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Previously on Vixen:
A girl opened her light blue eyes...
"There was a battle," the girl said. "And, I don't think I lived."
"I think you were left for dead," Gorgo said standing behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "But, I won't leave you, Avery."
--
Violet got in a fight," Celeste said.
Violet shrugged. "It was just some beta fairy, probably."
"Looks like she whooped you pretty bad," Emerald said.
"Creamed her," Celeste said. "If I hadn't stepped in, Violet would be a smudge on the street by now." Celeste then cocked her head a little and turned to Trend. "I'm pretty positive that she was wearing a Trend Original."
"Really?" Trend asked.
"Yeah," Celeste said. "Tan skirt and dark blue, long-sleeved cropped shirt."
The eyes of all five Vixen widened. "Did she have lavender hair and light blue eyes?" Angel asked. "A little taller than I am? Olive-tan skin?"
"Yeah," Daisy said slowly. "How did you know?"
"One more question," Kaida said. "When she transformed, did she create an energy sword?" The three girls nodded.
The five sophomores looked at one another. "Avery…"
Episode 4: Redemption(1)
"It's impossible," Griselda said when the girls, the five Vixen and the three freshman, told the teachers about Avery being in Magix. "Right, Headmistress?"
"It would seem that it's not impossible," Faragonda said slowly. She then turned to the girls. "Do you have any idea why she was in Magix?"
"Not a clue," Daisy said.
"We have to go find her, Professor," Angel said. "Who knows what she's been through? She could be hurt or exhausted…"
"Not from the way she kicked Violet around," Celeste said. Violet grumbled in response, but otherwise kept quiet.
"Still, something must be wrong or she would have returned here by now," Trend said.
"How certain can we be?" Griselda questioned and all the Vixen turned to her, brows furrowed. She continued, "Avery has always been an independent, a loose cannon. She might be trying to prove something, or perhaps, she may have regressed to the days before she joined you girls."
"We still have to find her," Angel yelled. "If not for her sake, then for our sakes. You think this isn't hard on us? It is harder than you can imagine. She's alive, so there is nothing that you can do to stop me from finding her!" With that, Angel left the room in a fury, along with the other Vixen girls.
--
"Ah, just on time," Gorgo said as Avery pulled aside the curtain that served as a door to his home in the alcove of a cave. "Do you have the herbs?"
Avery nodded. After the fight, she had scared a few by-standers into telling her where the herb store was. The owner of the store smiled happily at her, and knew her. He handed her the herbs she asked for without hesitation. She tried to recall his jolly face from her past.
"Avery, what a pleasant surprise! What may I get you today…"
She looked at Gorgo with her light blue eyes slightly sparkling in the dim light of the fire. "Do you know who Palladium is?"
Gorgo froze for just a moment. "He is the man that forced you to attend that school where those horrible girls used you, Avery. He is your uncle, but some of us know that he has always been cruel to you." Gorgo kneeled in front of Avery and looked her in the eye. "He blames you for your mother's death." Avery swallowed dryly, but Gorgo continued before she could question him. She didn't know how, but Gorgo seemed well taught on the matters of her family. "All you have to know is that you are not the cause of her death, even though she did die protecting you."
"What happened to my mother?" Avery asked in a quiet voice.
Gorgo lightly touched her cheek. "She was murdered by a woman, an evil fairy by the name of Bloom." Avery diverted her eyes but Gorgo turned her face back to his. "I believe that might be why you are still alive, to avenge your mother's death."
"Where can I find this Bloom?" Avery asked.
Gorgo shook his head. "She is much too powerful for you to handle on your own. And, as it is, it is always better to attack the heart than the body. Make her suffer as you have." Gorgo smiled. "Instead of attacking Bloom, you shall go after her daughter, one of the girls that used you in battle. You shall take down Princess Angel of Sparks." Avery nodded. "But first," Gorgo stopped Avery before she could leave. He took the small paper bag from her hand and quickly stirred the ingredients she had fetched for him into the large cauldron he had over the fire. The mixture bubbled and turned blue with a thin silver mist floating from it. He ladled a cup's worth into a mug and handed it to Avery. "So you will remember how to fight…"
The aroma of the potion enchanted Avery. She took a couple of deep breaths of the mist before tilting the liquid into her mouth. He whole body tingled as the warm liquid spread through her body. It was like she was drinking ambrosia or pure energy. After finishing it, her eyes began to glow. "I'm ready," she said sternly.
"Yes," he nodded. "You are."
--
"Okay, I'm as eager as you to go find Avery," Kaida said as the girls walked out to the courtyard. "But, we do have to be realistic about this. We have no idea where to look for her."
"Magix," Emerald said like it was obvious.
"She has had plenty of time to have left by now," Kaida said. "And we don't know what direction she went, and Magix is a large city, even if she's still there."
"Well, we can't just wait around for her to show up," Emerald said. "She's our friend, and we have to prevent any harm coming to her if we can."
"What if she has another energy overload?" Angel asked. "It could kill her."
Kaida bit her lip, then said slowly, "We still need to be reasonable about this. We need a plan."
"Well, at least we have a place to start," Cicada said. "Even if she has left the spot, people might have spotted her."
"We should fly," Emerald said. "Or at least you four should. I'll search on a bike. We'll move faster that way."
"Good idea," Trend nodded.
"Okay then," Angel said, and then yelled, pumping a fist into the air, "Let's go Vixen!" (2)
As they did every time they heard that yell, the girls transformed into their fairy forms. Emerald grabbed a bike she had brought with her that year and pulled up next to the other four Vixen. However, before they could leave the grounds something shot at Angel, knocking her out of the air. The girls turned to see Avery and Gorgo standing just inside Alfea's gates.
"There's no running, Princess," Avery said in a low voice.
"Avery!" the girls shouted with mixed feelings of shock, confusion, and happiness.
"It's true," Trend squealed. "You're alive."
Avery mistook her glee as horror. "You ruined my life, now I'm back to repay the favor,"
"Wha…" Cicada began to question, but Avery shot off four more attacks. She knocked Cicada and Trend out of the air, Emerald off her bike, and Kaida, who had immediately realized something was wrong, barely got a strong enough shield up in time to keep from getting hurt.
"Avery, stop!" Kaida yelled as she began dodging attacks. "Please, stop trying to hurt us."
Avery narrowed her eyes. "You'd like that, wouldn't you," she said in a low voice. "So then you'd be able to attack me all together."
"Avery…" Angel was pushing herself back to her feet. "We would never intentionally hurt you." As if to prove her point, she returned to her human form.
"She's trying to trick you, Avery," Gorgo said quietly to Avery. "Don't let her fool you. She might not be about to fight, but she trusts the other girls will do the dirty work for her. Remember, she used you."
Avery frowned and threw a huge bolt of energy at Angel. All the girls gasped and Angel squeezed her eyes shut in fear. However, the attack collided with something else… someone else. Angel opened her eyes to see Miss Faragonda standing on shaking legs.
"Miss Faragonda…" Angel whispered quietly in shock as the headmistress fell to her knees. Especially at her old age, Avery's raw power was too much for the power Faragonda to handle.
"Avery," Faragonda looked at Avery in the eyes. "This isn't you."
"How would you know anything about me?" Avery yelled.
"I was your headmistress," Faragonda's voice was weak. "You came to me for advice. You were rash, but not a monster."
"Don't listen to her, Avery," Gorgo said. "She roomed you with the girls that ruined your life, that almost got you killed."
"That's not true," Angel said, kneeling by Miss Faragona's side. "You chose to room with us. Please, remember."
"Yes, remember," Gorgo said. "Remember how they alienated you at first. How they secretly talked about you behind your back."
"Who are you?" Trend frowned at Gorgo and flying forward. "And why are you telling Avery such lies?"
"They're not lies," Avery yelled. "Gorgo would never lie to me."
"How do you know," Emerald asked. "How long have you known this man? How well? Have you spent nights staying up and discussing everything from the cafeteria food to boy problems with him? You did with me, with all of us."
"Stop saying that we were friends," Avery yelled. "You all used and abused me."
"Never," Angel said. She stood and walked forward. "Avery, you were our friend and I will never think of you in any other way but as a friend. One of the best friends I ever had."
Avery yelled and powered up a strong attack to throw at Angel. However, before she could shoot it off, Gorgo grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"Make her fight," Gorgo said quietly to Avery. "Push her around until she makes an attack at you. If you destroy her when she's in this form, her mother will view her as a martyr. But, if she fights back, everyone will know that she was too weak to defeat you. It will hurt her mother more to be ashamed of her daughter than proud of her daughter."
Avery nodded. She allowed the power to weaken and then threw several smaller energy blasts at the group. Kaida, Trend, and Cicada all threw up shields and Emerald jumped behind Trend's shield. Angel, however, stood still and allowed herself to be hit, making sure that Miss Faragonda received no more injuries.
"Angel, what are you doing?" Kaida yelled at her and tried to shield her friend.
"Don't," Angel shook her head and cringed when she was hit again. Her eyes darted to Miss Faragonda, still hurt badly from Avery's earlier attacks. "Protect her." Angel turned her head back to Avery and took a few steps forward.
"Fight back!" Avery yelled in frustration. "Or run, or put up a shield. Are you so much of a coward that you won't even try to fight me? That you will just sit there so no one will know how weak you are?"
Angel shook her head. "If this is what it takes to convince you that I'm not the enemy, that I only want to be your friend, then I'll take every blow you have. You must have suffered, so now, I will too, until you feel it fit that I have suffered enough." Suddenly Angel felt a surge of power and a red Dragon head pin form on her chest for a moment before fading. Angel had just received her Charmix, much sooner than could have been anticipated.
Avery hesitated, recognizing the Charmix and what she must have done to get it, but then felt Gorgo's hand on her shoulder, and a small power pass over her. "She's trying to trick you, Avery. Don't allow her to. If you let down your guard, her friends will attack you with fury."
Avery nodded and shot a few more attacks, centered on Angel, a little stronger than the ones she had just shot at her. Angel just stood and took it. She fell to her knees, but then stood back up, ready to take more pain.
"Avery, please stop it," Trend begged, flying to Angel's side when Angel had trouble standing back up. "You'll kill her."
"She deserves to die," Avery growled. She could feel her power increase with her hatred of the girls.
"For what?" Trend asked. "She has been heart-broken enough when we thought you were dead. Don't kill her."
"Please, Trend," Angel put a hand on Trend's shoulder and stepped around the fashion fairy. Her knees were shaking, and another blast was likely to put her in critical condition. It was amazing that she was standing at all, not to mention still conscious.
This angered Avery even more and she shot a few more blasts. However, this time, they were blocked by two other fairies: Daisy and Celeste. They were both transformed and stood in front of Angel, their shields up.
"I'm not going to let you get yourself killed, Angel," Celeste said, a few tears dripping down her face. "It would break my heart, as well as Brandon's. Don't allow Brandon to fall into the same depression as his roommate."
Angel, however, before she could answer, fainted. Daisy caught her and struggled to not drop her. She turned to Avery once Angel was gently placed on the ground and her lip quivered. "Is this what you want? To hurt her? Or is that not enough? Must you kill her? Angel is a good person, and I know she would never intentionally hurt someone."
"Don't let her exterior fool you," Avery said. "You're young, new. That girl will break you and use you. Once you've known her longer, you'll know this."
"I've known Angel my whole life," Daisy said. "And I know that you know nothing about the real girl she is."
Avery's eyes widened a little, and then she felt herself shake. She looked at her hands, seeing that she was glowing. "What's happening…?" She looked at Gorgo.
"Avery, you're having an energy overflow," Emerald called out to her. She reached out a hand. "Let us help you."
"Don't," Gorgo said. "They're trying to steal your energy."
"Then, how do I…?"
Gorgo reached out a hand to her. "I'll help you." Avery reached to him, and the moment she touched him, some of her extra energy drained into him. She felt a bit weakened. "It's time we take our leave. Don't worry, we'll be back to finish our work." With that, a black shadow covered them and they disappeared.
Next Time on Vixen:
While Angel is recovering, the other four Vixen set out to find Avery and convince her that they are her friends. Trend believes that she has all the proof she'll need, but will it be enough?
(1) - Song by Switchfoot
(2) - We all knew it was coming