Summer Cove Middle School had only just returned after the summer break, and things were running pretty much as everyone expected. Ace was standing by the bike racks, making sure no one got near his pride and joy, his custom 10-speed. He looked forward to the day he could finally get a real vehicle like a car, but that was still a couple of years away. He stood, taking a casual draw as he watched to make sure none of the new kids were dumb enough to use the same rack for their bikes. The kids that were here before already knew better than to use the same rack to hold their bike, doing so was an invitation to spend a couple of hours in a locker. Actually scratching it...well...no one wanted to find out what Ace would do then.

"Hey cuz." Victor said as he arrived. This Victor wasn't the one that a lot of the kids that knew him in High School. He was dressed a lot more like Ace now, in a leather jacket and white t-shirt and ripped jeans. He had a lot less of the usual bombastic demeanour about him. This Victor was more miserable. "Got one of those for me?"

"Since when did you start smoking?" Ace asked him, flipping out a cigarette for his cousin and lighting it for him. Victor just shrugged as he took his first draw. "So how was the funeral?"

"Didn't go." Victor grumbled. Ace just looked to him a little strangely. "All those guys in uniforms I've never met telling me how great dad was like they were his best friends. I just stayed in the hotel."

"Sorry man." Ace answered. Victor just shrugged.

"A lot of new fish." He commented. Ace just snorted.

"A lot of folks decided they don't want to live in Harwood anymore." Ace told him. "Usually it's just the new freshmen we have to whip into shape, this year I've got a whole swarm of kids to educate how things work around here."

"Don't worry about it." Victor sighed. "We only have one more year here anyway."

"Looks like we have our first lesson right here." Ace commented as a kid approached the bike racks. He was pushing a bike that looked like it had been cobbled together out of stuff drawn from a dumpster and welded together. Unusually for a boy, he actually had a basket on the front, in which he was carrying his backpack which was adorned with a whole host of buttons from various forms of anime and museums. The kid had a sort of almost afro hair-cut, but was a scrawny kid that looked so pale they were almost surprised he didn't burst into flames in direct sunlight. He was wearing a collared shirt and trousers with a bow tie, and had glasses. "Hey kid, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I...I...I was just going to..."

"This rack is for MY bike." Ace told him. "Park it somewhere else."

"There's...there's nowhere else." The young Monty stammered. "All the other racks are taken."

"Just put your bike over there." Victor chuckled. "I can pretty much guarantee no one will take it. Hell, they'd probably feel sorry for you and leave you money for a real bike."

"Well I...I need to lock it up." Monty told them. "It's a whole rack, I can put mine at the end here, it's nowhere near your bike..."

"Listen kid, I'm not going to tell you again, beat it!" Victor told him.

"No, wait Victor, maybe we're being a little hasty here." Ace said as a smile crossed his lips. He approached Monty and inspected his bag, looking at the pins in particular. While many of them were dedicated to his many fandoms, he also had a lot that were dedicated to science. He was a frequent visitor to museums and suchlike, and a few were even for competitions he had been to. "You some kind of super-nerd?"

"Really Ace? Look at him!" Victor scoffed.

"No, look at this, spelling bee champion, math bowl, science expo...this guy's a regular Egon Must."

"I think you mean Elon Musk..."

"Did I ask you?" Ace asked.

"Well...yeah, you did...sort of." Monty rambled. Ace put an arm around him.

"Well, you see we have a few problems with teachers." Ace told him. "Not so much with tests, we've got that covered, but our course work, they just give us so much and we have so many other interests..."

"Well I would be happy to help with some tutoring..."

"Yeah, see that doesn't work for us. That still sounds like an awful lot of work." Ace told him. "I think we'd prefer if you just...did it for us."

"I don't think..."

"Well I don't think that you have much choice now do you?" Ace asked him. "You hungry Victor?"

"Always." Victor chuckled, seeing his cousin shaking down the new fish. It was clear this kid was terrified of him. It wasn't hard to see why; the kid's arms were so skinny they looked like Ace could snap them between his fingers.

"Well maybe since we're being so kind to our new friend here, letting him use our rack, he'll be kind enough to return the favour." Ace suggested, holding out his hand. "Those vending machines aren't cheap you know."

"B...but I only have five bucks." Monty told him. "My mom gave me that for lunch."

"Well consider this the start of your diet." Ace told him, shoving him against a wall and going through Monty's pockets. He found his wallet and pulled out the money, before tossing it back at him.

"Thanks." Ace replied. "Lock your bike up here all you like kid. Just don't forget to bring payment."

With that, Victor and Ace left, leaving Monty to retrieve his wallet and lock up his bike. It was the start of a pattern of harassment that would last most of the year.

Back in the present, the Rangers were in Home Economics Class, but for once there weren't any kids that were particularly unhappy. The only person in the classroom that didn't look like they were having a good time was Principal Hastings, who by virtue of yet another member of staff leaving had to oversee this class. The kids though were delighted, because on this day, they were making an inordinate amount of chocolate!

The school had been signed up to a children's charity auction, and were using Home Economics to provide the treats for sale. Of course with a bunch of kids and a classroom that was looking more like a scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, spirits were understandably high.

"So that's us down another teacher?" Brody asked.

"Yeah, Mr Edwards upped and quit last week." Hayley told them. "He had some relatives out east. I guess he finally had enough of all the attacks."

"Yeah, the janitor's gone too." Calvin added. "I went into the bathrooms this morning...let me tell you, that was NOT pretty!"

"Alright class, it's almost lunchtime!" Principal Hastings told them. "Finish filling your moulds! I want to be out of here sharp!"

"Sure thing Principal Hastings!" Hayley called over. "Wow, someone should tell her about charity. None of us would mind being held back a few minutes to finish this up, that last couple of batches just wouldn't set in this heat."

"Maybe charity isn't her thing." Sarah answered with a shrug.

"Are you kidding? It was her idea!" Preston told her. "She's done this every year since she got here!"

"Less talk, more pouring!" Principal Hastings rushed out, clapping to make a point. "Let's go people!"

"It's alright Principal Hastings, we can finish up here." Victor told her.

"Fine, just...lock up when you're done!" She sighed, throwing the keys to Victor and leaving with the kind of urgency usually reserved for someone fleeing law enforcement or running towards incredible riches.

"Well, I guess that gives us..."

Just then, their morphers bleeped. Sarah just rolled her eyes.

"Great, what now?" She asked.

"Guys, there's something big going down at the ice rink." Mick told them. "Ripcon's shown up and...he's not alone."

"Ripcon?" Brody gasped. "Alright, we need to go, NOW!"

"Um...Victor, we need to go." Sarah said as she approached him. "We've already poured our moulds, could you keep an eye on them?"

"Sure thing." Victor said with a shrug. He gestured to Monty, who was standing on the table, about to pour chocolate into a massive mould as the lunch bell went. "Pour the mould Monty! Lunch can wait!"

Back in the past, Monty went to school as he had for months. Ace had made it his personal mission to make life miserable for him. Monty's parents had never encouraged conflict, which was a good thing since Monty had the muscle definition of well-cooked linguine, but that didn't mean that Ace left him alone. Monty arrived at the bike rack, finding Ace, along with his friends, and Victor waiting for him. He smiled as he saw him.

"Monty! I was starting to worry you were throwing a sick day!" Ace said as he approached. "So, have you got those essays for us?"

Monty just opened his bag and pulled out a few documents, handing them over. It was only down to how good a student Monty was, combined with the fact he didn't have any friends that he had the time to do not only his own homework, but other versions for Ace and Victor. Ace looked to them and smiled.

"You hungry Victor?" He asked. Monty just groaned.

"Oh come on!" He complained. "I gave you..."

"I'm peckish." Victor answered with a smirk. Ace grabbed Monty's bag and pulled it off him. After the first couple of days, Monty started bringing packed lunches instead of money for the canteen. It was his parents' idea to keep him out of conflict. They reasoned if he didn't have any money, they would leave him alone. They were wrong; it seemed that Ace was just as happy taking his lunches as he was his lunch money.

"Sandwiches, nice!" Ace called out, throwing them to Victor. He reached into the Tupperware for something else; usually they sent him with sandwiches and also a kind of treat. He wrinkled his nose as he pulled out a small box. "What the hell is this?"

"They're...um...raisins." Monty told him. They all turned around as they heard Victor spitting and coughing wildly.

"What the hell?" He spluttered, looking at the contents of the sandwich. "Is that..."

"Um...it's...tongue." Monty told him. This was now his parents' latest scheme to get Monty to keep his lunch. Monty's parents were heavily into nutrition and only encouraged him to eat things that normally a lot of kids turned their noses up at. Tongue, liver, kidney, sardines...all of them were very healthy and all of them Monty was more than happy to eat, but the average kid his age...not so much!

"What the hell are you trying to do to me Monty? Poison me?" Victor protested, throwing the sandwich at him. Ace threw the raisins at him before looking to the others.

"Well, since you didn't pay for the rack, you have to use alternate parking." Ace told him, gesturing to the dumpster. Ace's friends laughed as they grabbed Monty's bike and picked it up.

"No, no wait, please don't..." The air was driven out of Monty as Ace punched him hard in the gut. He fell to the ground, struggling to breathe as the other kids dumped his bike in the dumpster.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why we're so good to you Monty." Ace told him, gently tapping Monty's cheek. "It's like you WANT me to be mean to you the way you keep testing my patience with these stunts."

As Ace and his friends left, laughing and congratulating him, Monty pulled himself to his feet, and started to struggle to remove his bike from the trash. He trapped his fingers on the chain and swore loudly, beginning to kick and punch the dumpster in anger as he swore at it, before bursting into tears. He had done everything his parents had told him. He had been nice, he had laughed when people called him names, he had gone out of his way to avoid any kind of confrontation, but now it was clear. None of it worked.

He grabbed his bike and with a massive yell, his adrenaline kicked in and he pulled it out, where it hit the ground. He chained up his bike, wiping away his tears. It was now more clear than ever. No matter what he did, no matter how much he accommodated Ace, he would never leave him alone. If he ever wanted to be free of him, he'd have to do something to make him!

Of course there was the ever present problem. Ace was huge! Well, by comparison to him anyway. Any attempt to fight him would end very quickly and very predictably. Ace had floored him with one punch and by the looks of things he wasn't even trying.

Then there was another problem. He had always heard the stories from others who always said that if you met a bully just punch the biggest one on the nose and it would all be over. It was a beautiful story, one that gave hope to more than one kid, but the problem was he had seen how it REALLY ended. Bullies went around in groups because they were cowards.

The friends were there mainly as an audience for their antics, but also for back-up in case things went badly. The one or two times he had seen a kid take a swing at their bully usually what happened was he was immediately dragged to the ground by his five or six friends and beaten to a pulp! It wasn't fair; if brains were a deciding factor then Ace wouldn't have a chance against him. Unfortunately brains didn't figure much into the basic physics equation of a fist versus a face. No, if he was going to be able to survive, he needed to find a way to make sure Ace and ALL of his friends knew that coming after him was a bad idea. He needed to figure out a way that ensured none of them would dare look his way ever again!

The Rangers got to the ice rink, finding people already fleeing the area.

"Mick, are you sure you've got this right?" Calvin asked. "You said Ripcon was here but I only see Kudabots!"

"And there are a lot of them!" Sarah added. "But...they're not attacking people. It almost looks like they're...looking for someone."

"Look who else is here!" Hayley called out, pointing a little way off. Looking up, they all saw Aiden doing his very best to battle the Kudabots and clear a way for people to escape.

It was something to behold. It was very clear that he knew the same moves and techniques as Brody, having been taught by the same teacher, but he was far more aggressive, and a lot of his technique was interspersed with what could only be described as gutter-war tactics. Aiden had told them he had to use his skills a few times on the streets, and it looked like he had learned how to get pretty down and dirty when the situation called for it. The Kudabots were falling in droves beneath his attacks.

"Everybody get out of here!" Aiden called out, disarming one of its spear before impaling it with its own weapon.

"Way to go Aiden!" Brody called out. He looked to his friends. "You still think he's just a show-off?"

Levi and Hayley knew that this was a shot at them. They had voiced concerns over Aiden before now, but here it looked a lot more like he was genuinely there to help. As the Rangers ran in to join the battle, there was an explosion from the building and Ripcon stumbled out.

"Odious!" He screamed. "Come on out here Odious, I know you're on this planet somewhere!"

He stumbled and staggered as he swung wildly, looking around the area.

"ODIOUS!" He screamed, before his eyes came to rest on Brody. "Rat-bait? What are you doing here?"

"You're attacking the city! We came to stop you!" Brody answered. "That's kind of how this all works."

"Brody, I don't see any Buzz-Cams." Sarah commented.

"ODIOUS!" Ripcon screamed again as he spun around, before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. The Rangers all stared at him, completely confused.

"Wait, what's going on?" Hayley asked. "Is he sick or something?"

"No, but he probably will be in a few hours!" Preston commented, holding a hand over his face as he got close. "He smells like a brewery! A really, really bad one!"

"I'm still more than enough to take care of you!" Ripcon said as he got to his feet, swaying a little as he stood up. He drew both his swords. "Come on! I'll take you all on!"

The Rangers were about to advance when Ripcon held up a hand to indicate to them to stop. They watched as he weaved and stumbled for a bit, before doubling over and vomiting all over the ground.

"Ew gross!" Hayley commented.

"He's smashed out of his brain!" Calvin stated. "He's more of a danger to himself than anyone else!"

Ripcon swung a sword their way, casting out an energy wave that knocked them all down.

"OK, maybe...he's still a danger to us." Calvin conceded.

"He's out of his face, but he's still dangerous." Brody commented. "This might be the best chance to take care of him before..."

Unfortunately he never finished that thought. A beam hit the ground and he disappeared before their eyes. The team all looked at each other.

"Um...OK, that was just weird right?" Levi asked. "It's not just me."

"He said he was looking for Odious right?" Sarah asked. "Maybe he has some kind of dispute with her and us getting involved was just...kind of an accident?"

"That's interesting. If they have a beef with each other, that might be something that we can use against them." Brody answered as he went to his brother and smiled. "Thanks for your help Aiden."

"Hey, any time." Aiden said with a smile. "That's what we were trained for right?"

"The only thing I don't get is, if Ripcon is looking for Odious, why would he come here?" Preston asked.

"He was drunk out of his skull; it probably made sense at the time." Calvin told him.

"Or maybe I was here all along!" Madame Odious said, catching their attention. Toxitea was standing next to her. "Toxitea, why don't you start with White and Gold?"

"With pleasure!" Toxitea told her, firing a blast their way. Brody ran and blocked the attack with his body, being knocked off his feet.

"BRODY!" Aiden called out, but Brody was already back on his feet before Aiden could help him.

"It's alright, I'll be fine." Brody assured him. "I've been hit harder than that by kudabots!"

"Toxitea, your attack failed!" Odious stated. "Let's get out of here!"

With that, they ran off, disappearing in a flash. The Rangers all just stared after them.

"What was that all about?" Preston asked.

"I don't know." Brody answered as they all powered down. "But we don't have time to worry about it now. We have some more chocolate to make for that auction. Victor and Monty could use some help."

"Chocolate?" Aiden asked with a smile. "You didn't say anything about chocolate!"

"Aiden, you can't just walk into school." Sarah told him. He just laughed.

"Ninja, remember?" He asked her. "Just show me where the chocolate is and let me worry about the rest!"