Me: YAY! NEW STORY!
Friend: How can you be happy if you haven't even finished your other stories?
Me: Because I can. (stick's tongue out at friend and runs)
Friend: GET BACK HERE!
Other Friend: Please read and review and don't flame (bows)
Chapter 1: Exercise of Fear
The rangers have all gathered at a clearing outside of RootCore. Daggeron was going to make them do a training exercise that would increase their powers.
(A/N and their also doing this in the morning at around 5 and its freezing cold)
"W-why ar-re we ou-u-tside at 5 i-i-in the morn-ning i-i-n the freez-z-zing c-c-cold," Vida questioned as she and the other rangers wrapped their cloaks around themselves in a futile attempt to get warm.
"Don't know but this is really ridiculous," Xander complained.
"Nonsense! Heroes shou-" Chip started to shout before Nick covered his mouth in an attempt to get him to shut up.
"Thanks Nick," Madison said, grateful that Chip finally shut up.
Daggeron walked out of RootCore and smiled at the shivering rangers.
"Good morning Rangers! I hope you are all ready for the exercise that I had planned today!"
"And what is this exercise that could not wait until a more decent time oh great teacher," Xander replied sarcastically.
"I'm glad you asked," Daggeron said with a smile on his face, "Today you are going to face your fears and conquer it!"
Everybody looked at him with disbelief.
"How are we going to do that?" Nick asked.
"By entering your inner world. Your body will be here lying in a trance like state. You will only wake up when you have conquered your fear."
Everybody just stared at him.
Daggeron, not effected by the stares asked, "Are you ready rangers?"
"Ready!" they all shouted at attention.
"Alright then. Let's begin!" Daggeron said before casting a spell that made each fall into a dreamlike state.
'I hope your ready rangers,' Daggeron thought as he looked worriedly at their limp bodies.
Nick's Dream:
"Where am I?" Nick asked himself as he looked around a dark room.
Suddenly he heard voices. As he listened he realized that the voices were his friends.
Voice 1: "Nick is such an idiot. I can't believe he actually thought he had our trust."
Voice 2: "Yeah I know. He is so stupid."
Voice 3: "Did he really think that just being with us made him a close friend? He is so gullible."
Voice 4: "Yeah. Why should we trust him? He didn't even trust us until we almost died for him."
"No…" Nick said, "That's not true….this isn't real."
But try as he might, Nick could not escape the voices that taunted him. For what seemed like hours, he stood there trying to block out the voices until finally he realized something.
"Wait. Of course this isn't real…this is just a test to see if I can conquer my fear."
Nick stood there and took a deep breath.
He then said, "My fear is the loss of trust in people I care about. Sure I may have had some problems with people before but now that I have found those that I can really rely, I will protect them with my life."
After that declaration, Daggeron appeared and said, "Congrats Nick. You have passed. Remember, never forget that there are people who care."
And with that, Nick opened up his eyes to look at the clear sky above.
Vida's Dream:
"Ugh! My head," Vida said as she got up from the ground.
Vida observed her surroundings and realized she was in her and Madison's room.
"Why am I here?"
Suddenly heard shouting and screaming coming from behind her and saw her father standing over Madison.
Madison was crying for their father to stop as he yelled curse at her.
Then suddenly there was silence as Madison fell down to the floor dead after their father stabbed her with a knife.
"NOOOOOO! MADISON!" Vida shouted, running over to her sister.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I couldn't protect you….Please come back," Vida said crying and cradling her sister's head.
After crying for a few more minutes, she realized something.
"This is a test…from Daggeron. How could I be so stupid."
Smiling Vida stood up and wiped her face clear of tears.
"My fear is that I will never be strong enough to protect the ones I care about. That's why I always put on a tough girl persona as a way to look stronger than I really am."
Daggeron then appeared in front of her, "Congrats Vida. You have passed. Never forget that you will always be strong enough to protect others just by being yourself."
With that, Vida opened her eyes and looked at the blue sky with a smile.
Chip's Dream:
Chip was having a stare down with another him who was dressed as a superhero.
Then the other him said, "You should stop dreaming such childish dreams of being a superhero Chip. You know they will never come true."
"Yes they will!" Chip shouted.
"No they won't and you know that."
"I-I-I…" Chip said stuttering.
"You are too childish. Too immature. You think you can save anyone by just wearing a cape and a mask? Don't make me laugh."
Chip stood there motionless as his mouth moved up and down with no noise coming out.
His other self disappeared as Chip feel to his knees.
Chip kneeled there for a few hours digesting the information and thinking a thousand thoughts per minute.
Then smiling, he stood and said, "My fear is that I will never be able to save anyone unless I had superpowers or something."
Then Daggeron appeared in front of him smiling and said, "Congrats Chip. You passed. Always remember that you don't have to be special to save those close to you. Being who you are is enough."
And with that, Chip opened his eyes to the grinning faces of Vida and Nick.
Madison's Dream:
Madison turned in circles as she looked at the many mirrors that faced her.
Suddenly her reflections began to speak, "Hello Madison. Are you finally going to stop hiding behind your camera?"
"What do you mean? I don't hide" Madison protested.
Her reflections laughed, "I wouldn't be to sure about that. You never want anyone to see the real you. You think that they would ignore you for being such a smart goody-two shoes. That's why you hide."
"No I don't! That's just who I am!"
"Oh so then you admit that you do hide?"
"What! No…I…didn't…."
"It's useless trying to say otherwise Madison….After all I reflect the real you."
As the reflections laughed Madison stared in disbelief but then, being the smart and rational person of the group, thought.
She then realized that this was a test and then said, "My fear is that nobody will ever respect me for my true self. That is why I always hide behind my camera, hiding away my true personality."
Daggeron appeared in front of her and said, "Congrats Madison. You have passed, but always remember the people who truly care about you, are the ones who will accept the real you no matter what."
Madison smiled and then opened her eyes to the concerned face of her sister.
She sat up and saw that it was some time before noon.
"Madison!" Vida shouted, wrapping her arms around her sister, "You're alright!"
"Of course I am. Am I the last one to wake up?" Madison asked.
"No, Xander is still in his dream. We don't know what's taking so long. Even Daggeron is concerned," Nick replied.
The four friends looked worriedly at their unconscious Australian friend who began to mumble in his sleep.
Xander's Dream:
"Where am I?" Xander asked to himself as he observed his surroundings.
Then he suddenly realized where he was. He remembered this room with its single bed and pail lying innocently in a corner. A light bulb hung from the center and there was no window, just a small rectangular 12in by 3in opening near the top of one wall.
"Nonononononono," Xander kept repeating to himself, "This is not real. I'm not there. I'm just in my head and doing a test that Daggeron made. Ugh trust Daggeron to come up with the worst tests ever."
Then suddenly the door opened. In came a figure all dressed in black with a sinister smile on its face.
Xander stiffened and began to back away from the advancing figure who grinned with delight.
Then Xander hit the bed where the figure pounced on him.
Xander began to scream and struggle as the figure began to slash at him and his clothes with a knife.
In the real world:
The rangers who were just randomly walking around, waiting for Xander to wake up heard noises coming from the clearing.
They ran over and saw a still unconscious Xander screaming and shouting as he struggled against Daggeron who was trying to get him to calm down.
"STOP! STOP! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Xander shouted as he tried to beat off Daggeron and now Nick who was trying to wake him up.
Then Daggeron told Nick to get back and he shouted a spell which forced Xander out of his dream state and into the real world.
The friends ran over to Xander who was now curled into a fetal position and crying his eyes out.
"Xander are you alright?" Madison asked.
Xander shook his head as he continued to cry when Madison held him.
She ran her fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture and murmured calm things to him until he fell into a deep sleep having been exhausted by the recent events.
Nick turned to Daggeron and said, "Alright what happened? I thought you said this exercise was supposed to be harmless."
"They are," Daggeron said, "It was only meant to make you face your fear, not arm you."
"Then what happened to Xander," Vida said obviously angry at the fact that her friends was hurt.
"His fear must have been worse than what I thought," Daggeron said, "All I know is that it is something from his past."
"Well I don't care what it is that frightened him. Right now we should get Xander back to RootCore and help him heal," Madison said.
The others agreed. Daggeron carried Xander inside to RootCore where a concerned Udonna ran over to help.
Meanwhile in Some Place:
A dark figure was looking at a picture that held the face of a smiling young boy on it.
The figure than stood up and smiled saying, "Found you."
Me: Holy shit! What is this…this…
Friend: Monstrosity? Unholy Writing? Blasphemy?
Me: (frowns) No. I was going to say that this is completely different from my usual writings. Like the fact that I included you here and the fact that this is a very long chapter. Longer than I'm used too.
Friend: And that is bad how?
Me: Never mind, you'll never understand.
Friend: You're right, I never understand the mind of someone who should be in an asylum.
Me: Hey you take that back!
Friend: NO! (runs off to who knows where)
Other Friend: Please review and don't flame. eternalfire123 will try her best to update all her stories as soon as possible (bows).