Dare:

Madison's POV

"So you guys up to it?"

Xander was sitting at the table in Root core trying to convince the others and me to play a game. I didn't catch what the actual game was as I had been doing my summer reading. I heard Chip and Vida pull up chairs at the table in the center of the room, closely followed by Clare, who, it seemed, was tired of practice spells after turning Nick into a butterfly and back.

"So what exactly are we playing?" Clare asked. Chip explained.

"Oh, it's simple. Someone starts by asking anyone Truth or Dare. If they pick truth, you ask them a question and they have to answer truthfully. If they pick dare, you get to dare them to do anything short of being illegal."

"When did we make that a rule?" Xander asked playfully.

"After you dared Vida to steal half the CDs at the store because you were bored and wanted entertainment." I teased.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that."

"So who wants to ask first?" Nick asked the group at large.

"I want to try." Clare looked at Chip. "Truth or dare?"

"Um….I'm up for an adventure. Dare."

"Hm…..I dare you to turn yourself into a chicken."

"Oh come on Clare, think of something a little more challenging." Xander said.

"Like what? This is my first time playing. Give me a chance!"

"You can ask for help."

"Really? Then can you guys please help me think of a good dare?" Clare asked them.

"This is pretty hard. Chip is difficult to embarrass." Xander exclaimed.

"Yeah, didn't he wear his superman costume to prom?" Nick reminisced. Chip chuckled and shook his head.

"Best day of my life." He looked at Clare. "So what will be?"

"I got one." I said. Everyone looked at me. They probably forgot I was there. "How about if Chip has to do a special victory dance choreographed by us, next we beat one of Imperious' monsters?"

"That's a good one. Ok I dare you do that." Clare told Chip. He nodded.

"Ok fine. After the game Clare you can show the dance I have to do."

"Ok." Chip looked around.

"Xander, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Vida sniggered.

"Afraid are we?"

"No. Just giving you guys a fair chance at trying to embarrass Xander the Great.""Sure."

I glanced over at Nick who caught my eye. He rolled his eyes as if to say "Here we go again." I giggled, but then stopped surprised at myself. I never giggled. Yes I might blush and smile but never giggle. I had forgotten myself ever since we had become rangers, ever since Nick came to town.

"Well anyway," Chip said trying to interrupt Xander before he retaliated with an insult of his own. "Xander, what is your most embarrassing moment?"

"Ah. It was a few years ago. I…ah…wanted to ask this girl out so I went up to her locker. She was organizing the school winter dance and…um…was carrying the cake." Xander stumbled. "Let's just say I ended with vanilla cake all over me…and the whole school was staring."

"How come I don't remember that?" Chip asked.

"Me neither. I would have heard about something that good." I teased him knowing something was up.

"Let's just move on. Vida," Xander hastily changed the subject. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." She replied immediately. When Nick and Clare gave her questioning looks, she just muttered, "too much experience."

"Do you have a special someone in mind?" Xander asked.

"I'm only going to say this once." Vida took a deep breathe. "Yes." Everyone piped up in their seats.

"Really?"

"Who?"

"One question only. Nick, truth or dare?"

"Truth." I looked at Nick. Usually people picked a Dare until they saw the types of questions that were asked. Nick was being pretty brave to stand up to one of V's questions. Then again he was the Red Ranger. Vida grinned.

"Ok. Tell us the furthest you've been with a girl."

Nick gulped. I was sure he was pretty touchy around that subject, but I was also curious about his answer. I was eager to find out more about Nick and the types of girls he was interested in.

"We don't beat around the bush now do we?" Nick teased as he shifted in his seat. "Well…um…I've gone out on a date. I've kissed a girl, but it was just a peak." I could tell he was really uncomfortable with the subject, so I decided to butt in.

"Cool. So Nick it's your turn, ask someone." Vida and Xander looked at me strangely and I just glared. Only Chip caught on.

"Yeah, so who will it be?" Nick looked surprised but relieved to off the hook.

"Um…Maddie, will it be truth or dare?" I looked at him, aware that everyone was waiting for my reply. I knew that if I said truth that I would be asked the ever-so-famous, "who do you like" question and I wanted to avoid if possible, especially with that person asking the question.

"Dare." Nick tilted his head, in thought. He gestured around the table for people to give in some ideas. Everyone looked at my sister.

"Hm….a good dare for my little sis." V said as she pinched my cheek. I slap her shoulder in a playful way. "Okay, I'm sorry. Ooo… I got one. She has to show us the tape that's in her camera right now." I looked at V wanting to kick her. She knew perfectly well that if the tape was in the camera, it wasn't edited. If it wasn't edited, it had parts I didn't want others to see. I looked around, willing the others to protest. They all just grinned eagerly.

"Fine." I got out of my seat and went to backpack. I had my camera and the wires in my hand when I realized there wasn't a TV to see the tape. "Guys, how am I going to show you the tape if there isn't a TV?" Clare waved away the concern.

"Simple, we project the camera onto the crystal ball, and everyone can see it." My heart dropped when she explained away my only chance of not showing that tape. I grudgingly followed Clare's instructions and soon a picture of Vida DJing at the Rock Porium projected on the crystal ball. I could hear myself speaking in the background.

"This is Vida, my sis, playing her latest mix. She has some pretty mad skills when it comes to her DJ." The camera moved to show Chip entering the store wearing a yellow cape and holding a toilet plunger.

"Who is it that dares to cross over my moat?' Chip waves the plunger around like a sword. My laughter echoes in the background.

"And this is Chip. This is one of his favorite past times, acting like…well…Chip. He definitely gives us comic relief. Especially with us being busy all the time. Or at least when were supposed to be busy." As Chip approaches the camera in an attempt to strike it, the picture moves to the door where Xander is riding his skateboard outside. "This is Xander the Great. Well that's what he calls himself. He is really good with a skateboard. When Xander's not outside, he's either pretending to work by supervising, which really gets on V's nerves, or he's trying to get other women's phone numbers. Usually the latter activity ends up with him being either slapped, or soaked in some type of soda." The movie pauses as Xander looks at me.

"I don't pretend to work. I supervise which is a very tough job. And women can't resist my charms." He brushes his shoulder off. Vida snickers.

"Sure." She turns to Clare. "Turn it back on; I want to see the rest of it." The movie begins to play again changing the scene to Nick fixing his bike. He was right in front of the tree where we had first talked alone. I could feel my stomach boil as I recalled what I had filmed, and said.

"This is Nick. He moved a few months back, just when all the weird stuff happened, but he fits right in with us. I was really happy when he decided to stay." I felt my face turn hot, and was surprised no one noticed me turning bright red. The Nick in the movie looked up at the Camera and raised his eyebrow.

"Filmed everyone else already?" The camera shook up and down as I nodded my head. "Well nothing exciting over here, just fixing a bike."

"There's nothing new in your life? Nothing exciting?"

"Nope, it's just a plain old day. Go to work, finish homework, fix some bikes," Nick grinned as he added "get bothered by you….."

"Well since my presence obviously isn't wanted, I'll be leaving." The camera tilted to the grass and my feet as I started to walk away.

"Wait, no. You don't have to go. Plus, I could use the company." The camera went back to Nick who was looking just above the camera. The screen blanked out after that. Chip looked up at me.

"What happened?" Just as he spoke the video started playing again. This time it was me that was on camera.

"So, there you have it. Those are my friends, or at least the all-human ones. There's also Phineas the Troblin, Clare the Sorceress in Training, Udonna our Mentor, and Daggeron the Solaris Knight. Oh, and there's Toby but he's human. Toby's our boss at the Rock Porium." The film me grinned as I started to summarize my documentary. "So basically there's my outgoing sister Vida who's a DJ, Xander who attempts to help out the team when he work but fails, yet he is still a great friend, Chip who loves adventure and superheroes, my very unusual boss Toby, all our friends from the forest, and Nick. Nick to me is a mystery. He's different from anyone else I've met. I'm glad he's part of our team, and really glad he's our friend. But maybe we can be more than friends. Ooo… I should edit that out. But it's true, but he should never know. It'll ruin our friendship and maybe even the team. But I'm really glad to have all my friends and my sister. So…this is Madison Rocca and I hope you liked this documentary."

As the video faded, I quickly packed up the camera and the tape without making eye contact with anyone. I stuff everything away in my backpack and looked Vida trying not to let my gaze wander.

"V, I'll see you at home. I need some fresh air." I left Rootcore to wander the forest, engulfed in my own thoughts.