A/N: Sorry about the hiatus folks, things have been crazy here. Hopefully this makes up for it.

Serena got home after training with Spike and Bulk. She had stayed a little longer than she had intended. She had a feeling something was bothering Spike, and after a little coaxing, she had managed to get him to tell her that he and his friends were being bullied.

She had kind of expected that all things considered. Although she had gotten to know Spike, and had to admit to liking the kid, he did take a lot of getting used to. He was kind of unusual, and his personality was incredibly over the top. His dress sense, or lack of it as the case may be, did nothing to improve matters. In short, he kind of stood out, something that was not a good thing in High School, especially since even despite his training; he was still quite a small kid all things considered.

Although she was sure that one-on-one he would have a good chance against the bigger kids, she doubted that they would ever take him on one at a time. Her experience with Emily's bullies had taught her that since the point of bullying was to hide their own insecurities and look strong in front of a group, it usually required an audience. Without one, it was pointless. Between that, and the fact that a lot of bullies didn't have the courage to risk challenging someone by themselves in case they actually fought back, they usually only acted with back-up. She had heard someone tell her a psychological explanation about group behaviour, but to her, it was a lot like wolves or hyenas. They only became brave when they were in a swarm, and knew for a fact they could overwhelm their prey.

She had already taught him that fighting was a last resort, that he should only ever resort to it if he had exhausted all other options. All things considered, running away, while it would look 'cowardly' to the other kids who were brave enough to make a move only with half a dozen friends, it was the preferable option to a five or six on one beat down. She had ended up instead just teaching him a few escape techniques. Basic self-defence techniques that were designed, not to badly hurt or harm the opponent, but to get the room required to run.

When she arrived back, she found Stephen waiting for her. He looked somewhat bored, and a little tired. She could understand all things considered, she was meant to be home a couple of hours ago.

"Sorry, I lost track of time." She sighed. "I was going through some extra training with Spike, and I just...sorry."

"It's alright." He commented, picking up the plates of pasta he had made for them. "I guess this stuff will taste almost as good once it's reheated in the microwave."

"Where's Ji?" She asked him.

"He's across town." He told her. "The Gap Sensor went off a little while ago. Apparently Master Xandred doesn't like baseball; because he had some freak turn up at the Shogun's game."

"Is he alright?" She asked him. Stephen just shrugged and gestured to the monitor.

"I haven't heard anything from the alarm system." He told her. He looked to her as he put the first plate into the microwave. He drew her towards him, kissing her passionately, but she broke it off. She was reminded of the conversation she'd had with Ji earlier.

"How did the interview go?" She asked him. Stephen just smiled.

"You're looking at the Apple Store's latest Genius." He told her. She knew it was something of a come down for him, but the fact was that he needed money now he would no longer be living at the Tengen Gate. She was sure that the extent of the problems he was likely to deal with on the Genius Bar were not much above the infamous "my cup holder broke off" complaint, but as long as it paid, it was something at least. Jayden and Ji were good enough to let him stay rent and board free, but he couldn't very well expect them to keep him in money for spending on his own luxuries.

"Well, I can't imagine anyone that title applies to more." She complimented him as he drew her in again. She stopped him. "Um...Stephen, there's something we should really talk about."

"OK, why doesn't that sound good?" He asked sadly as she took a seat. She held his hand softly.

"It's nothing like that, I can promise you." She told him. "Stephen, I love you, but there are some things that have to change."

"Change?" He asked her.

"Ji kind of brought something up this morning." She told him. "You know I love you, and the time we spend together is great."

"Yeah, I thought so too..."

"Please, just listen to me for a minute." She interrupted him as he tried to pull closer to her. "The thing is, just think about what he walked in on."

"What about it?" He asked her.

"You don't see how that could have made him a little uncomfortable?" She asked him. "Stephen, I was only wearing a dressing gown."

He was about to answer, but could suddenly understand what she was getting at.

"Look, he's alright with us being together, I think we just have to cool the jets a little." She told him. "He brought up something that really made me think. The others, Mike and Emily...I know that the thought of walking in on them like that is a mental image that gives me the heebie jeebies, and Mia and Kevin..."

"In other words, we need to keep things Disney in the public areas." He suggested, seeing where this was going. She nodded her head slightly.

"I think they'd appreciate that." Serena told him. Just then, the ping told them that the first dish had finished heating through.

"I guess I just have to heat mine." He told her, handing her the plate. He placed his own in the microwave and returned to her. "So, how are the lessons with Spike going?"

The following morning in Corinth, the Samurai were all getting ready for the day ahead. Their work was pretty much done, indeed the only ones that still had anything to do were Mike and Emily, and they had already seen to it that Em and Michael would be able to handle things once they were gone.

Hicks had hurriedly arranged for a day of events for the Samurai Rangers. They were all given a day off to take a tour around Corinth and see the sights, all to give the military time to set up a ceremony at City Hall. It had all been arranged quickly, but that was one of the benefits of a self-contained city. The public announce system meant that adverts for the ceremony would be played on a loop throughout the day.

Jayden and Antonio were standing by the coach Hicks had arranged, waiting for the others. Antonio in particular was eager to get started, cradling his digital camera eagerly. Jayden couldn't help sniggering as he saw it.

"You're like a kid at Christmas." Jayden commented. "Would you calm down?"

"Come on Jayden, can you blame me for being excited?" He asked him. "We finally get to see this place for what it is!"

"A giant human fish bowl?" He asked. Antonio just looked at him aghast.

"Jayden, this place...just...I mean, look at this bus!" He stammered out.

"It's a bus." Jayden said with a shrug.

"Jayden, it runs on alcohol vapour! It uses no fossil fuel at all!" Antonio told him. "These street lights are powered by solar receptors on the outer skin of the dome! This news stand..."

He ran over to a news stand and gestured to it.

"It has no coin slot. You don't need to carry money!" He told him. "You just press your finger to it, select your paper, and the money is credited to your account."

Jayden just smiled. He loved seeing how excited Antonio was, and how easy it was to tease him. He was such a gadget freak that a city like Corinth just fascinated him. It was like the Holy Land to him, a city that ran on a technology surpassing that back home. Through necessity, the Corinthians had been forced to abandon almost all their old technology and start from scratch. There wasn't the same resistance to advancement, meaning new ideas and developments were attempted and utilised and not caught up in red tape for years on end. He was like a kid in a candy store who had been told he could take anything he wanted free of charge.

"Jayden, this place is...its paradise!" Antonio said a little giddily.

"Paradise?" Jayden asked him. "Sure, all it took was 99 percent of the world's population being wiped out."

Antonio's face slipped a little as Jayden said this, causing the Red Ranger to feel badly. He regretted bringing down his mood.

"I didn't mean..."

"No, Antonio you're right. There are a lot of good things about Corinth." He told him. "I know that what happened, well...bad doesn't even begin to cover what it was like, but there's a lot of good things about this place."

"Really?" Antonio asked him. "It's not too sci fi for you? I know you like that old-school stuff."

"Hey, I like Twitter as much as the next guy." Jayden reminded him. "Just because I was raised around all that Samurai stuff doesn't mean to say I live in a time warp. I guess there are some things our world could learn from here."

"Like the tech?" Antonio asked him.

"Like a lot of things." Jayden told him. "I talked to Scott not long after we got here. Did you know that hate crimes are extremely uncommon here?"

"Really?" Antonio asked.

"Apparently less than one percent of all violent offences have a motive of discrimination." Jayden told him. "The way he tells it, because mankind had to stand together against Venjix, the differences between people just stopped meaning so much."

"I guess that is one good thing to come out of all this." Antonio responded.

"He told me something else." Jayden continued. "He told me Marcus was gay."

"Marcus?" Antonio asked. He had heard the name, everyone in Corinth had. It was impossible to be there for long without hearing it. Truman was a legendary name in the city, having three of the biggest heroes in their history.

"He said that Marcus had to put up with the whole DADT thing." Jayden told him. "He said he wished that he could have lived to see Corinth the way it is now, and know that the fight was worth it."

"You're right." Antonio replied. "There is a lot our world could learn from this place."

Just then, the others all started to file out. The RPM Rangers were going on the tour with them, to show them the sights. Dillon was walking with Summer, keeping her in his arms protectively, looking around like a member of the secret service trying to maintain a perimeter.

"For goodness sake Dillon, I'm not made of glass!" She chastised him as he took her to the bus.

"Summer, you have to expect this." Emily told her with a huge grin. "You know that he's not going to let you out of his sight."

"I did survive a whole gang war only a few days ago." She reminded him. "It's not like this just..."

"You didn't know then. If you had, I'd never have let you fight." He assured her.

"Let me?" Summer called out, turning to glare at him darkly. "Alright, you know..."

"Blood pressure." Mike teased her. "Remember, it's not just you anymore. Stress isn't good for the baby."

"Then back off and let me relax." Summer told him. Dillon held his hands clear, but as she turned to the bus and started up the stairs, he immediately grabbed her. She just groaned.

"Damn it Dillon, I've been climbing stairs since I was six! I think I can manage it." She told him. Ziggy just came across and tapped him on the shoulder as Tenaya and Milo got onto the bus, separating him from Summer before he stressed her out any further.

"Welcome to the joys of the expectant father." Ziggy told him. They all filed onto the bus, taking their seats. Tenaya had taken the seat next to Summer, meaning that Dillon had to take the seat behind. A little way off, Mia and Kevin couldn't help looking at them.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, knowing that it had to bring back some memories. She just nodded.

"A lot of the moms at the play group had more than one kid. I had to deal with seeing women fall pregnant." She assured him. "It hurt at first, but over time, not as much."

"I'm here." He told her. "If it becomes..."

"No, I'm fine." She reassured him. "Seriously, I'm happy for them."

As he held her and looked over to where Summer was sitting, Dillon was leaning over, still hassling her and checking everything was alright with her. She kept insisting it was, and snapping at him occasionally, but Mia and Kevin both noticed the little ghost of a smile that kept appearing on her face when he tried to attend to her.

"That's one lucky kid." Kevin commented. Mia just nodded in agreement as Hicks got onto the coach.

"Alright guys, we're taking you on a tour that I've personally arranged, culminating in a banquet in your honour at City Hall." Hicks told them. "The first stop on the tour is going to be the memorial park. Flynn, whenever you're ready, roll out."

"Hold on everyone, here we go." Flynn stated as they pulled away from the curb.

Back in their own reality, Spike was arriving at the school, and made his way to his locker. As he got to his locker though, he noticed some books lying on the floor.

"What the...?" He heard a knocking on the door of the locker next to his, coming from the inside. He just sighed.

"Jimmy?" He asked.

"Spike?" He replied. "Come on, let me out!"

"Where's the key?" He asked. There were a few more bangs from inside.

"It's in my pocket." He told him. "OK, I'm sliding it out the grill OK?"

Spike just caught the key as it came out, before working the padlock, finally opening it. Jimmy fell out, landing in a heap on the floor.

"Alright, who was it?" Spike asked him.

"Does it matter?" Jimmy asked him. Spike rolled his eyes.

"Alright, so it was Brad." Spike stated. He saw the head teacher, Dr. Phelps walking along the hall. He ran over.

"Dr. Phelps, can I talk to you?" Spike asked. He just smiled.

"Of course you can my boy; you know I have an open door policy." He responded. "What can I help you with?"

"It's Jimmy, some of the seniors are giving him a hard time." Spike told him. Jimmy just ran over, and gave Spike a horrified look, before turning to Dr. Phelps.

"Dr. Phelps..."

"Oh, so what happened?" He asked.

"They locked him in his locker." Spike told him. "He had the key on him. If I hadn't come by, he'd still be in there. Who knows when someone would have let him out?"

"Really?" Dr. Phelps asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Jimmy pulled Spike down.

"Are you trying to get me run up the flagpole?" He whispered. "Everyone knows you don't tattle."

"How do you expect things to change if you don't do anything?" Spike asked him. He looked to Dr. Phelps, who seemed to be looking to the pile of books on the floor.

"So who did this?" He asked him.

"It was Brad!" Spike rushed out before Jimmy could stop him. "He and the football team have been making everyone's life miserable."

"I see." Dr. Phelps replied. "And did you actually see them shove Johnny..."

"Jimmy." The younger kid corrected him.

"Did you actually see the incident?" Dr. Phelps asked. Spike shook his head.

"Well, technically no but..."

"Well it's a very serious accusation to make without proof Mr Skullovitch." Dr. Phelps replied. He then looked to Jimmy. "Were you hurt lad?"

"No." Jimmy mumbled. The principal just smiled.

"Well then, I guess no harm done." He responded.

"No harm done?" Spike shrieked. "He was locked in! He had the key! If I hadn't come, he could have been in there till recess!"

"But he wasn't was he?" Dr. Phelps replied. "No, I have a feeling this was all a little high jinks that got a little out of hand."

"Out of hand?" Spike shrieked again. "Are you serious?"

"Look Mr. Skullovitch, I'm not going to start pulling students into my office without any proof. Unless Johnny..."

"Jimmy." He corrected him again.

"Unless Jimmy makes a complaint, and has some way to back it up..."

"And I suppose because Brad has the whole football team as witnesses, you'll believe him anyway." Spike said in an exasperated tone. Dr. Phelps suddenly seemed a lot less cheerful and lowered himself to look Spike in the eyes.

"This school runs smoothly Mr Skullovitch." He told him. "If you have some proof of any of your ludicrous accusations, come to me. Other than that, do not rock the boat."

As Dr. Phelps walked away, spike just stood open-mouthed in complete disgust. Jimmy just gathered his books.

"Yeah, you have an open-door policy." He commented sarcastically. "That way it doesn't hit anyone on the ass on the way out when you send them packing without doing anything!"

"I told you it wouldn't do any good." Jimmy told him. As Spike was about to answer, the first bell rang. "Damn, I've got to get to the science block. I'll see you at recess."

Spike watched him go, and his fists clenched in anger. Although Vicky had warned him when he started, it had now been confirmed that the administration did nothing to help the kids being victimised. He remembered his own words to Jimmy as he gathered his own books for his first class. Things were never going to change if he didn't do something himself.