Being a leader means more than making tough decisions that will decide the fate of the universe. When it comes to being a leader and your team has joined forces with another team, there is going to be friction between the leaders. That is the case now between the Spice Club and the Power Rangers.

Kathy was in her bedroom on the Astro Megaship, standing in front of a mirror practicing her acting skills.

"Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo," she sighed. "Nah, that’s pathetic. Hmm.... We have nothing to fear but fear itself. No, no..... Beware the jabberwocky, my son...."

Before she could continue, Carlos entered the room. He carried a box behind his back. "Hey, Kathy."

"Hey, Carlos," Kathy replied. "I just tried on my new outfit; do you like it?"

Kathy wore a blue and white striped T-shirt along with dark blue jeans.

"Yeah, I think it’s great!" Carlos replied with exaggeration. "But when you see the gift that I have for you, I think you’re going to want to make a quick change."

Carlos set the gift on Kathy’s bed. Kathy skipped over to it and opened it up. Inside was a red sweater.

"So, what do you think?" Carlos asked.

"Well.....it’s.....so well-made," Kathy replied, using tact. "I don’t think I’ll wear it today, though. I’ll just put it away and wear it for something special, like a holiday celebration."

"Wait! You can wear it then, too, but it would really make me happy if you’d wear it today," Carlos said.

"But I wanna wear what I have on!"

"You can wear what you have on; just put this over it."

"I know what’s going on; you want me to cover up what I’m wearing because Andros thinks that we dress weird, right? Andros thinks that WE’RE weird."

"Why would he think that? He hardly knows you guys."

"Well, he didn’t have to know us to decide that he didn’t like us," Kathy said.

"Where did you get the idea that Andros doesn’t like you guys?" Carlos asked.

"Excuse me? From you, and I am quoting you, ‘Andros can’t stand you and your friends.’"

"Okay, maybe that’s what he said, but I think you guys can get along with Andros. He’s really a nice guy."

Kathy sighed. "Okay, I’ll put on this sweater."

She stood in front of the mirror and put on the red sweater, then turned to face Carlos.

"Isn’t that a beautiful sweater?" he asked. "That look is you!"

Kathy stared at him with a stupid look on her face.

"I feel much less nervous now; thank you." Carlos noticed the pair of earrings that Kathy wore. One earring was a cat, and the other was a fishbone. "Kathy, are those the earrings that you’re gonna wear?"

Kathy gasped.

"Don’t get me wrong, I like them; it’s just Andros," Carlos told her.

"Well, don’t worry; Andros won’t see them, okay?" Kathy stormed over to the jump tube room with Carlos on her heels. She reached into her locker, pulled out a pair of blue earmuffs and put them on. "You’re right, Carlos, these are much better," she said with a British accent."

"Kathy...." Carlos began.

"Ta-ta."

"Kathy....Kathy!!" Carlos chased the ten-year-old out of the room.

Meanwhile, several other Spices and the Rangers were on the bridge making conversation. Carlos and Kathy entered the room. Jenny was telling the others about her visit to the planet Onyx.

"Probably the most frightening part was when Darkonda asked me to go on a dinner date with him, and I actually considered agreeing," she said. "And the time when that one guy wanted to kill me because I won their twisted game of poker. They’re such poor sports."

"What was that about the dinner date?" Carlos asked.

"Oh....nothing," Jenny replied.

"Kathy, I’m glad you’re in here," Andros said. "I wanted to ask you, how does it feel to be the youngest Spice Club member?"

"Uh...." Kathy looked for a place to sit down, but she didn’t want to sit directly next to Andros, so she forced herself between Jenny and Earl. Hallie was sitting in Earl’s lap.

"It’s going really well," Kathy told Andros. "Don’t you?"

"We’re dead," Hallie said.

"She’s proud of it," Kathy said with a laugh.

"I’ll go get some cheese and crackers," Jenny said as she headed out of the room.

Kathy jumped up and grabbed her arm. "I’ll come with you, help you...."

"Don’t be silly; the Rangers want to see you," Jenny replied. "Sit down."

Jenny took another step toward the door with Kathy still hanging on her.

"Okay, help you...." Kathy sang.

"Kathy, it’s just cheese and crackers."

"Okay, help you...."

At that point, Jenny gave up and let Kathy follow her to the jump tube room.

"I have a dollar that I don’t need. Anybody want it?" Earl asked.

"I’ll take it," T.J. replied, extending his hand.

Earl took T.J.’s hand and licked his palm. T.J. quickly pulled his hand back.

"Gotcha," Earl said.

In the jump tube room.......

"Kathy, is there something going on between you and Andros?" Jenny asked.

Kathy shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Nothing; things couldn’t be better," she lied.

"Kathy, this is me you’re talking to," Jenny told her.

"Well, there’s just friction between Andros and me."

"Well, that’s not such an uncommon thing. Andros is seventeen, eighteen, and you’re only ten. That’s a big age difference. But of course there’s going to be friction between teams. I went through a similar thing with Tommy."

"This is different," Kathy said. Then she dropped the news. "Andros can’t stand us."

"Us, who?" Jenny asked.

"Us, the Spice Club. He can’t stand us."

"You may think that, but I’m sure it just isn’t true."

"I happen to know that it’s true.

"Did the man look you in the eye and say, ‘Kathy, I can’t stand you and your friends?’"

"No. He said it to Carlos," Kathy said.

Jenny’s eyes widened in surprise. "He did?"

"Carlos told me twice that Andros can’t stand us; he thinks we’re flakes," Kathy explained. "Can you believe that? We haven’t done anything to Andros, have we?"

"No, but why would he say this behind our backs?"

"I don’t know. There’s only one thing that he said to my face. He once said, ‘I hope you don’t approach your enemies like you did your childhood.’ Then Carlos made me put on this damn sweater!"

Then Kathy stormed out of the room. Jenny remained completely still. She walked over to the dining table.

"Oh really?" she muttered aloud. "Hungry, are you? I don’t blame the other Rangers; I wouldn’t feed you either."

As she walked about, Andros came in.

"Need some help?" he asked.

Jenny hesitated before answering.....

Kathy went back onto the bridge where the others were still sitting.

"Where’re the cheese and crackers?" T.J. asked.

"Oh, the orders are going to have to wait," Kathy told him. "Jenny wants to talk to Andros alone."

"Gimme my dollar back, please," Earl said.

T.J. glared at him.

"Hallie, let’s go to the mall," Kathy suggested. "You coming, Cyberninjas?"

The Cyberninjas were leaning against the wall, apparently asleep. They perked their heads up. "Sure."

They followed the little girls out of the bridge. Earl and T.J. suddenly realized that they were alone.

"People seem to be clearing out of here fast," Earl said.

"I wonder why Jenny and Andros are in there talking to each other......alone?" T.J. asked.

"I think I know what it is," Earl whispered. He and T.J. leaned closer to each other. "Carlos told me that Andros made some remarks about the Spice Club, which Carlos foolishly told Kathy."

"What kind of remarks?" T.J. asked.

"Well, Carlos said.....that Andros said.....that he can’t stand the Spice Club. Now, I’m thinking that Kathy told Jenny what Carlos said Andros said."

"So Jenny just found out what Carlos said that Andros said?"

"You said it," Earl told him.

"Word," T.J. muttered.

"So, Jenny, you live in an abandoned funeral parlor?" Andros asked. "I remember seeing it before. You and your pals have done some lovely work on it."

"Yeah, we’ve managed," Jenny replied with an evil grin on her face.

"Uh, I don’t think you need any help in here. I think I’ll spend some time with T.J."

Andros began to leave the room.

"Andros," Jenny called sweetly yet seriously.

"Hmm?"

"Could we sit......?"

The two team leaders sat at the table together.

"Andros......Baby Spice is not comfortable with you," Jenny said.

"I sense something is going on."

"Carlos told her what you said about us."

"What did I say?"

"You said you can’t stand the Spice Club."

"What!? I would never say anything like that!" Andros cried.

"Carlos said you did," Jenny told him.

"Let me start by telling you about a recent battle. I was scanning all over the universe, searching for my sister, who was kidnapped years ago. The search led me to my home planet, KO-35. So I went down there and Ecliptor attacked me. Now Carlos decides to come down and help me, but then he gets badly hurt. And then all the Rangers came together and drove Ecliptor away. I was so upset. When Carlos recovered, I took him aside, and I said, ‘Carlos, I can’t stand this!’ I’m talking about I can’t stand the way he comes down and helps me when I don’t want him to. It has NOTHING to do with the Spice Club. I was angry with Carlos."

"Well, you have been misquoted."

Andros nodded. "Those people had better be thankful to have leaders like us, who can put up with them."

"I want to thank you, because we are the best things that ever happened to them," Jenny said.

"Just wait ‘til they get the same frustration that they’re giving us."

"Andros, let’s get on our knees and pray. Let’s pray that Ashley and Cassie graduate from high school, and come home one day, each with three husbands, four children, and a dog!"

Jenny and Andros broke into laughter.

Meanwhile, in another room, Ashley was trying on a yellow dress that Hanim had sewn for her.

"Hanim, I love this dress! Did you make it yourself?" Ashley asked.

"Yes, I did. So what’s happening with you?"

"Well, I need to think about my future. I’ll be graduating before I realize it. I’ve been researching what schools I’ll be going into afterwards."

"What schools are you going into?" Hanim asked.

"Angel Grove University, hopefully," Ashley said. "But you need a high GPA to get in that one, so I’ve researched a few less strict schools as close to home as possible. But they’re all pretty strict."

As Ashley stood on the table, Hanim took the pin and poked Ashley’s behind with it.

"Ow!" Ashley cried.

Hanim gasped. "Oh, I’m sorry, but you’ve got to stop jiggling."

"Yeah, okay," Ashley said. "So what about you? What are you doing?"

"I really can’t do much of anything. I threw my life away, remember? But I probably would have gone on to become a singer or a fashion designer."

"And this dress would have been the beginning. You know, the only reason why I want to get into Angel Grove University is because of all the gorgeous guys I’ve heard about."

"Oh, knock it off. They’re probably the same guys you went to high school with." Hanim poked Ashley’s behind again on purpose.

"Ow!" Ashley cried. "Hanim, don’t you have any dull pins?"

"Doing the best I can," Hanim replied.

"Well, I don’t mean to keep going on about myself."

"That’s okay. You’re not the only one with pins --- I mean plans."

Ashley climbed down from the table and gazed at herself in the mirror. "You know, I may not get into all those schools."

"Ashley, you’ll get in," Hanim told her. "I was hoping to work in Hollywood, but my life was too spoiled."

"Oh, you would’ve introduced me to all your celebrity friends, right?"

"Oh, Ashley, they’re just like you and me."

"Anyway, Hanim, thanks for the dress; it’ll look great for the prom!" Ashley gushed.

"Anytime, Ashley," Hanim replied. "Anytime."

Andros and Jenny returned to the bridge. It was completely empty.

"Hmm. I wonder where Earl and T.J. went?" Andros asked.

"Probably down in the Hull House basement," Jenny told him. "That because Earl thinks nobody likes to go down there. Little doth he know that when he’s not about, I am down in there listening to those hip-hop albums."

"I see," Andros replied.

Spinal entered the room with a yawn.

"Spinal, sleepwalking again, are we?" Jenny asked.

"Yep," Spinal said sleepily. "I need to heal my skull. It’s still sensitive."

"What happened?" Andros asked.

"You don’t want to know," Spinal told him.

Finally, Carlos, Kathy, and the Cyberninjas came onto the bridge.

"Hi, we’re back from the store," Kathy said. "Is it okay that we’re back from the store?"

"We’re delighted," Jenny said. "Where’s Hallie?"

"She’s playing with C.C." Carlos said.

"Well, I’m pleased to see you back, Carlos," Andros said.

"I take it everything went well in here?" Carlos asked.

"It certainly did. We got to the bottom of things, and that’s where we found you."

"Huh?"

"You told the Spices that I can’t stand them," Andros told him. "And that’s just not true."

"It’s not?" Carlos and Kathy asked.

"No, it isn’t," Andros repeated.

"But Andros, I was there when you said it," Carlos protested.

"I’m sure you were, but you really didn’t listen. I told you that I don’t like the way you come and help me when I don’t want you to. I have nothing against the Spices. I don’t even know the Spices. As far as I’m concerned, I think the Spices are wonderful people."

"You do?" Kathy asked.

"Yes. You’re all going to be my very good friends," Andros told her.

In response, Kathy ran up and hugged Andros.

"And to THINK, Carlos, that you had me upset with Andros," Jenny scolded. "This.....FINE young man!"

"I know, but---" Carlos began.

"You made me put on this disgusting sweater because you thought Andros couldn’t stand us," Kathy scolded.

"You made her put.....?" Andros cried. "Oh, take that off; that’s not you!"

"Thank you," Kathy sighed as she took off the sweater.

"Can I just say something here?" Carlos asked.

"No, you can’t say anything," Jenny told him.

Andros, Jenny, and Kathy were all scolding Carlos simultaneously. While Carlos tried to protest, they kept talking. Finally, Carlos gave up and covered his face, feeling ashamed of himself.

So Jenny proved herself to be a good leader, by smoothing out the friction that came between the two teams. Now the other Rangers and Spices can feel more secure with each other, thus making their teamwork even more formidable. Go, Tonfa Spice!!

The End... for now