Author's Notes: I'm back with Aisha's perspective this time. There are some mirror scenes from chapter 12 that you might want to look back at. Each chapter is going to begin at around the same place—the Friday before school starts—and end on Monday. I'll just be hopping back and forth. Enjoy!

Reviewer thanks: Ghostwriter, togapika (I think a lot of that probably has to do with Johnny Yong Bosch…), beast575 (Happy dance!), bleedredstars (this one less depressing, hopefully just as enjoyable), The-Knight2000 (For the inspirations for this story, I used the episodes between The Power Transfer and The Wedding, and then a season 3 two-parter called Stop the Hate Monster. I wanted episodes that focused on establishing the characters of the three new Rangers… but a lot of those episodes are inconsistent. I tried to focus on what shone through most in each actor's performance… and I took a few liberties with Aisha, since her "I love fashion" thing didn't last all that long.), Festacles (I'm having a ton of fun writing from multiple perspectives…), and Mirajane92 (I honestly can't stand JDF. Why does he have to be so pretty? But, really, he's coming off as not so great because he's being told from someone else's perspective: from the perspective of three people who don't know him very well. They're not going to cut him the same kind of slack as Kim or Billy would.)


Brighter Paths

Book 3: A Sense of Perspective

Chapter 13: Yellow from the Other Side

Aisha pushed the weight up with her legs, feeling the comforting burn and stretch of muscle. This was fine, but she glowered over at the guy lightly tapping on the punching bag. She wanted to wail on it, to give a release to her anger. But her exercise room wasn't completely set up at home, and apparently this dude was never going to leave. She'd have to make do with the leg weights.

The Youth Center was as busy as she'd ever seen it without there being an event going on... or an attack. It was the Friday before school started, and everyone was in that weird space where they wanted to see their friends after a vacation apart, but they didn't want to start school.

She looked around dolefully. She recognized almost no one.

Scratch that. She knew Kimberly and Tommy. Kimberly was doing a handstand on the balance beam, while Tommy watched on. He was supposed to be critiquing her form, but Aisha could tell he was a bit too busy admiring her... form. What made Kimberly think her boyfriend could be any kind of objective judge for her?

At the thought of judging, Aisha felt another flash of anger. She pushed the machine even harder and briefly considered shoving the guy away from the punching bag.

Yes, she knew Tommy and Kimberly, but literally no one else at the Youth Center. The summer had not afforded her any time to make friends. There was a smattering of people transferring in from Angel Grove after Stone Canyon High lost its accreditation... and all its teachers and students along with it... but most of her friends had decided to move to safer schools. Schools in towns without a monster alert in place. Only Rocky and Adam had followed her in her move to Angel Grove among her friends.

She'd met a few people in the Youth Center, but most days were taken up by moving, by Ranger training, and by hanging out with her fellow Rangers. Everyone else seemed to be in close groups based on long friendships... if not out and out cliques. Aisha wondered if this was survival tactics in a town always under attack. Hold close to your own, and fear outsiders. They may be aliens.

It might go a long way to explain why she hadn't been accepted into the Girls Chapter at Angel Grove. She thought her acceptance would have been automatic, given that she'd been the president of the Stone Canyon chapter.

She realized she was breathing hard and sweating. She decided to slow down, to focus on breathing. It wouldn't be of use to anyone if she injured herself.

As she worked on getting her heart rate down, Aisha noticed Adam shuffle in. She frowned. He was in full-on shy mode: head down, hands in pockets, eyes darting around... Something bad had happened, that much she could tell, but she knew that if she just jumped in and asked him about it, he'd make some kind of excuse and run away. Better to just let him be now and broach the subject later. Besides, she was too pissed on her own account to take on his stuff right now.

When Adam finally noticed her, she gave a smile and a friendly wave. He didn't come up to her, though, deciding instead to shuffle up to Tommy and Kimberly. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew why Adam went to them. They didn't notice his emotional state, being too wrapped up in each other. They wouldn't ask.

Friends by default. Kimberly was the first person... well, person her age... she'd met in Angel Grove. They'd met the others later, but they mainly got to know Tommy and Billy after finding out they were Power Rangers. After finding out they would themselves become Power Rangers. She, Rocky, and Adam had made a big show about having to decide whether to take the powers or not... but it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Rocky wanted the adventure, Adam wanted to belong, and Aisha herself... She just wanted to do some good.

She wondered, though, if they had never found out who the Power Rangers were. Had never become Power Rangers. Would she be friends with any of them? Over the summer, she had worked to get to know the other Rangers... the senior Rangers, as Adam had once referred to them, though they were all the same age. She'd worked with Billy on learning the Command Center computers, she'd trained with Tommy, and she'd tried to bond with Kimberly.

Billy was difficult to get to know. He had the same kind of awkward shyness she'd gotten used to with Adam, but he also seemed removed, from himself as much as from everyone else. He only seemed human around Tommy, Kimberly, and his mother, and he practically jumped with delight every time Cestria-the Aquitian girl he'd met this summer-contacted him, but with everyone else... It just seemed like he was always with his work, with his computers and experiments. Aisha just couldn't see herself connecting with him.

Tommy was possibly an even tougher nut to crack. He at first seemed more open than Billy. He was friendly and kind when they were just hanging out, but then he'd turn on a dime when it was Ranger business, becoming driven and humorless. While he was an absolute failure at being critical of Kimberly, he was forever critical of Aisha, Rocky, and Adam. He'd been particularly hard on Adam, who was lagging behind a bit in their Ranger training. From what Aisha could tell, he didn't really do anything besides train in martial arts and work as a Power Ranger, and Aisha wasn't sure how she felt about that.

She was closest with Kimberly, who had so far been warm and friendly, trying to connect with Aisha and the others outside of Ranger training. She was the first to suggest games or outings. She was second in command of the Rangers, but she didn't take that to the level of drill sergeant like Tommy did. Aisha had spent a few afternoons alone with Kimberly, including a shopping trip. However...

Aisha watched Kimberly make a joke about gymnastics fighting, laughing along with Tommy while Adam shifted uncomfortably.

With Kimberly, everything pretty much felt like it was on the surface. She never really talked about anything important that wasn't directly connected to Ranger business. When Aisha had asked her about what clubs and organizations there were around Angel Grove, Kimberly had shrugged and said that Trini had been more of a joiner than she was. Once Aisha had tried to talk to her about the upcoming elections, but Kimberly had stared at her blankly.

Aisha told herself she was being unfair to Kimberly, that the fact that Kimberly didn't care about the same things she did didn't mean she was shallow, or whatever. But, still, sometimes it felt like they were speaking a different language.

Adam was starting to walk away, and Aisha was considering following him, because thinking about how she couldn't connect with any of her new friends made her feel kind of lonely... when her wrist communicator beeped. It felt like her brain was letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. After all summer, it was time to fight.


Aisha noticed something was wrong when she realized the number of her Putty opponents was increasing while everyone else's was decreasing.

She'd spent the battle taking surreptitious looks over at the group of civilian hostages in the middle of the park. Just like in their drills, Rocky and Billy were brilliantly making a path and ushering people out of there, while Tommy and Kimberly provided support for them. She was completely okay with being put on the "fence in" team. Her weapons and fighting style were badly suited to the types of maneuvers Rocky and Billy were doing. She preferred to go fast and wild, taking down Putties before they had a chance to cope. She was starting to get the hang of destructing Putties: a lighter tap to the Z minimized the power feedback while still getting the job done... though sometimes the lighter tap didn't take. She was still working on it.

But her endurance was starting to flag, and she was still taking on five Putties, with three more waiting on her. That didn't seem right. Adam surely would have...

She glanced over at Adam just in time to see a Putty twist his arm behind him, while two other Putties were running to the Youth Center.

"Black, what are you doing?!" Tommy yelled from across the battlefield. In his surprise, he hadn't used the helmet comms, and Aisha winced. Way to call Adam out in public.

She tried to break free of her own attackers, knowing she was going to have to bypass Adam in order to take down the two Putties, when she saw Kimberly, now free from Putties, draw her bow. All it took were two arrows, and the Putties were down.

The Putty attacking Adam, stepped back, seeming to arbitrarily give up the fight when it was winning. There was something about the way it moved that bugged Aisha, but then again it had just beat up one of her best friends. She realized the Putties were no longer attacking her, and a minute later they teleported away, seconds before Aisha was about to take one out.

She followed the other Rangers and resisted the urge to help Adam, who was more staggering than running. Biting her lip, she wondered what Tommy was going to say to Adam now, and whether she'd have to step in.


Before Rocky and Adam teleported away, Rocky gave Aisha a wink, and Aisha grinned back. She knew she'd made the right decision in staying behind. Rocky would figure out what was wrong with Adam, while Aisha could figure out what was wrong with that Putty.

The post-battle meeting had been rough. While Kimberly had tried to talk to Adam about what was going on with him, Tommy had preempted the whole thing by criticizing Adam... again. Aisha and Rocky had only been able to stand by as Adam floundered for an explanation, which he was terrible at, since he tended to blame himself for everything. It had been painful to watch her friend being attacked, both on the battlefield and the Command Center, and not be able to do anything about it.

Now, though, she could figure things out. Next time Tommy decided to lay into Adam, she'd have some ammunition on her side.

"So, what sort of scans do we need to do?" Aisha said, craning her head around Billy's shoulder to look at the displays.

Billy was silent for a minute, and then looked at her, a bit startled. "Huh?"

Aisha suppressed an eye roll. "Scans. I'd like to help. I don't think Adam was lying when he said that Putty was stronger. I was watching him fight… at least, I was there at the end, and it didn't seem like the same kind of fight I was having."

"No one ever said Adam was lying," Billy said, frowning.

Not the point… Aisha thought, but she kept that to herself. She needed Billy as an ally, not defensive… which he was being.

"I'm just saying," Aisha said, "there's something wrong with the Putty, or there's something wrong with Adam. Or both. So what's our game here?"

Billy looked like he was considering her words. Actually, he looked like he was a billion miles away, thinking about entirely other things, but Aisha was starting to realize that's just how he looked. "Both… I had not considered that. Perhaps something's been done to Adam to affect how he interacts with Putties…"

"Is there a scan for that?" Aisha said, glad to get Billy pointed in the right direction.

"Not entirely," Billy said with a small smile. "You can look at Adam's life signature through the Morphing Grid, and I can continue processing the energy readings from our battle."

"Here, Aisha, I'll help you," Alpha finally spoke up.

It took Aisha just thirty minutes to learn the intricacies of scanning Power Ranger life signatures. As Alpha explained it, it involved tapping into the Morphing Grid and isolating one particular energy reading. In this case, the Black energy reading. This was at first difficult, as the Morphing Grid was vast and multi-layered and had more than one Power Ranger team in it—present ones, ones of the past, potential ones—so she had to isolate the one belonging to Adam. There were still shadows of Zack in the Grid, so she had to be sure that she was dealing with Adam's.

Then she had to analyze the interplay between Morphing energy and life energy. This was tricky, as they were so interconnected. Aisha was beginning to realize just how much of a transformation—a metamorphosis—she had actually gone through in agreeing to become a Power Ranger. It wasn't just a suit and a coin. It was something that was integral to her now. No wonder the other Rangers devoted their lives to being Rangers now. It had become what they were.

Forcing herself not to think of the more disturbing implications, and now that she had the basics down from Alpha, she decided to use her own energy signal as a control in order to test Adam's energy. As she scanned, she felt a slight tingle in the back of her head, though she wasn't sure she would have felt anything if she hadn't been expecting it. With her scan complete, she pulled up Adam's scan and started the computer looking for major irregularities.

Of course, there were a lot of differences. They were two different people, and they had very different power coins, with different weapons, Zords, etc. Aisha started to realize just how complex their powers were, and it felt like they were only tapping into a small portion of it. They had access to energy, instinct, and memory that felt ancient and vast at the same time.

She rubbed her eyes. She'd been staring at the screen too long. "Alpha, can I set the computer to run a side-by-side comparison automatically?" she said.

"Of course, Aisha," Alpha said, and showed her how to do it.

"I'm heading out. I'll pop by early tomorrow to check on the results. Let me know if anything goes wrong?" Aisha asked Alpha.

"Will do, Aisha," Alpha said.

Aisha was about to teleport out, when Billy called over to her. Aisha looked up in surprise. She was starting to get used to being largely ignored by Billy.

"What's up?" she asked.

Billy had finally turned his attention away from the equipment. He looked like he was searching for the right words. Aisha braced herself.

"I... I know that Adam has been under a lot of stress lately..." Billy began.

Aisha crossed her arms. "We all have. If you're going to say that it's all Adam's fault..."

Billy's eyes turned wide and startled. "I'm sorry... that's not what I meant at all. I just..." He cleared his throat and began again. "Zedd... and Rita before him... often base their plans on what's going on in our lives. They play on our insecurities, or draw inspiration from what we're doing. You, Rocky, and Adam are new Rangers, so it's safe to assume that Zedd will want to target you."

"So you think Zedd is targeting Adam?" Aisha's arms fell as she considered the possibilities.

"Sometimes it's monsters," Billy said. "Sometimes it's spells. Just... as you're running the scans, you might consider also investigating what is going on in Adam's life. If there's anything new. He'll more likely open up to you and Rocky."

Aisha was nodding slowly. "You know... I might need to check up on something." She grinned. "Thanks, Billy."

Billy gave a hesitant smile. Aisha started to reevaluate her opinion on Billy. Maybe he was more human than she thought.


Aisha stared at the soccer team list. She shook her head. She should have put it together before now, but she'd been too involved in her own problems. Of course, she pondered, it might be their problems were linked...

It was early on a Saturday morning. The school was empty, but at least it was unlocked. She'd tried to get into the school the evening before only to be stopped by a locked door. She'd considered teleporting into the school, but she didn't know if the school had alarm systems, and she didn't particularly want to embarrass herself like that when teleporting would have technically been off limits at the time.

Aisha chewed her tongue, glaring at the list. No wonder Adam had been so put out. Ever since that incident when he was a kid, Adam had been touchy about any try-outs. He was nervous before them and a wreck after them... but he usually evened out when he got in. And he'd been an up and rising player at Stone Canyon. This didn't make sense.

But it was starting to form a disturbing pattern.

A sound made Aisha jump. She'd thought she was alone in the school. She imagined squadrons of Putties rounding the corner, and she wondered when she'd started getting paranoid. Instead, Kimberly appeared around the corner, taking down the try-out results.

"Aisha!" Kimberly's face split into a grin. "What's going on? Didn't you check the try-out lists yesterday?"

Aisha couldn't help but smile, despite her bad mood. "Not all of them," she said. "Need help?" Aisha said in a sudden inspiration. Maybe she could confirm her theory if she could correlate all the lists.

"Sure!" Kimberly said. "I'm just taking all these down and taking them to Kaplan's office. We can post them there so anyone who didn't get to check last week can look at them on Monday."

Aisha pulled down the soccer list she'd been staring at and joined Kimberly, who slowed down to an amble to let Aisha catch up. They walked for a bit in silence: Kimberly seemed a bit lost in her thoughts, humming to herself.

"So, did you get on the gymnastics team?" Aisha said as they pulled down the cheerleading lists. She knew Kimberly had been a cheerleader the year before, but she'd decided to give it up this year. She'd had to miss most of the games the year before, she said, so the other cheerleaders had been completely okay with her not trying out.

Kimberly grinned. "Yup! That extra practice paid off. Then I'm in Girls Chapter..." Kimberly started listing off on her fingers, "gardening club, and then I'm taking that computer class you talked about."

Aisha's eyebrows raised. "I didn't expect that."

"Oh, come on," Kimberly said. "Between you and Billy, I'm starting to get lost, and Billy keeps talking about how computers are the future. I want to actually know what either of you are talking about." She smiled sheepishly. "And I can possibly get study help from you and Billy..."

"Definitely on my part," Aisha said. She was starting to think that her ideas about Billy and Kimberly were unfair. Kimberly may not hold her interests, but she cared enough about her to try.

Kimberly curled up the tryout sheets loosely. "I didn't have a chance to check. How many clubs did you get into?"

"None," Aisha said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She failed.

Kimberly dropped the papers, and they scattered about. She and Aisha immediately dropped to the floor to gather the loose papers.

"But..." Kimberly spluttered, "you tried for, like, eight different things. Girls Chapter, Young Women's Leadership, Debate, Future Problem Solving... None of them?"

Aisha looked down at the papers, her eyes suddenly stinging. She'd focused on Girls Chapter, because she knew that was the one definite, but hearing all of them listed out like that...

"You would have at least gotten into Girls Chapter," Kimberly said, wrinkling the papers in her anger. "You were the, what, vice-president at your old school?"

"President," Aisha corrected her. The urge to cry was gone, though she still had a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I mean, I didn't expect to be an officer here, but..."

"There's got to be a mistake," Kimberly said with conviction. "They lost your name."

"All the clubs?" Aisha pointed out. "Adam didn't get into soccer, and he was one of the best players at Stone Canyon."

Kimberly chewed her lip. "Maybe all the names of the transfer students got... lost, or something."

Aisha's lips thinned. "I don't think it was a mistake or an accident. I mean..." she looked at the list in front of her, "do you see any transfer students on the lists?"

By that time, they were at the open-air student lounge area. They sat around a table and went through the lists, Aisha looking for names she recognized, and Kimberly looking for names she didn't.

"This can't be right," Kimberly said. "No transfer student names. At all. In any of the clubs. There's, what, twenty new students from Stone Canyon over all four grades?"

"About that," Aisha said. Having her suspicions confirmed did not make her feel any better. In fact, it made her feel so much worse. She remembered her theory about Angel Grove, that they didn't like outsiders. This seemed like a pretty big confirmation. The message was clear: you're different. You don't belong here.

"We have to go to the principal with this," Aisha said. "Unless he already knows..."

"You don't know Mr. Kaplan," Kimberly said. "There's no way he knows anything about this. And I still can't believe this was intentional. Maybe it's a coincidence, that it just worked out this way."

Aisha shot a disbelieving look at Kimberly. Of course, Kimberly believed the best in people. She had also lived in Angel Grove all her life, securely ensconced in popularity by her looks, athleticism, and personality. Her popularity had probably taken a hit ever since she became a Power Ranger, but she was still well liked by everyone. Of course she would believe that it was all an honest mistake.

"Let me talk to some people," Kimberly said, starting to stack the papers into a bundle. "I especially want to talk to Christy in Girls Chapter. See if we can get this fixed without anyone getting in trouble."

"Okay," Aisha said, "but I want to be there when you talk to Christy. It's my problem, after all." She got up, shoving her papers over to Kimberly. "I gotta get up to the Command Center. I have some tests running that I want to look in on."

"Okay..." Kimberly said, looking at Aisha warily. She possibly sensed that Aisha was peeved at her, but she obviously didn't feel like talking about it right then. Or perhaps she sensed that Aisha didn't want to talk about it. Either way, Aisha didn't waste any time in teleporting up.


"Aisha! Telephone! And not too long... it's a school night!"

"Thanks, dad!" Aisha yelled down the stairs. "I'll take it up here!" It was Sunday night, and she had just run to her room after washing dishes so she could catch up on her message boards. She'd just been about to start up the dial-up when the telephone rang, and then her dad called out to her.

It was right before her parents cut off phone communication for the night, so she knew it could only be one person."

"Hi, Rocky," Aisha said, pulling the phone receiver from her desk to her bed so she could sprawl while talking.

"Aw, man, how did you know it was me?" Rocky was playing music in the background, though not loud enough that she couldn't hear him.

"I'm psychic, remember," Aisha said. "You get to talk to Adam any after the meeting?"

"That was a meeting?" Rocky said. "I thought that was Tommy lecturing and then ignoring pretty much everything you were saying."

"Rocky..." Aisha said.

There was a pause. "No, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I know he's depressed... but he's been depressed before. People kick him down, and he always gets back up."

"Yeah, we both know that."

There was an even longer pause, and Aisha cursed herself for dredging up those particular memories.

"Tommy may have listened if I had anything to report," Aisha said. "The full scan has turned up empty so far... though it's not going to be finished until tomorrow."

"Aisha, when Tommy's an ass you can say he's an ass," Rocky said. "Might even go as far as 'asshole' if he keeps on."

Aisha laughed a bit, despite herself. "And I know you want to protect Adam, but he can protect himself. It takes him a while, but he stands up for himself just fine."

Aisha heard Rocky let out a breath between his teeth. Rocky had been wanting to have it out with Tommy for a while, and Aisha knew that he was possibly using this as a convenient excuse. Of course, if Tommy kept dismissing the idea that there was something not-normal going on with Adam, she might have it out with him first.

"I'm supposed to meet Kimberly and Christy from Girls Chapter tomorrow after school," Aisha said. "Maybe I can get to the bottom of some of this."

"Let me know if I can help," Rocky said. "Baseball doesn't start up until the spring, but I want to know if I even have a chance before I start killing myself in practice."

"Were you able to come up with anything about Adam from watching the fights?" Aisha said, suddenly remembering. "You didn't say anything in the meeting, but..."

Aisha could practically hear the shrug in Rocky's voice. "That's the thing that sucks. I know something's wrong, but I can't find anything wrong. Adam was fighting just as well as he always does, and he couldn't get enough of an advantage on the Putty for me to tell anything about its fighting style. It seemed just like a standard Putty, but only much stronger. And you and Billy said the energy readings don't show it's any different."

"Aisha! Just a few more minutes!" Her mom shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

Aisha sighed. "Rocky, I gotta go, and please call earlier next time. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Sure thing," Rocky said. "Meet me after your meeting with that Girls Chapter chick?"

"I'll probably head to the Command Center to check on the scan at some point, but sure," Aisha said. "Good night."

"Later, gator," Rocky said before hanging up, leaving her chuckling.

She hung up the phone and decided to go downstairs instead of getting on the message boards. Partially to keep peace with her parents... and partially to just be normal for an hour or two. She decided it was a good idea not to tell her parents about being a Power Ranger. Around them, she could pretend she wasn't.


The first day of school had flown by. Even without any clubs, Aisha was starting to realize that Angel Grove was going to be a more challenging school than Stone Canyon, and the types of work they were doing in the various classes was getting her excited for the rest of the year. She actually felt like she was going to start preparing for college.

Her excitement started to evaporate as she entered the Youth Center and saw the two girls at the far table. Kimberly was waving her over and smiling, but Christy had her arms crossed and was frowning. Aisha didn't know what had crawled up her butt, but it couldn't have been anything pleasant.

"Christy, you remember Aisha," Kimberly said. She handed Aisha a peach tea, having already anticipated her order. "You would have seen her at the Girls Chapter area banquet last year."

Christy's eyes narrowed. "Hello, Aisha."

Aisha knew that this was a mistake. It was obvious to her, even if it wasn't to Kimberly, that Christy wanted nothing to do with her. If she'd been a cat, her fur would have been standing on end, with claws out. Still, Aisha knew how to play the game. Pretend that everything is normal, and smile in the face of people who hated you.

She'd been doing that all her life. The boys who wouldn't let her in their clubs, the white girls who thought she wasn't good enough for them... It was only on computer message boards that people didn't automatically make assumptions about her just because of how she looked.

So, she smiled. "Christy, it's good to meet you. Did Kimberly tell you why we wanted to talk?"

Christy looked a bit less toxic at Aisha's smile, but she still wasn't happy to be there. "I don't like being ambushed," Christy said. "If you wanted to talk to me, Aisha, why'd you have to go through Kimberly."

"That was me," Kimberly said before Aisha had the chance to retort. "And we're not ambushing you. It's just... there's been a mistake, and I thought talking about it would... put it all right," she finished lamely. It was obvious to Aisha that Kimberly was starting to realize that this wasn't a mistake after all, and it was taking the wind out of her sails.

"You want to be in Girls Chapter? Fine," Christy said. "We need more diversity anyway. But don't come running to me if you don't feel like you fit in."

Christy started to get up to leave, but Kimberly grabbed her shoulderbag, preventing her from leaving. Kimberly's mouth was open, and it was obvious this was the first time she'd heard anything like that.

It wasn't Aisha's first time, though. And Christy had a lot to learn if she thought she could intimidate her with her weak-sauce racism.

"I'd like to know," Aisha said icily, smile still in place but hardened like a diamond, "why no one from Stone Canyon is in any of the clubs or teams. I get the sense that this isn't just a... diversity issue."

Christy's eyes narrowed so much they practically closed. "If you'd like to know... It's because of you transfer students that every club had to redo try-outs and admissions. We already had teams and lists posted, and then suddenly Mr. Kaplan decides that just because twenty people from a po-dunk school move in that we're supposed to redo the whole thing. So... the heads of all the clubs and teams decided to hold the new try-outs, but keep the lists exactly the same. It was nothing personal."

Kimberly still had a hold on Christy's bag, though she didn't seem to remember, despite Christy's futile efforts to pull it from her grasp. "But... I was at the meeting when Mr. Kaplan made that decision. It wouldn't have meant entirely new try-outs... just some extra chances for the new students. We don't even have try-outs for Girls Chapter. We're supposed to just go by grades and extracurriculars. Aisha is tons smarter and more involved than me, and I'm surprised I even got back in, considering last year."

Christy gave Kimberly a half-pitying look. "Kim... we don't just go by records. We have to maintain a certain standard. It's always worked like that. You got in because you're legacy: your mother was Girls Chapter at Angel Grove back in the day. Your grades, your extracurriculars, that trashy boyfriend you run around with... none of that matters as long as you've got legacy."

Kimberly's grip twisted on the bag, her mouth opening in a snarl.

Aisha was on her feet, pulling Kimberly away. She realized that everyone was staring at them, and she wondered how she was going to get them both out of there... when her communicator rang.

For once, she was happy for a monster attack. At least she would have something she could hit.


Aisha took one last glance in the hospital room where the boy who'd gotten hurt was taken. He was asleep, but all his vitals were stable. She knew that Adam would want to know. She turned the corner, ducked into a storage closet, and teleported up...

...right into a shouting match between Rocky and Tommy.

Rocky's eyes were blazing, and she knew that he was guiltily grateful for this opportunity to finally start the fight that had been brewing for him. Tommy, on the other hand, just looked furious, and Aisha suspected this wasn't only about Adam.

"That's twice that Adam has let a Putty get the best of him, and now he's let someone get hurt," Tommy pointed out.

"He saved two other kids, and he was doing the best he could," Rocky insisted. "News flash, Tommy. People aren't perfect. I know that's a pretty foreign concept for you."

"You don't know anything about me," Tommy said. They were inching closer to each other, while a silent Billy and a fretful Alpha watched from the sidelines.

"I know that you're determined to believe that Adam... what? Meant for a kid to get hurt?" Rocky shouted back.

"Adam's all right, by the way," Kimberly said, walking into the room. "I gave him some serum. Still resting, so could the two of you keep it at a dull roar?"

Tommy looked over at Kimberly, and then noticed Aisha. "How's the kid?" he asked. "He make it to the hospital all right?"

Aisha wanted so badly to join Rocky in yelling, but she decided to prioritize for the moment. "Stable," she said. "Broken leg, possible concussion." She looked at Kimberly. "We couldn't... you know..." She mimed giving herself a shot of serum. She knew it would make everything so much easier on Adam if the boy were completely healed.

Kimberly slowly shook her head. "The serum can only work on people with a power coin. We tried it once on Skull. Billy had to give him some of his Blue Ranger energy, and Skull's still abnormal because of it. Well..." She made a face. "Abnormal-er."

"All the more reason that we don't make this an issue," Tommy said, his face stony. "There's no excuse for civilians getting hurt, especially kids. Adam's got to know that."

"As if he doesn't know that," Rocky said.

"He doesn't act like it," Tommy said, gearing up for more argument.

Aisha looked up at Zordon, who seemed content for the two to have it out. Aisha supposed that made some kind of giant floating head logic, but she wasn't going to let Adam wake up to the sound of people fighting about him. She raised her eyebrows at Kimberly, who nodded.

Adam was just starting to stir when Aisha walked into the lab. She ran over to him. "Adam? You okay? Did that serum really work?" It was the first time she'd seen it in action.

Adam looked at her blearily. His injuries were healed, but he still seemed drained of energy, and she wondered if the serum healed concussions, given Adam's out of focus eyes. "I'm good," he said. He seemed to wobble as he sat upright, and Aisha grabbed his shoulder so he wouldn't fall off the bed. "The... the boy?"

Aisha looked away. Of course that would be what he asked first. "He's okay... He's at the hospital. Broken leg, and they're keeping him for observation just in case of a concussion, but..."

"Dammit..." Aisha was startled to see tears filling his eyes. Cursing wasn't like him, either. While she hadn't been looking, Adam had apparently gotten to the end of his rope. "We can't use the serum on him, can we?"

Aisha explained about the serum, and then pushed Adam back on the bed when he decided to get up. She didn't know what he wanted to do, and she said as much.

"Is it bad?" Adam said, suddenly looking frightened.

Aisha decided to counter his fear with her own anger, hoping some of it would bleed into him. He'd taken too much lying down. She decided to follow Rocky's advice from the night before about what to call Tommy. "Tommy's being a complete ass about the whole thing. Rocky's in there defending you, by the way. I just couldn't stand being in there anymore."

"And how is Tommy wrong?" Adam said, seeming to sink even further into his own guilt. "I let a kid get hurt."

"It was a mistake..." Aisha began.

"None of you guys made that mistake," Adam interrupted her. "Did any other kids get hurt? Or just the one I was protecting."

Aisha considered him. She could point out that he had actually been protecting three kids, not one, and that two of them had successfully gotten to safety. She could point out that the Putties had disappeared as soon as the kid got hurt and Adam had passed out, which further proved that he was the real target of the whole attack. She could point out a lot of things... including the apparent conspiracy of the Angel Grove elite against the transfer students... but she knew he wasn't ready to listen. "Look, something weird is going on. Just because we can't find anything in the scanners doesn't mean that there's not another reason for those Putties beating up on you. I mean, I know you didn't make the soccer team, which makes no damn sense, but..."

"Rocky tell you that?" Adam again interrupted her, a bit sullen.

"I was worried about you, so I checked the list myself. I didn't make the Girls Chapter either, when I was President of the Girls Chapter at Stone Canyon..."

"But you didn't let it affect you so much, you got a kid hurt."

Aisha gritted her teeth. She felt sorry for Adam, but he was starting to get on her last nerve. "Not my point, and if you'll stop interrupting me, I can tell you that..."

She hadn't entirely decided what she was going to tell him-him being a target, the conspiracy, the fact that he needed to stop blaming himself-when he left the room. She cursed and ran after him, and both of them got to hear Tommy's worst statement yet:

"And if he's going to cut it as a Ranger, he can't do this. We need people we can count on out there, not people who are going to fold at a Putty attack..."

Tommy stopped at the sight of Adam, and Aisha ran up just in time to help Adam, still weak from the fight, sit down on the steps. She decided now was the time to give Tommy a piece of her mind... when Zordon did it for her.

"Tommy, that is enough. You've more than made your point, and you're not being fair to Adam. Or do I need to bring up tapes of your own mistakes. Perhaps the fight against Dark Samurai?"

The effect was instantaneous. Tommy paled and stammered out apologies, and didn't object when Zordon began assigning them all duties. Zordon, at least, looked to be on Adam's side.

Aisha wondered what Zordon had said to make such a change in Tommy, and wondered if she needed to look up their fight with the Dark Samurai. It sounded familiar, though she didn't quite remember why.


Aisha glanced over at Kimberly. They'd set up a work station in the girls' bedroom, where Aisha supposed they had the option to stay at the Command Center overnight. She wondered what circumstances would ever make them do that.

Kimberly was thin-lipped and red-faced as she looked over the surveillance material. It was a long shot that they would find anything, and their efforts had come up with nothing so far. Still, they had to be thorough. Aisha just wished they had a job that was a bit more active.

Kimberly leaned back and rubbed her face. "Aisha... I'm so sorry."

Aisha frowned. She knew Kimberly was finally coming back to their meeting with Christy that afternoon, but she was not interested in hearing Kimberly apologize for Christy. "You don't have to say a thing," Aisha said shortly. "Christy made her own decisions."

"But I should have believed you right from the beginning," Kimberly said. "I just... I knew the Girls Chapter people could sometimes be jerks, but I didn't know... and what the hell did she mean by 'diversity?'"

Aisha gave a mirthless chuckle. "All things considered, that was tame."

"We're going to Mr. Kaplan tomorrow with this," Kimberly said. "I mean, the whole 'let's keep the Stone Canyon people out of everything' thing. It may not help, but we still need to do something about it. After I register a complaint with the Girls' Chapter central office, I can quit."

"You don't have to quit," Aisha said.

Kimberly shrugged. "It's time, anyway. I only got in the club because my mom wanted me to. Now that I know I only got in because my mom was in..." Kimberly smiled bitterly.

Aisha nodded. "You can talk to Mr. Kaplan... though I want to be with you... but I can make the complaint to the Girls' Chapter central office. I know some of the people up there." She took a breath. "Like you said, it's probably not going to help. People are still going to resent the new people for just taking up space, and even if Adam and I could get into clubs, they're not going to just immediately accept us."

Kimberly took a deep breath. "It's... it's really not fair."

"No," Aisha said. "No, it's not. But we can make small changes. We have to keep trying, even when no one is listening to us." Aisha repeated her mother's words, the words she'd said at every disappointment, every struggle.

"So what do you think we should do?" Kimberly asked.

Aisha frowned. "If no one wants you, you make a space for yourself." She smiled. "I'll think of something." She cast a sidelong look at Kimberly. "Are you going to tell Tommy about the 'trashy boyfriend' comment?"

"God, no," Kimberly said. "But if she says it again, not even a full-on invasion it going to keep me from her."

Aisha chuckled. She wanted to ask why Tommy, who seemed so friendly and disciplined, had that particular reputation. Was it just that he had long hair, or maybe that he dressed a bit grunge?

There was a knock at the door, and they were surprised to see Billy peeking in. "Aisha, those scans you were running on Adam are done. After you assess them, we can correlate with the scans we're doing on Adam now."

Aisha looked at Kimberly, who smiled. "Go, I'll take care of this. That sounds way more exciting."

Aisha followed Billy to the central chamber of the Command Center, where Rocky and Tommy were watching Adam's fight on the Viewing Globe. The tension between them was palpable, but Aisha decided to ignore them. She had more important things to do.

"Where's Adam?" she asked, realizing that Billy had not followed her.

"Adam is resting in the lab," Zordon answered her. "I can communicate with him here as easily as I can there. Please, go on, Adam."

Zordon turned her attention away, and Aisha realized that Adam was telling Zordon everything that had happened to him through a communicator in the lab, while Billy must be running his tests there. Aisha approved: Adam would be more comfortable talking if he could do so a bit more indirectly, without Zordon staring down at him or Tommy and Rocky paying attention.

Aisha stared at the read-outs of her scans where Alpha indicated, noting the main variations between Adam's readings and her own control readings. There was still nothing... until she looked at the brain scan readings. Particularly, the way the brain interacted with their Power Coins. Whereas hers was spiky, with ups and down depending on emotion, on activity, on energy... Adam's was steadily low, even (as she correlated the times) during fights.

It wasn't that he was depressed. It was like his powers were depressed... if that made any sense.

"That is troubling," Zordon broke in, as if reading her mind. Aisha realized that he could also monitor her computer console, and wondered how much interaction he had with the entire Command Center. "It perhaps lines up with some of what Adam has been telling me."

Rocky turned from the Viewing Globe. "Found something?"

"She has indeed," Zordon said. "All Rangers, please report back. Aisha may have found the root of the problem."

It took minutes for the rest of the Rangers to come in. Aisha glanced over at Adam, and was pleased to note that a shred of hope was coming into his eyes. If Aisha's suspicions were right, though, it would take more than that to give Adam hope.

Tommy was still staring at the fight. He kept running it over a few seconds, where the Putty was delivering a particularly nasty blow to Adam. "Guys?" he said, his voice sounding almost… contrite. "I may have something, too."