with its canine-like claws as cafe patrons shrieked and fled.

"We don't have a lot of time to mop this up so let's get out there." Aiden looked to the others who gave him a silent nod to indicate they were ready. "It's Morphin' Time!"

Location: The Grove Shopping Center

"Hey!" Ty shouted, pointing at the monster. The rest of the Rangers braced themselves for what was coming next. "You! With all the hearts! You're under arrest!"

No one chose to react, lest they encourage the behavior. "Less talking, more shooting!" Kerri shouted as she loosed a few arrows from her bow. They ricocheted off the creature's armor, as did the shots from their Blade Blasters, the projectiles striking the ground around the monster.

"Looks like we're doing this close range," Jake said, brandishing his Power Sword. Everyone raced forward, taking whatever openings they could as the monster clawed back at them. Kerri and Ty took some damage, but kept going. The weapons were having more of an effect, but the armor was really tough. Strike after strike only barely affected the creature, but each claw attack sent a Ranger flying in a shower of sparks. Jake thrust the blade of his Power Sword into the gap between two armor plates, but it got lodged there. He frantically tried to remove it, but ended up being kicked back several feet for his trouble. The jackal grabbed the sword and threw it, the hilt striking Jake in the chest as he attempted to stand once more. He fell back on his butt.

The rest of the Rangers rushed all in, weapons drawn, ready to strike at once. But the jackal creature was ready. It slashed the air with its claws in a huge arc, creating a claw-shaped energy burst that raced toward the Rangers. Time slowed down as Aiden analyzed his options. It was low to the ground, so Aiden managed to jump straight up, but the angle caught the other Rangers off guard, and they shouted as they fell to the ground once more. Jake took more severe damage as he was still recovering from the last attack. This one sent him rolling into a nearby street sign.

Aiden landed in a three-point crouch. He stole a glance at the other Rangers who were starting to recover. "You guys okay?!" he demanded frantically, quickly looking back to the monster. He couldn't take his eyes off it for too long. There was no telling what its next move would be. One or two of the others answered back, but Aiden didn't hear it. The monster's spikes were starting to glow with a vibrant purple hue. It was charging up for some kind of attack.

None of the other Rangers were ready to dodge something like that, so Aiden raced close. "Time to try out this new weapon Billy developed. Mammoth Shield!" In his left hand, a shield in the shape of a mastodon's face appeared, tusks and all. It was essentially the same shield the Megazord used, but much smaller. This one was light enough to be lifted, but tall enough to be lodged into the ground and braced against Aiden. He did just that, slamming the pointed bottom of the shield into the concrete and bracing for impact, crouching down to ensure he was fully covered.

Each spike fired a small laser beam at an angle, all the beams meeting in the center in front of the monster. It formed a ball of energy that grew with each passing second. Aiden braced himself, fully behind his shield and heard it fire...

...and nothing. No impact. No energy. Just sound. Aiden opened his eyes to see the monster's residual energy fading. It was starting to droop like it had just run a marathon. "Wow," he muttered. "The kinetic dampeners on this shield are awesome!" He summoned his Power Ax for a counterattack, but the monster vanished in a bolt of lightning, retreating for the moment.

Aiden rushed to the others, offering them a hand up. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," Thuy replied. "I think we're good." The rest of the team nodded in agreement before returning to base.

Location: Zedd's Moon Palace

Cyrus' footsteps echoed through the empty chamber as he approached the throne once more. He took a knee, as usual as the throne began to rotate around. "Cyrus." Zedd's deep, gravel-like voice filled the room with malice. "What is the status of Adorebus?"

"He's recharging as we speak, Lord Zedd," Cyrus said, not taking his eyes off the floor. "Based on my personal observation of the battle, the plan was an absolute success. We need only wait for it to bear fruit."

"How much time?" Zedd asked. His tone was intense, but in all honesty, he really didn't care that much. This plan could fail - because his master plan couldn't.

"I would wait one full Earth rotation at minimum," Cyrus responded. "That will give the spell time to take hold."

"You are dismissed, Cyrus," Zedd said even as his chair rotated back around.

Location: Angel's Defense Dojo
Time: 21 hours later

"Kerri, what are you doing here?" Thuy demanded as her pink teammate approached.

Kerri shrugged nonchalantly. "Your dojo offers trial classes. I signed up for one this morning."

Thuy's expression flattened. "No, what you signed up for is to check out Eric and try to push Aiden into asking him out."

She responded by putting her hands behind her back and arching her spine, her head tilted to look like an innocent schoolgirl. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she said in an overly saccharine voice. "I just came to learn some new martial arts techniques!"

"Uh-huh. And I'm the Purple Ranger," Thuy said flatly as they entered.

The class went as expected. Kerri joined the white/yellow belt half of the class while Thuy and Bryan resumed their usual training. Kerri was very inquisitive toward the Sifu, asking all kinds of questions about the art and discipline both before and after the class, while keeping her eye on Eric. But, the session overall was very odd, and Thuy couldn't help but feel a little unnerved as the three emerged from the building two hours later.

"I've never seen Aiden miss a Saturday morning class before," Bryan said, breaking the silence.

Thuy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's really weird."

"I texted him during the break," Kerri said, "but I still haven't heard anything back."

Thuy whipped out her phone, unlocking it, and selecting Aiden from her favorites. She held the phone to her ear for several seconds while the other two watched before she ended the call. "Voicemail."

Location: Angel Grove Gym and Juice Bar

"Here?!" Thuy demanded. Aiden's body jerked in surprise, but he regained his control and gently set the bench press bar back on its stand. He sat up and wiped his face, looking at the other Rangers around him. "This is where you were?!"

Jake folded his arms. "Seriously, dude, at least answer your texts. You've been ignoring us all day."

Aiden cocked an eyebrow before lying back down and lifting the barbell once more. The rest of the Rangers gave him a confused look as he continued his bench presses without a single word.

"Are you listening to us?" Kerri said, nearly shouting.

"You never miss a day at the dojo, Aiden," Bryan said. "You should let a guy know. We thought you were sick or something."

Still no response. Aiden kept going with his exercise.

"You even ignored your communicator!" Kerri's last word was a harsh whisper. "Why are you acting like this?"

Aiden finally spoke, his eyes completely focused on the bar in front of him. "I'm busy trying to get back into shape. Whatever else happens, happens." It almost looked like even his own words were beneath his notice.

The group turned to look at each other in utter confusion. This was not how Aiden acted ever. This dismissive attitude made no sense.

And that's when it clicked for Jake. "Guys, movie room, now. Except you, Aiden."

The others looked at Jake confused, but relented without another word. Aiden rolled his eyes and continued his bench press exercise.

Location: Command Center

Multiple flashes of light and energy later, most of the team was assembled in the Command Center. Jake, Aiden, Kerri, Ty, and Thuy were the first to arrive before Tommy, Kat, and Adam showed up a minute later. "What's going on?" Tommy asked. They wouldn't have called him from Saturday detention if it wasn't important.

"How often in the old days did someone act weird and no one really thought much about it until it turned out they were under a spell?" Jake asked.

"Way too many times," Tommy said.

"A lot," Kat agreed.

"Pretty much all the time," Adam added.

"It was really common, Rangers," Alpha contributed.

"It's hard to keep track," Zordon said.

The active Rangers looked at each other as they began to put together why Jake called them all here. "You think Aiden's under a spell?" Bryan asked.

Adam stepped forward. "What about Aiden?" he demanded, his tone more forceful than usual.

Jake responded. "Aiden's been acting weird all day. Maybe it's nothing, but I had to be sure. He's snubbing us. He skipped class this morning, ignored his texts, didn't answer his Communicator, and now we can't pry him out of the gym. He's refusing to talk to us practically, and when he does, he's really rude about it."

"Alpha, bring up Aiden on the Viewing Globe," Zordon ordered. Aiden's image came up, showing him attempting to do arm curls with massive dumbbells. He grunted loudly with each repetition, but it came slower and slower each time. He was also wearing a very tight tank top, which wasn't his usual choice in workout clothes, and tight shorts.

"I don't think Aiden can safely lift that much," Jake said.

"You're right, Jake. Based on his body mass and muscle size, coupled with his exercise regimen, Aiden is attempting to lift more than what is recommended to avoid injury." Alpha's analysis, while spot on, was a little creepy to the Rangers. How much did Zordon and Alpha know about them?

Bryan shook his head. "I'm not sure I get it. I mean, what kind of spell makes someone a rude, compulsive weightlifter? And how did he get cursed anyway?"

Adam walked to a control panel. "I think I know," he said. He pulled up footage of the battle with the Valentine monster. As it charged up a beam of energy, Aiden pulled out his Mammoth Shield which seemed to take the hit. The other Rangers and Aiden himself didn't get to see what happened, as they were either incapacitated, or in Aiden's case, braced behind the shield. But the replay showed the beam striking the shield, then spreading a pink energy over it, onto Aiden. The energy coated him entirely before vanishing. Then the monster retreated. "That beam wasn't offensive. It was one of Zedd's twisted spells."

"Zedd loved to take inspiration from our daily lives to craft spells and monsters," Tommy explained. "This might be what he's done."

"You sure?" Kerri asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Nothing happening to Aiden right now seems very Valentine's Day-ish."

"Whatever his motivation was, can we fix it?" Thuy asked. "Do we have the means to analyze and counteract the spell?"

"I'm afraid not, Rangers," Zordon said, his booming voice commanding the attention of the room. "Without understanding the nature of the spell, we can't counteract it. You will need to continue to observe Aiden, possibly even protect him from harm, until we can discern exactly what Zedd did to him. The only other option is to destroy that monster; destroying the source of a spell ends the effect of the spell in most cases."

"And until Zedd sends it back down, that spell will keep dogging Aiden," Ty said, earning glares from everyone in the room, Zordon and Alpha included.

Adam walked up to the team, putting a hand on Jake's shoulder. "You did good coming to us with this. Keep an eye on him when you guys are out and about. I'll watch over him at home. One way or another, we'll fix this."

Location: Angel Grove Juice Bar and Gym

Thuy and Jake stood in the doorway of the Juice Bar's gym room, looking at Aiden. He was now hitting a punching bag rapidly. More than once he'd hit it too hard, causing it to swing back and knock him off balance. He was covered in sweat, his stance was sloppy, and he looked dead tired, but he pressed on anyway. Bryan and Kerri joined them, watching Aiden break down. It was late. The Juice Bar had closed an hour ago, but Kat had been ineffective in getting him to leave. "Is he still at it?!" he demanded.

Thuy nodded. "We tried to stop him, but he just kept acting aggressive and angry at us." Aiden stopped punching briefly and flexed a bicep, staring at it before returning to his workout.

"Let me give it a shot," Bryan said. "Maybe he'll be nicer to me about it." Bryan's reasoning was that Aiden kinda saw him as a little brother figure, and could be protective of him at times. He didn't want to say it out loud, but maybe that emotional response would kick in and disrupt the spell somehow.

Jake gestured welcomingly to Bryan in Aiden's direction. "Be my guest," he said. "Hopefully you have better luck than we did."

Bryan swallowed hard as he approached. "Aiden! Hey, Aiden, don't you want to grab a snack or something? You're pushing yourself really hard."

"No," he said curtly as he continued to punch the bag.

Bryan turned to look at Thuy and Jake who shrugged in unison. No help there. He turned back to Aiden. "C'mon man, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep this up. Maybe you should-"

Aiden abruptly whirled around and shoved his chest into Bryan, causing him to stumble back. "Maybe you should mind your own business. Maybe you should refrain from telling me what my limits are. Maybe you should back off before you get hurt!" His eyes were wide, his stance puffed up. It was almost cartoonish how "manly" he was trying to look.

Jake and Thuy raced to Bryan, pulling him back and putting themselves between the two. Kerri approached slowly, watching the situation but not wanting to escalate it.

"Back off, Aiden!" Jake said. "The hell kind of leader attacks his team?!"

"Oh, this is about my leadership, then?" he demanded. "What, you think you should be leader again?"

"That's not what he said, Aiden," Thuy said. She sounded firm, but felt hopeless. How was she supposed to argue with a magical spell? "Stop acting like everyone's challenging you. That's not what's happening here."

"Oh, I think it is," Aiden shot back. "Mr. Red here wants his old job back. He thinks he can sow dissent, make everything think I'm not the best leader! Well, too bad! I'm the best thing that's ever happened to the Power Rangers!"

Jake's face contorted into utter confusion. "The hell?! What kind of dumbass statement is that?!" he demanded. "You think you're God's gift to-"

BEEP BEEP BEEP-BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Aiden didn't twitch from his posturing pose, while everyone else jumped at the sound of the Communicator. Kerri answered. "We read you..."

"Rangers!" Billy's voice rang out. "That monster's back at The Grove. Teleport to the Command Center so we can discuss your plan of attack."

Kerri opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Aiden's surprising shout. "YES! Finally, time for some action! Follow me! It's Morphin Time! Mastodon!" The other Rangers stumbled back from the surge of energy. By the time they recovered, Aiden was gone.

Location: The Command Center

Aiden twirled on a heel, delivering a clockwise slash from his ax at the monster, who stumbled back in response. "That's right!" he shouted. "You got nothin' on me!" The other Rangers were watching on the Viewing Globe as Aiden tried to take the monster on single-handedly. His strikes were weaker than they should have been, which was to be expected as the man had tired himself out pretty badly, and while he was doing damage, the monster was recovering and counterattacking far more quickly than it should have been able to.

"We gotta get out there," Ty said. "Aiden's gonna get his butt whooped if we don't help."

"That's if he lets us help him," Thuy said. "Any luck figuring out what's wrong with him?"

"Not yet, Rangers," Zordon responded.

Kerri was lost in thought, though, as some pieces were starting to come together for her. Aiden checking his biceps. Challenging everyone. Going after the monster solo. It was like... he had something to prove. He was being overly tough and... it came off like he was trying to be more masculine? Kerri suddenly snapped her fingers. "You guys, I got it! Go help Aiden, keep him alive. I'll work with Billy, Kat, and Alpha on an antidote. Go!"

Everyone looked to Thuy, Aiden's choice for second-in-command. She nodded. "Alright, join us when you can. It's morphin time!"

Once the others left, Billy turned to her. "What did you figure out?"

"Well, earlier, I was talking to Aiden about-" Adam teleported into the Command Center. "-ships and sails and ceiling wax!" Her eyes bugged out and her voice sounded frantic all of a sudden.

"What?" Adam demanded.

"I-uh, well... nothing, I was just about to explain... so... what were we talking about?"

The Veteran Rangers looked at each other, confused. "Kerri, what are you hiding?" Kat asked pointedly.

Location: The Grove Shopping Mall

"You!" A slash. "Messed!" Another slash. "With!" Slash. "The!" Slash "Wrong!" Slash. "Ranger!" A final slash. Aiden backed up to view his handiwork, only to see that his strikes had mostly glanced off the creature's gaudy pink armor. "What?!" he demanded, gripping his Power Ax even tighter. "You think you're tough?! I'll show you tough!"

Aiden lurched forward, exhausted, ready to strike once more, but was held back by a powerful hand on his shoulder. It yanked him back, causing him to stumble and land on his butt. "I got him!" Ty yelled.

"Good!" Thuy yelled. "Let's get this thing and break that spell!" The remaining Rangers summoned their Power Weapons and charged the monster, while Ty held Aiden in place, who kept struggling to stand. His weakened state made him easy for Ty to control, but his temper was raging and he was only getting louder and angrier. Meanwhile, the other Rangers were barely holding their own against the armored beast, who had gotten really good at deflecting their weapon attacks with its metal plating. "This isn't working!" Thuy yelled as she threw her Power Dagger at the beast. It clinked off, flew up into the air, then arced back to her hand.

Jake was about to suggest forming the Power Blaster when he took a laser shot to the back. He shouted and fell over, stunned for the moment. Ty looked down to see Aiden had brandished his Blade Blaster and had tried to fire at the monster. "Get out of my way!" he shouted as he began to fire wildly, the other Rangers dodging out of the way, and Aiden hitting pretty much everything except the monster. Ty reached for the blaster, but Aiden kicked him away, standing and firing once more, his aim slightly improving as the laser grazed the monster, but mostly hit armor.

Ty tilted his head. "Why are you firing left-handed?" he asked.

By this point Jake had recovered and stomped over to Aiden. "I know why," he said, grasping Aiden's right shoulder. The Black Ranger howled in pain and collapsed to one knee, trying to fight Jake's grip. "He sprained his damn shoulder from weight lifting irresponsibly." Aiden continued to howl as Thuy grabbed Jake's wrist.

"I know you're pissed, but don't forget this isn't his fault," she said simply. Jake stared at her, then softened his grip, but kept control of the spandex on the man's shoulder to keep him in place. Meanwhile, Ty and Bryan continued to engage the monster. "I hope Kerri figures this out soon," she continued. "We're outmatched here."

Location: The Command Center

"Is that why you were acting all squirrely?!" Adam demanded, throwing his hands up. "I know Aiden's gay. He came out last year! Can we focus on an antidote please?!"

Kerri turned red. "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I just..."

"Enough," Billy said. "Adam, I know you're worried, but you preached caution and patience when Kat and Tommy were worried about Jake. Now you need to stay calm. Kerri, what did you figure out?"

The Pink Ranger nodded and took a deep breath. "So, Aiden mentioned he had this thing for a guy named Eric..."

"...this isn't going to be one of those long he-said she-said stories, is it?" Adam asked, folding his arms.

"What? No!" Kerri shot back. "Anyway, Thuy... said..." She suddenly looked embarrassed. "UGH! Look, the point is Aiden was afraid to ask Eric out because he didn't feel like he was muscular enough. Then today while he was working out, I saw him trying to measure his own biceps. Then he kept challenging everyone, and when Jake brought up that Aiden wasn't acting like a proper leader, Aiden practically blew up in his face about it in a 'you-think-you're-better-than-me' kind of rant."

"So what are you saying?" Kat asked.

"I'm saying I think Zedd's monster manipulated Aiden into feeling insecure. Insecure about his looks, his leadership, his masculinity, all of it. He's acting like a threatened dude-bro trying to score man-points or whatever."

"I believe Kerri's estimation to be correct," Zordon said. "Zedd enjoys tampering with the delicate balance of human emotion. Fixing this will not be easy."

Billy and Adam both snapped their fingers at the same time and looked each other in the eye. "Yes it will!" they shouted.

Location: The Grove Shopping Mall

Kerri appeared on the field, holding the Power Bow. "Billy's working on an antidote. Let's end this now!" she shouted. The other Rangers nodded and grabbed Aiden's Power Ax from the ground, quickly assembling it into the Power Blaster. Once it fully formed in the air, it descended into Aiden's hands, one of which couldn't support the weight due to his strained shoulder.

"I can hold it on my own!" Aiden shouted, trying to balance the full Power Blaster in his hands. The other Rangers rolled their eyes and continued to hold the blaster. "Fire!" they all shouted in unison. The burst of multicolored energy flooded over the monster, causing it to explode.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Kerri remarked as the blaster broke down and vanished.

"Aiden, are you okay?" Jake asked, taking his hand from his shoulder.

Aiden responded by kicking Jake to the ground and pinning him. "If you ever flout my authority on this team again, I swear-" Before he could finish, the rest of the team was all over Aiden, dragging him off Jake as he kicked and screamed.

Jake went straight for his Communicator. "It didn't work! The monster's gone, but Aiden's not doing any better!"

"Teleport back to the Command Center, all of you," Zordon ordered.

Location: The Command Center

"You think you can lead this team, you self-righteous, rule-flouting, sanctimonious...?" Aiden shouted. Jake's jaw clenched but he remained still, just waiting out Aiden's anger. But the Black Ranger's sentence was cut short when a white surge of energy flooded the Command Center. When it died down, a woman, about the Veteran Rangers' age, was standing there. Her presence was very calming, and Aiden suddenly backed down. She smiled warmly and removed a gold necklace from around her neck. At the end of the golden chain was a heart-shaped ruby framed in gold. She draped the necklace over Aiden's neck, then proceeded to hug him warmly. He froze in place, then his muscles began to relax as a red energy scattered from his body. She held him tightly before helping him sit down in one of the nearby chairs.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Aiden looked dazed and disoriented. "I... I just..." Then his eyes widened as he looked around the room. "Oh my god. Oh... my god. I- I remember..."

"It's okay!" the woman said. "You were under Zedd's influence. What you did isn't your fault."

"God I feel like a crappy person," Aiden said. He moved to put his face in his hands, but stopped short and sucked in air through his teeth as he was reminded of his shoulder pain. He grabbed the hurt shoulder with his right hand and leaned forward. The woman removed the necklace from his neck and placed it back on her own.

"You're going to be okay," she said. "And your friends all understand, I promise."

Kat walked over to the woman, giving her a hug. "Thank you Aisha," she said.

Aisha smiled as the hug ended. "Hey, what are friends for?"

Ty stepped forward. "Um, I'm confused. Is Aiden fixed now?"

Aisha nodded. "Love conquers all. This necklace was a gift from my grandmother. It's full of love energy, and can counteract a variety of negative emotions. We found that out years ago when we fought the Hate Master." She looked to Aiden. "He's fine now, but he'll need a lot of support from you guys."

Thuy nodded. "Of course," she said. "What are friends for?"

Location: Angel Grove High School

Aiden stood by the punch table, the music blaring loudly. His right arm was in a sling, and he leaned against the wall staring at the punch like it held the secrets of the universe. He felt a tap on his left shoulder, and he turned around to see Jake. He must have slipped away from his date for a few minutes. "Hey," he said. Aiden nodded to him, but said nothing. "How's the arm?" Jake probed.

Aiden sighed. "It's okay," he said. "A few weeks and it'll be better."

There was a silence between them. Finally, Aiden spoke. "I'm sorry, Jake. The things I said and did..."

"...weren't your fault," Jake interrupted. "Zedd screwed with your insecurities. And... some of those insecurities come from me. But I want you to know I'm not gunning for your job. I think you're a great leader. All that? The anger, the shame... the whole leadership debacle is behind us. I want you to know that."

Aiden smiled. "Thanks," he said. "That's... a load off my mind. I didn't even know that was a load on my mind in the first place."

Jake nodded, then looked past Aiden. He gave a "what's up" head nod to someone there, then looked knowingly at Aiden before walking away. Aiden turned around to see Eric standing there. "What, you ask me to the dance then hide by the punch table?" He smirked.

"Ah, sorry about that," Aiden said. "Just needed to give the arm a rest for a bit. You ready to get back out there and dance?"

Eric nodded. "I thought you'd never ask."