Author's notes: Okay, guys, I have a lot to say, but you probably just want to read the story. Look at the end of the story if you want to read some of my mental journey to get this chapter done. Hopefully the next chapter will come out more quickly.

Reviewer thanks: mfmxxx (Thanks for the review! I'm not sure how Aisha is ooc, though…), The-Chibi-Poe (This will be a LONG time in the making, but eventually I plan on writing what goes on in space while the In Space crew are hanging around. Let's just say the former Rangers aren't just faffing about on Earth.), Guest (I tried to be really careful to make Adam's interest in Sabrina/Scorpina not sexual. Essentially, he's having a really hard time coming out, and Scorpina did an excellent job of cutting him off from his friends.), lunarweather (I'm glad you're picking up on all the important plot threads. I still ship Tommy and Scorpina, but I needed to acknowledge the dubious consent with their previous hookup.), brankel1, beast575 (Thanks!), GreenEngineer (Thank you!), KLR1 (Oh god same. So, I thought of this twist for Scorpina's baby while I was watching In Space, and it made me so happy but also so ashamed of myself. Why must my characters suffer so?!), Curly Q, GothamPowerKaiju (I'm really looking forward to writing Astronema), and Wolfthor51 (What a lovely review. Thank you so much. I'm so sorry that now you'll be victim to my terrible update schedule.).


Brighter Paths

Book 7: Best Person for the Job

Chapter 25: Ad Hominem

Rita Repulsa sipped her wine and rubbed her right temple. "This isn't working," she said, more to herself than anyone else.

"I haven't even begun explaining my plan of attack, my dear," Lord Zedd answered her. "Unless you've been trying to read my mind…"

Lord Zedd broke off, and Rita smirked sadly. As if that was going to happen. They'd established a psychic bond at their wedding, but they'd barely used it.

"I mean the painkiller," Rita said. "My headache won't go away."

Zedd regarded her carefully. Their conversations had a tendency to turn into arguments more often than not, and he had no idea what words would trigger an outburst from her, or from himself.

"You've been overtaxing yourself," Zedd pointed out.

Rita nodded tiredly. "And we've been working against each other, I know." She gritted her teeth. "Don't think I don't appreciate that you're sharing your plan now."

The throne room practically thrummed with awkward silence. It was empty except for the two rulers. Their followers, rather than attend them, found excuses to be elsewhere in the castle.

The tension was at its breaking point, and they knew something needed to change.

Zedd explained his plan, and Rita quietly listened.

"Well, my dear?" Zedd said at the conclusion.

Rita took a gulp of wine. "A spell. A rivalry spell, at that. Zedd, it's been done. By me. And you're planning on casting a spell on the two most likely to be able to resist."

"You disapprove," Zedd pointed out.

Rita sighed. "I just don't see how it's going to work."

"It's going to work because the targets will want it to work," Zedd said. "They'll try to use the spell as a way to have the argument they're avoiding, and in the meantime they'll overplay their hand and lose much more than they'll gain."

Rita drained her glass, wondering if he was planning an excuse for the argument they themselves needed to have. "Very well. Let's see if it plays out as you say. I'll do my part."

Zedd gave a slight bow and continued to prepare the spell. Below them, on Earth, conditions began to take shape for the next attack.


"So, any plans after school?" Tommy asked.

Billy shrugged. The two were leisurely walking to the library, preparing to start research on a paper for English class.

"We could work on some of those kicks you were asking me about," Tommy said.

Billy paused to exchange books at his locker. "Tommy, I really do enjoy spending time with you, but…"

Tommy gave a tight smile. "But back off?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I just… Have you tried talking to Kimberly? Or are you going to keep using me to avoid her."

"I'm not avoiding her," Tommy frowned. "We spend plenty of time together."

Billy nodded. "During class… in groups… during Ranger duties…" he added under his breath.

Tommy rolled his eyes and leaned against the lockers. "Okay, yeah, maybe some avoidance. We put things on pause, and I have no idea how to unpause. And I think it needs to be her to unpause things. So… yeah. Avoiding is about all I can do."

Billy and Tommy continued their walk down the hallway, Tommy falling into silence once again. Billy closed his eyes in frustration. The thing about being best friends with both sides of a fighting couple was that it meant a lot of time consoling, cheering up, and passing messages. It also ate up a lot of his time, since both Kimberly and Tommy wanted to spend time with him, and they didn't want to spend time with each other. This had been going on for nearly two weeks, and he was about out of patience.

"So she'll talk to you when she wants to," Billy said. "It doesn't mean you have to just wait around. You're basically putting your life on hold. All you do is schoolwork, train, and… the usual stuff," Billy said in code, as a group of students walked by.

Tommy gave a hollow laugh. "Billy, you've just boiled my life down in one sentence. I don't really have anything else."

They were passing the school bulletin board, and Billy stopped to smooth down a poster for the science fair. He scanned the leaflets, desperate to find something for Tommy to get interested in. Tommy had never expressed interest in any clubs or sports that weren't martial arts, and he couldn't commit to anything that met regularly. Still, there had to be something.

Billy's eyes rested on the large poster just to the left of the bulletin board. "Say… Tommy… have you ever thought about school government?"


On the track field at the other side of the school, Aisha and Kimberly were running together. That is, until Kimberly stopped running, practically in tears from laughter at Aisha's suggestion.

"What do you mean, run for class president?" Kimberly said as Aisha jogged backward a few steps to let her catch up.

"I mean it exactly as it sounds," Aisha said, running in place until Kimberly was ready. "I'm going to run for office, but not president. I think treasurer is a bit more in my wheelhouse, at least this year. But we need a class president who's popular but also gives a crap about positive change in the school."

Kimberly and Aisha passed a group of girls who got suspiciously quiet. Some of them were in the Girls' Chapter, the club Kimberly and Aisha had helped put on probation due to their discriminatory practices. "Oh, yeah, real popular," Kimberly laughed. "Maybe back when I was a cheerleader…"

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Kim, people genuinely like you. You're smart and kind, and when it comes down to it, in the voting booth, no one's going to care about what those girls think. They're going to vote with their conscience."

Kimberly smirked. "Don't forget the ones who'll vote for me because they think I'm hot."

Aisha laughed. "A vote is a vote."

They stopped running and wiped down. Aisha pulled her newly-acquired braids down from the knot on the back of her head, ignoring the girls sneering at them. Kimberly ran a brush through her hair, trying to ignore as well as Aisha and failing.

Kimberly let out a tense breath when they walked out of sight. "Do you really think people will vote for me?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," Aisha said, "and I think you could do a lot of good."

"And it will keep me from moping?" Kimberly said, smiling softly.

"I wasn't going to say it."

"And I appreciate that." Kimberly sighed. "Trini's also telling me to get more involved and out of my own head."

Aisha smirked. "Us Yellow Rangers are smart like that."

"Who am I to argue against genius?" Kimberly said. "Where do we sign up?"

Aisha steered Kimberly over to the main office, as if afraid Kimberly would change her mind if they delayed too long. Aisha grabbed the forms and some pens… and realized Tommy was already filling out a form.

There was an awkward silence as Tommy and Kimberly stared at each other. Billy stood to the side, his eyes wide with panic. He mouthed to Aisha what looked like the words "class president" as he motioned to Kimberly.

"Yeah," she mouthed back, and he mouthed a word that, if said aloud in the main office, would certainly have gotten him a detention.

"Hey, Tommy!" Kimberly said, her voice a bit too bright to be natural.

Tommy's smile was a little pained. "So, Aisha talked you into school government?"

Kimberly shrugged. "Well… ya know. We thought it was a good idea." She cleared her throat. "Class president?"

"Yeah," Tommy said, wincing. "Same?"

"Of course it is," Kimberly said, her smile dropping a bit. "Look, I can try for another position."

"That's ridiculous," Tommy said quickly. He looked ready to ball up his form. "I don't even have to do this."

"Tommy, I'd feel terrible if you gave up just because I wanted to run," Kimberly said.

Before they could do another round of excuses, Mr. Caplan walked out of his office and beamed. "Ah, good, Mr. Oliver. I'm so pleased that you're taking more of an interest in student life." He plucked the form out of Tommy's hand and placed it in a folder.

Tommy looked dumbfounded that Mr. Caplan had apparently bypassed his fast reflexes. "Uh… actually, Mr. Caplan, I…"

"This can take the place of that social studies project you failed to turn in this summer," Mr. Caplan said. "Technically, you should have been held back a grade… an oversight that I was planning to discuss with you."

"Mr. Caplan, are you saying if I don't run for office, I could be put back in tenth grade?"

"Well, we don't have to worry about that now, do we?" Mr. Caplan said kindly, patting the form. "And I want to see a well-run campaign. You don't have to win, but you do have to put forth an effort. Ah… Ms. Hart, Ms. Campbell, Mr. Cranston… Are you all running for office as well?"

Billy turned pale and mumbled a negative, but Aisha thrust a form into Kimberly's hand. "I'm running for treasurer, and she's running for president as well."

Mr. Caplan nodded approvingly. "That's fine, just fine. I expect to see two well-run and positive presidential campaigns if it's the two of you running. I also expect you'll do a good job as well, Ms. Campbell." His face fell as he opened the folder. A rumpled form was right under Tommy's. "As long as more people are running for president than Mr. Bulkmeyer here." He re-entered his office, shaking his head, leaving four stunned teenagers in his wake.

"Yeah. This is hell. I recognize it," Tommy said. "I've been there."

"I… guess we're running against each other," Kimberly said uncertainly. "But, we'll still be okay, right?"

"Of course we will," Tommy said. "No matter what happens, we're still a team."

Kimberly looked a bit thoughtful, and then brightened. "And it's not like we're running against each other. We're just running for the same position. There's a difference."

Tommy smiled, holding up a sheet with a list of campaign requirements. "Well, I guess I need to prepare for the debate."

Tommy left, Billy trailing behind him, looking a bit shellshocked. Aisha and Kimberly took their seats to fill out their own forms.

"Still think running for president was a good idea?" Kimberly said, her mood starting to falter.

"Yes, I do," Aisha said, though she looked worried. "Like you said, running for the same office is not the same as running against each other. Stay positive and stick to the issues. People will respond better to that than to an attack campaign. People know you're a couple, so it would draw too much negative attention if you two started criticizing each other."

Kimberly stared at the form. "You're right. I know you're right." She noticed Aisha had already finished. "You head on… I'll catch up."

"Okay…" Aisha said reluctantly. "Talk later?"

"You got it."

Aisha turned in her form and left the office, trying to think about her own campaign but worrying too much to focus. It wasn't until she ran into Billy that she snapped out of it.

"This is going to be a disaster, isn't it," Aisha said.

Billy readjusted the books in his arms. "Potentially. And that's discounting any external interference."

"You really think they're going to interfere?" Aisha said, not having to specify who she was talking about. They all knew it was more unusual for Zedd and Rita to not harass them at any opportunity.

"Even if they don't, we're talking about two of the most competitive people in the school, and they're already having relationship problems. I can't help but feel your initial description is more than appropriate."

Aisha sighed. "Disaster it is. Well, I can't help keep them on track. I have my own campaign to run. That would be a conflict of interest. Can you keep an eye on them?"

Billy winced. "From a distance. I'm not going to work on either campaign, though. They're both my best friends, and I already have to tread a fine line between them. I'm not taking sides."

"I'm surprised you're not running for office," Aisha said. "You'd be a strong candidate for any of them."

"That would require public speaking," Billy said. "I'd rather face a squad of Putties with both arms tied behind my back."

Aisha nodded in sympathy. "Okay, so neither of us can keep those two emotional time bombs in check. I guess we'll have to go for some neutral parties."


"Do we have to?"

Aisha glared at Rocky and Adam. Rocky was looking mutinous, and Adam was smirking at Rocky, giving no objections of his own.

"They're your friends," Aisha pointed out. "They're your teammates, and they need your help." She sighed "They've literally saved our lives. Several times."

"And endangered them," Rocky shot back.

"I thought you were okay with Tommy," Adam said. "Didn't you say you'd finally talked with him about his clone…" They were sitting at Ernie's new outdoor café, and no one else was around, so they didn't have to watch what they said quite as carefully.

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we're okay. Doesn't mean I want to spend hours working on the dude's campaign."

"Then you help Kimberly," Adam said. "I'll help Tommy. I think it might actually be fun. And Aisha has a point. They are our friends."

Rocky seemed to go through an intense inward struggle, and then grinned, throwing his arm around Adam. "When you put it that way…"

"It makes a lot of sense?" Aisha said, smirking.

"Adam always makes sense."

"And I don't?"

"I didn't say that."

"What doesn't make sense is why you dweeboids think those two could actually win anyway."

Bulk walked up, dressed in a moldy suit jacket and a boater with a red and blue ribbon around the brim. Skull was right behind him, brandishing a trumpet threateningly.

"Oh, yeah, you're running for president, too!" Aisha said, all smiles. "Good luck!"

"Oh, are you saying I'm going to need it?" Bulk said sarcastically.

Aisha frowned. "Uh… no? Genuine well-wishing only here."

"Yeah… well…" Bulk seemed to run out of steam. "Thanks."

"Skull, I will give you literally anything not to try to play that trumpet," Rocky said.

Skull looked at the trumpet as if it were a foreign object. "Bulky told me to carry this around. It's not like I can play it. I mean," he started laughing, "it's not like I know anything about music. I wouldn't know a coda from a candenza."

"Those are musical terms," Aisha pointed out.

"Anyway," Skull laughed, "Kimberly's running for president? And Tommy? That's cool. Say, Bulky, maybe the presidential race is a little full right now. Maybe you can…"

Bulk grabbed Skull by the shoulder and hauled him closer. "Skull, do you not have any faith in our campaign?"

"And what is your campaign platform?" Aisha said, morbidly curious.

Bulk drew himself up to his full height, letting Skull go. "If elected," he pronounced, as if on stage, "I will reveal the true identities of the Power Rangers."

The three stared at him as Bulk paused, still holding his pose, obviously waiting for their reaction.

"And you know this information?" Adam asked.

"Not at this time," Bulk said a bit impatiently. "But we will. So you see, this is a campaign of the highest importance. It's not just a popularity contest for me. I care about the issues."

"Issues, huh?" Kimberly walked up, having held in her laughter long enough after listening to his speech. Tommy trailed behind her. They had walked up together… a good sign, Aisha thought.

"Like, promoting safety protocols during monster attacks?" Tommy said.

"Or getting student representation in school board meetings," Kimberly added.

"Where have you guys been?" Aisha said.

"Doing our homework," Kimberly said.

"Well, you won't have to do it alone," Aisha said. "You've each got a volunteer. Adam's going to be helping you, Tommy, and Rocky's going to help Kimberly."

"Oh, thank god," Tommy said. "I thought I was going to have to do this alone. Thanks, man."

"You sure about this?" Kimberly asked Rocky. "If we don't do a good job, Aisha will have our hides."

Aisha scoffed. "First, you guys are going to do a great job, because you're brilliant, and secondly, I'm not the boogeyman here."

Billy walked up with a tray of drinks, followed by a waiter with another tray. Everyone got a drink, including, to their surprise, Bulk and Skull.

Billy raised his own glass. "Guys, I'd like to propose a toast, from a completely neutral party. May you all have good and productive campaigns."

"Here, here!" Aisha said, raising her glass.

They all clinked glasses and drank. For once, all the potential disasters seemed to be looking up.

Unknown to the rest, the waiter put the trays down on a table and, instead of heading into the Youth Center, disappeared into the bushes. Well-hidden, the waiter turned into a Putty in a flash, and then teleported away.


It wasn't until the morning of the debate that they knew something was wrong.

The week had been full of activity. Like it did for most things, Angel Grove High went all out on student elections. Each position had a different campaign track. While the presidential candidates participated in a debate, the secretary and treasurer candidates designed poster presentations and the vice-president candidates hosted the events. As such, Tommy and Kimberly had barely seen each other all week, and their interactions during the Ranger meeting were all business, so there had been no indication that something was wrong until it was too late.

Adam was shuffling note cards with practice debate questions he'd culled from previous debates. Tommy was next to him, tossing and catching a marker in nervous energy. It was a less annoying habit than some of his others. Adam had never fully appreciated how fidgety Tommy was until this week, when they'd spent most of their free time together. Adam could usually focus Tommy by offering to spar, but it wasn't like he could do that in the hallway an hour before the debate.

"So, again, if they ask you what your main goals as president are…"

"Safety protocols, repaving the student parking lot, and setting up a better study lounge next to the library," Tommy answered promptly.

Adam winced. "Well, those are the short versions, but I guess you've got them."

Tommy smiled, looking suspiciously less nervous than he had all week. "Adam, it'll be fine. You've put me through a serious amount of prep, and it's not like I'll have much competition anyway," Tommy ended with a laugh.

Adam paused as warning bells went off in his head. Surely he hadn't heard that correctly. "I… I thought we weren't focusing on the competition. And besides, Kimberly is the very definition of tough competition."

Tommy threw the marker higher into the air and caught it. "That'll just make the win that much more satisfying."

Adam was about to retort when the words died in his throat. He noticed a group crowded around a wall near the water fountain, and he glimpsed one of Kimberly's posters. The group noticed him and Tommy and slowly backed away to show a picture of Kimberly, now sporting devil horns and a giant curling mustache.

"Oh my god…" Adam said, and ran forward to tear the poster down. He looked around at the group. They looked guilty, but not enough to have done it. They all slinked away.

"This is terrible," Adam said. "We've got to tell Rocky and Kim, and we've got to let Mr. Caplan know. Do you think we should ask for a postponement on the debate?"

Tommy pulled the poster out of his hand and surveyed it. "Yeah, I've been seeing these around campus."

Adam's brain stalled as he tried to process this. "Why didn't you say something? Does Kim know?"

Tommy shrugged. "I mean, maybe she's not as popular as we thought?" He smirked. "I gotta say, though, this is an excellent likeness."

Adam leaned against the water fountain, feeling like the world was tilting. Then he realized… the marker in Tommy's hand…

"You did this?!" Adam shouted.

Tommy shot him an annoyed look. "Dude, do you want me to get in trouble?"

Adam lowered his voice, but he was still furious. "No, what I want you to do is gather up all the posters, and then apologize to Kimberly, reimburse her, and put up the new posters… but there's no time for all that! The vote's this afternoon, and the whole thing will be over tomorrow. You're going to have to explain what happened to Mr. Caplan and drop from the race, and then beg him for another chance on that project so you don't have to repeat tenth grade. OR you can begin the debate with an apology, and…"

"Adam, relax," Tommy said. "Why do you think I need to drop out?"

"Because you sabotaged Kim's campaign," Adam said slowly.

"No, I ran an attack strategy," Tommy said patiently. "Perfectly legit."

"An attack campaign is when you produce your own material attacking the other candidate, not when you deface the other candidate's posters."

"Adam, you're still worrying," Tommy said. "Listen, I've got a few more things to do before the debate, but I'll see you there."

"Wait, what do you have to do before the debate?"

Tommy smiled, walking away and tossing and catching the marker again. "Don't worry about it."

Adam started to ball up the poster to throw away, but then thought better of it and just folded it. He'd need to be able to use it as evidence. To whom, he hadn't decided yet. Mr. Caplan would be the obvious choice, but he didn't really want to snitch on a friend.

A friend who was acting suspiciously out of character, he realized. There was competitive, and then there was this.

It took just a bit of searching to find Rocky, who was standing just outside of the gym where the debate would be held, look pale and holding a crumpled poster. His eyes widened when he saw Adam.

"I was just going to look for you," Rocky said, sounding a bit shell-shocked.

"I'm so sorry," Adam said. "I don't know what got into Tommy."

"What got into Tommy?" Rocky said. "I wanted to see how he was reacting."

Adam's insides froze. "You're not talking about what I'm talking about, then."

Rocky's face darkened as he noticed the poster in Adam's hand. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Together, they smoothed out their respective posters. Next to the horned and mustachioed Kimberly was a "Vote for Tommy" poster, only the words had been replaced by bright pink glittery letters to say "Don't Vote for Dummy."

"I honestly can't tell which is more childish," Adam said.

"The debate's in less than an hour," Rocky said. "What do we do?"

"I think there's something worse than just competition gone bad going on," Adam said. "We gotta get Billy and Aisha."


Billy frowned as he scanned the readings, while Aisha looked Kimberly and Tommy's power signatures on the morphing grid.

They looked at each other at the same time. "Spell?" Aisha said.

"Spell," Billy answered.

"The readings match something from the Command Center records," Adam reported from his own console. "Something that Tommy and Jason dealt with last year."

For once, Zordon was present in his tube. He was reviewing the readings with interest. "Indeed, Rangers. This is a standard rivalry spell, designed to take advantage of the fact that Tommy and Kimberly are already in competition with each other."

"Among other things," Rocky said sardonically. "So, how did they kick the spell last year?"

"Tommy and Jason broke the spell's influence by working together toward a common goal. They also gained the power of Titanus, making several of your Zord combinations possible."

"Great," Rocky said, pushing down the tiny surge of jealousy he felt whenever anyone listed Jason's accomplishments. "Got any other legendary Zords lying around?"

"It may not be as simple as teamwork, Rangers," Zordon said, looking over Aisha's findings. "The spell seems to have a bit more power, perhaps from Lord Zedd's influence."

Alpha fretted silently as he assessed the readings. Zordon was finally there and interacting with the Rangers, and he was afraid to interrupt that.

"So what do we do?" Adam said. "They're about to get in front of the school for the debate, and I don't think it's going to be civil."

Billy looked around and realized he was the default leader, with Tommy and Kimberly now compromised. He wasn't sure he liked that, but he knew there was nothing for it. "We keep them under observation and pull them out if things get violent. We don't have enough of a reason to keep them under restraint here, and all they can do is say terrible things to each other right now. Besides…" he sighed, "if we pull them now, they forfeit the election, and Bulk wins by default. Not exactly a desirable conclusion."

Aisha checked her watch. "Then we better get down there. The debate's about to start."

"Good luck, Rangers," Zordon said. "I will call them to the Command Center after school. However, be aware that Zedd and Rita might attack before then. Be on your guard."

"Right, cuz everything can always get worse," Rocky said brightly.


As the Rangers filed in with their classmates to the gym, after the Sophomore class president debate, they could tell things were, if anything, going to get worse.

At the edge of the stage stood three chairs, one for each of the candidates, and Tommy, Kimberly, and Bulk were already there. Bulk sat between them, looking utterly confused, as Tommy and Kimberly glared at each other across him. Ms. Appleby stood as moderator, and she looked confused as well at Tommy and Kimberly's obvious animosity.

Skull sat next to Billy. "Okay, I'll bite," he said. "What's up with Kim and Tommy?"

Billy was startled that Skull would even talk to him. He'd never done so without Bulk there, and never with such easy friendship. He was also a bit wary, as Skull would have a vested interest in Tommy and Kimberly's relationship problems.

"They had an argument," Billy admitted. "I didn't think it was this bad."

Skull shook his head. "Bulk was at a meeting with both of them before the debate, and they were at each other's throats," he said. "I thought you might know more."

Billy felt a twinge of guilt. He'd been purposely keeping his distance, and perhaps he shouldn't have. "It'll pass," he said, somewhat truthfully. "It has before." He decided to change the subject. "So, how is Bulk going to reveal the identities of the Power Rangers?"

Skull rolled his eyes, and Billy was a bit shocked at this implicit criticism of Bulk's actions. Skull was usually the ultimate hype man. "Bulky's convinced that he's going to get access to the student records."

"But," Billy frowned, "even if that were true, it's not as if that information would be in the records."

"Try to tell him that," Skull said. "I mean, we know the student records won't have that information, but it will have things like absence and detention records. We figure the Power Rangers have to have similar absence records, and they have to have times when their grades dip, and those will probably be around the times when the most monster attacks happened. After a while, it just comes down to elimination."

"That's actually brilliant." Billy looked away to hide his worry. It wouldn't be through the being president, but if Bulk and Skull did get access to their records, they might actually be able to pull it off. That, and the possibly that Skull might have access to memories of their identities.

Skull shrugged, though he looked a bit flattered. "Well, we have been investigating for months." He looked at the stage, where the three candidates were taking their places behind podiums. "But we won't get access to the records anyway. It'd sure be nice to stop after this."

Before Billy could ask Skull what he meant, Mr. Caplan called the gym to attention, and the debate began.

The Rangers watched in dread, matching the crowd's mounting horror, as Tommy and Kimberly slowly and viciously took each other apart.


"That was…" Mr. Caplan said with barely concealed anger, "the most deplorable performance I've ever seen in my life."

He rounded on the two sulking teenagers. Tommy and Kimberly were unconsciously adopting identical poses: arms crossed, slouched in their seats, glaring at the floor.

"Mr. Oliver, your conduct was appalling," Mr. Caplan continued. "Instead of the prepared remarks we discussed, you launched right into name-calling. I doubt that 'braindead cheerleader' and 'self-absorbed mallrat' are terms you should use for a fellow competitor, much less one of your friends!"

Tommy kept his eyes fixed in one spot, trying to hide how angry he was.

"And Ms. Hart, what you said goes beyond the pale." Mr. Caplan's voice went even quieter, making both teens actually flinch. "You used what you knew about Mr. Oliver's past and his school and legal troubles against him. Publicly. Do you realize the trust you've broken, just to… what? Score political points? Get revenge on him?"

Kimberly's eyes were brimming with tears, and she wasn't sure whether it was from anger or shame.

Mr. Caplan glared at the two. "I thought you were both mature enough to handle this type of responsibility. As it is, Mr. Bulkmeyer was the only one to stay on topic. It was not the most realistic or well-thought-out topics, but he stayed on it."

Okay, now it was shame.

"I'm sorry we wrecked the debate," Tommy said quietly, seeming to fight to say the words.

"We won't do it again," Kimberly added.

"You bet you won't," Mr. Caplan said viciously. "As it stands, I should pull both of you out of the election. Mr. Oliver, I think you know what that would mean."

Tommy blanched, but merely muttered a "Yes, sir."

Mr. Caplan sighed. "But you've run a clean campaign up until today, and the vote will be tallied at the end of the day. People are already voting, and some might even be casting votes for you. I will allow you to remain as candidates, but if either of you win the presidency, you're immediately on probation. I'll be watching you very closely."

Tommy and Kimberly filed out of the office. All of their campaign posters had been taken down, and they were now in a box of trash in the foyer. All had been defaced.

They reached the water fountain just outside. The hallway was empty, as class was in session.

"So, spell?" Kimberly said through gritted teeth.

Tommy glared at her, but gave a short nod. "Spell."

"God-fucking-dammit," Kimberly said quietly.

Tommy almost laughed, and then caught himself… or, rather, the spell caught him. "Yeah, well, not exactly original. Rivalry spell? Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. What do we do now, though?"

Kimberly shrugged. "You'll be fine. You're basically used to making an ass of yourself in front of everyone."

"Who's making a who and what now?" Tommy shot back. "Listen, princess, you're the one who basically called me a juvenile delinquent in front of the whole school."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Kimberly said sarcastically. "I can't imagine how it feels to be hurt in public like that. At least I didn't have to involve any evil space alien girlfriends."

Their voices were starting to raise, and they knew they were going to draw attention pretty soon. It was a relief, then, when their communicators beeped.

They ducked into the nearby girls' bathroom after making sure it was empty. Tommy pressed his communicator. "Yes, we know, Zordon," he said impatiently. "We were about to come in."

"I have contacted the other Rangers quietly, and they will join as soon as they can," Zordon said. "Report to Angel Grove Elementary School. Putties are attacking they playground while recess is in session."

Tommy and Kimberly looked at each other in surprise, their shock momentarily bypassing the spell. Rita and Zedd rarely casually attacked children, especially children this young.

"We're morphing there immediately," Tommy said over his communicator. "Argument on pause?" he suggested.

Kimberly shrugged, though she looked worried. "It's what we do best."


The playground was half empty by the time Tommy and Kimberly got there, teachers shepherding fifth graders to the nearest evacuation site. One large group, however, was cornered at a set of benches. Two teachers were standing at the gate, working up their courage to try to save the kids.

"Oh, Rangers, thank goodness you're here." The tall woman motioned to the children. "That's all of them. Be careful, none of them are fast runners."

"We'll make sure they get out all right," Kimberly reassured her. "We'll be getting back-up soon. Go to your evacuation center and let us handle it."

The two teachers ran, and Tommy and Kimberly started flanking the Putties. While the spell hurt their ability to use teamwork, it couldn't completely rewrite their training. They'd spent months working these drills into unconscious action and muscle memory. They were ready.

Tommy pulled his sword Saba, hoping to draw more Putties to himself, and slashed out at a group of advancing opponents. He'd distract the Putties long enough for Kimberly to teleport the kids out, and then she'd rejoin the battle, hopefully with the other Rangers. He ground his teeth at the thought of having to work with her, having to rely on her, when she never seemed to do anything right… the stuck-up princess, always ready to screw things up and then cry about it as if that ever did anything…

In the meantime, Kimberly drew her blade blaster and set it in blade mode, needing a little extra power if she was going to draw more Putties to her. If she kept them distracted, Tommy could barrel in and teleport the kids away, and then be back to help her with clean-up. Unless he was too busy macking with his space girlfriend, leaving her to do the real work while he acted all tortured…

It was several minutes before both Rangers realized neither was going in for the teleport rescue, and they'd left the children completely defenseless.

Kimberly aimed her bow at some Putties that had broken away from Tommy to run for the children, and it wasn't until after she'd released her arrow that she realized Tommy was chasing them. The arrow connected with Tommy, and he went down.

The spell almost broke right then. Kimberly's eyes stung with tears as she mechanically fought off Putties, trying desperately to reach the children, who had thankfully had the present of mind to huddle up and not present the Putties with easy targets. But even as Kimberly struggled, both physically and mentally, her horror quickly turned to anger as Tommy pulled himself to his feet. Damn him, getting in the way as usual… typical Tommy blockhead behavior…

Kimberly finally made it to the children, vaguely noting that Tommy was dealing with the rest of the Putties. The kids were too scared to even notice that Kimberly was rescuing them, and they didn't look up until the tingling from the teleport beam ended, and the sounds of battle were replaced the sounds of the evacuation center.

Kimberly didn't stick around for long. She knew if she left it up to Tommy, he'd find a way to screw things up even after their mission was complete.

Tommy, in the meantime, was getting quickly taken apart by Goldar.

As soon as Kimberly had left with the children, the Putties had vanished. He'd been at first relieved that the fight was over, as Kim's not-so-friendly fire had taken more out of him than he'd cared to admit. He'd just prepared to contact Zordon to ask if there were any more Putties to worry about when he'd been knocked across the playground by a full-force attack from Goldar.

There were no words. Tommy didn't understand why Goldar was attacking him in this way, but he had no chance to ask. He deflected the attacks as well as he could with Saba, but Goldar was unrelenting. Tommy was already tired and hurt… and alone.

Tommy took the brunt of a sword slash to the ribs. Sparks flew, and he went down gasping. He tried to get up, but Goldar kicked him one, twice, again in the ribs, and Tommy saw spots.

"I'll take that," Goldar finally said, and Tommy felt Saba being wrenched from his grasp. He tried to lunge for it, but a flash of pink knocked him down again, and then Goldar disappeared laughing in a burst of flame.

Kimberly rounded on Tommy after having overshot Goldar by several feet. "Why didn't you stay down?! I almost had him!"

Tommy forced himself to get up, aching the entire time. "Why the hell did you interfere anyway?! It was my fight."

"Yeah, you were doing so great… as a kickball," Kimberly sneered.

"I would have been doing fine if you hadn't shot me in the first place!"

They were an inch from each other, shouting in each other's face, before they felt themselves being pulled back. The rest of the Rangers had finally joined them, all too late.

"Guys, what happened?" Aisha said. "You got the kids out, didn't you?"

"Goldar stole Saba," Tommy retorted furiously, "no thanks to her." And then ice flooded his veins. Goldar had his sword… and with it, a connection to his power. In the hands of evil. Oh, shit.

"Let's get back to the Command Center," Billy said shortly. "We have to get Saba disconnected from the White Tigerzord at least. Who knows what they'll be able to do with the sword?"


Rita was smiling when Goldar offered Saba to her. "Good work, Goldar," she said in a moment of rare praise.

Goldar did not react, but merely faded into the background. He'd been doing that a lot lately: fulfilling missions, but not participating otherwise.

Neither Zedd nor Rita had any time to worry about that. Rather, they stared greedily at the captive sword, and Rita bound the usually talkative mouth of the sword with a sash of gauze, just in case it tried to ruin the moment.

"First stage is complete," Lord Zedd commented. "Do you continue to doubt me?"

Rita found herself staring at Zedd with new consideration. "It's certainly impressive. I think, though, I might be better equipped to head the next stage, if you don't mind."

Zedd stared at her for a tense minute, and then nodded. "If that is your wish. After all, this won't work if we don't work together."

Rita was surprised to realize that she agreed wholeheartedly. Even as those two Rangers were at each other's throats, she and her… husband… were working together. And winning.


Afterword: I'm really late on this one, and I know it. I had planned for a long time to rewrite one of my favorite episodes from season 2, "Best Man for the Job." In this episode, Tommy and Kimberly both run for class president, while Zedd and Rita put them under a rivalry spell. Tommy and Kim deface each other's posters and argue on the battlefield (to the point of having a domestic in front of Goldar). It was a fun episode, I had a few twists in mind, and it fit thematically after the Scorpina story: they'd have a legitimate reason to argue.

And then the US election happened.

On the night of the election, I cried, realizing that the US was electing an admitted sexual assailant into the most powerful office in the country. One who had no honor or respect for the office he'd "won" (as he likes to phrase it) or the country he was preparing to lead. One who ran on a platform of overt racism, sexism, and economic elitism, all the while claiming to be a man of the people. I knew there were people who thought he would make their lives better, and in voting for him they were betraying their fellow Americans, and I knew they would get betrayed by the man for whom they were voting. Some of these people were my family. In the past few months, all that I've expected has come to pass. Attacks on human rights, civil liberties, free speech, the press, health care, the middle and lower class, the sciences, the environment, Jewish and Muslim people, people of color… I could keep naming things, and the list would be depressingly long.

So, yeah, I've been depressed, and suddenly the light story of a presidential election becoming mired in character attacks and being corrupted by outside influences wasn't fun anymore. I struggled, I avoided, I had to rewrite…

So, there are a few weird places in this fic. First, I wanted to write the debate, but I just couldn't. After weeks of avoiding, I finally decided to cut to Mr. Caplan giving the highlights. It may not be the best method of writing, but it got it done. Second… I did NOT want Bulk to be in any way analogous to Trump. Bulk is a bully, but when given the opportunity he can become selfless and heroic. That's completely out of Trump's capabilities.

This is just to say, I had issues with this one. I think I've reached the end of the difficult parts, and I've been working on not feeling so helpless or full of despair, even when the world seems to be a crueler place. I know I will continue to write fic, because I need it, and in my own little way, I hope I can bring a bit of happiness to the world.