Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l

Chapter Ten: Tested

The day before midterms finally arrived, and despite my phenomenal grades, I felt slightly nervous, this wasn't a written test like in the classroom, this was a simulation test. It meant it would be more hands on, and I was the only one who lacked experience in that area. During the week I had studied all of my notes from every class, and the girls and I had study parties to help us prepare. Professor Palladium was the one in charge of the famous simulator room, which I was anticipating to finally not just be able to see for myself, but to be able to physically step inside and take a test in. The girls and I were out on the quad of Alfea, gathered around the well talking about how we would get to see the simulator this afternoon to get an idea of what to expect for our test. Bloom, however, seemed to have her thoughts elsewhere as she stared at her reflection in the water, tossing coin after coin down the well as minutes passed. She seemed to not be a part of the conversation as Stella was rambling on about how she was going to ace the simulator test, which was only wishful thinking because she was the only one of us who didn't study.

"Hey Bloom, are you ready for Professor Palladium's simulator test tomorrow?" she suddenly asked her best friend, "Bloom, are you even listening?"

"No, I don't think she is, Stella." Flora answered softly for Bloom, who was still staring into the water of the well.

"Bloom, Bloom!" Stella began yelling loudly to get Bloom's attention, "Bloom, hey, yoo-hoo!" And with all Stella's yelling, she finally snapped from her thoughts to turn in our direction.

"Huh?" Bloom asked as her final coin fell down the well, she looked towards Stella to give an answer to her question.

"You're losing it, girl," She groaned irritably, "did you even hear a single word that I said, huh?"

"Sorry, Stella, I was kind of lost in thought." Bloom admitted, "So what were you saying?" Stella and Musa just giggled slightly at Bloom's absence in the conversation.

"Obviously, you have no interest in the fact that Professor Palladium is finally going to take us all into the famous simulation room," Musa reminded Bloom, "but I for one, think it is the most amazing bit of news ever!" I was more interested in the mechanics of the simulation room, how everything was controlled and operated flawlessly to create numerous scenarios. A perfect combination of technology and magic. The first time Professor Palladium told us about the simulation room, he didn't spare any details when describing the things it was capable of doing.

"No kidding," Stella added, "I heard that some really cool things happen in that place."

"Yeah, and some horrible ones too." I could understand why Flora was a little nervous, I had my reasons for being nervous about taking the exam, and she was also scared of something going wrong. She would be in an environment controlled by technology, and I didn't take it as an insult that she didn't fully trust technology, I felt the same way when I had to go to Black Mud Swamp for that field exercise. I was in an environment filled with nature, and remembering how I felt built understanding for how Flora must feel now. Throughout this first year at Alfea I've been exposed to more emotions than I ever had in my life, despite that, I was still very weary of emotional expression.

"You shouldn't let that scare you Flora," I reassured her, "they're just stupid rumours anyway. I mean, what could really ever happen to you in there?" And after what seemed like a millisecond, her worried expression disappeared and she smiled.

"You're right." The nature loving fairy agreed, I had complete trust in Professor Palladium that he wouldn't allow us to enter the simulator if it was going to put his students in danger.

"Oh come on, Flora, it'll be fun, you'll see." Stella added while walking up to her, "As for me, I plan on having a great experience. One that will go down in history, so that I will become the talk of Alfea!"

"Stella!" We scolded her when random fairies faced in our direction, hearing her announcement.

"Oops, sorry." She admitted, and we began laughing. Knowing how the Princess of Solaria is now, I've learned to accept her the way she is and just laugh when she gets too self absorbed. But that didn't mean I still think that since she was the only one who wasn't taking the upcoming exams seriously, she was only going to fail if she didn't put in the effort

The moment finally came when Professor Palladium was going to take us to see the simulation room, and standing there on the platform, surrounded by the lights that made up the entire room, I was left absolutely wordless. It was remarkable, it took my breath away to come to the realization that I was actually standing in Alfea's famous simulation chamber, something that just months ago I wouldn't have ever dreamed of happening. I stared in awe as many of the other students gasped in astonishment.

"This is it," Professor Palladium announced, "the simulation room!"

"What is it exactly?" Someone inquired from the back of the group.

"Well, it's the project of the most powerful magic, and the most sophisticated technology," he explained, causing me to light up with pure excitement and thrill at the mention of how this was the result of technology and magic co-existing to its greatest potential. The mechanics of the simulation control panel that he was going to show us in a moment, were just outstanding, it would have to be in the area of the most advanced technology to keep such a massive system in working order, "The light produced by these amber panels allows our powerful computer to create all kinds of virtual realities and environments. The replications are absolutely flawless."

"Uh, can it be used to simulate virtual dates with boys?" Stella asked, and I knew what her question was supposed to imply, of course she saw my face light up when Professor Palladium explained how the simulator worked, and she also knows I couldn't be bothered to go on a real date, therefore, it was in what she insisted to be my best interest that if I wasn't going to go on a real date, a simulated one would have to do.

"You'll be sure to get one then." One of our classmates called out while the rest of the class began laughing and I had to admit that I laughed a little too, causing her to blush in embarrassment. After having second thoughts about joining in the laughter, I just turned my head, knowing that the comment made for me had backfired directly in her face.

"Yes, well, why don't we all simulate your final exam instead." Professor Palladium suggested, drawing everyone's attention back to him as the rest of the class stopped laughing abruptly, "In the anticipation of the upcoming midterm, I've set up for you a simulation of some of the things that will definitely be on the test." He directed us to the other room that I could see above where the simulation chamber was. The controls were the heart of the operation, where all the magic happened, literally.

"Now, let's all go and have a look at the control room." Professor Palladium resumed his lesson while we entered the control room, "From here, we oversee everything that goes on in the simulation room." As I was able to see the giant control panel in front of me, I was amazed by all the buttons, dials and switches that made everything come to life. Stella was standing right next to me, witnessing the pure wonderment that was written on the expression on my face. I was half expecting her to make another comment about how I'd rather live my life in a simulator than go outside and experience reality, based on what she was trying to get at just five minutes ago.

"This is toy land for you, right?" she whispered to me in a quiet voice as I turned to her with hands on my hips, suddenly retracting my reaction when I realized she had no bad intentions.

"Mmm, yeah," I sighed happily, "it's so wonderful." As the rest of the class piled into the room, we crowded around the controls while Professor Palladium took a seat in the chair in front of us. There was a big smile fixated on my face as he continued to explain to us what the midterm that would entail.

"You'll be able to choose between two tests, look." he began pressing buttons, typing in codes, and seconds later the screen on the wall began to light up," Your first option is.., to use magic to counteract the unfortunate results of evil spells cast by a group of wicked witches." As I watched the simulation form of a group of witches turning a few boys into frogs, I got to thinking, if I couldn't be able to fight in battle, perhaps my magic could be put to better use in this matter. It would be a great asset to the Winx to be able to undo evil spells, after all, according to recent events we were facing the Trix almost regularly now.

"Do they ever look real?" Bloom gasped, watching the simulation on the screen.

"Yeah, they sure are super ugly." Stella added just as quietly.

"Now, option number two, use magic to produce positive results in a damaged environment." Professor Palladium concluded after typing in the code for the next simulation.

"That's my strong point." Flora admitted with a confident smile on her face.

"It'll be a simple walk in the park for someone like me." Stella boasted, I was surprised that she wasn't suddenly intimidated by the simulator after not even bothering to study for the exams. It was pure denial.

"Modesty is your best quality, hmm?" Bloom teased the Solarian princess, however the joke flew right over her head, and she thought her best friend was being serious.

"No, my second best." She continued bragging, "Right after.., beauty."

"We'll all meet here tomorrow for your midterm," Professor Palladium informed his class, "please do come well prepared and ready to go, believe me, this will be an experience you'll remember for a very long time." His words made me even more intrigued by the thought of entering the simulator, this was something I never thought would happen to me.

Late that night, I managed to fall asleep after a few more hours of studying, however my dreams were a little more unsettling than I would have liked. During the night, a strange feeling that something was happening to the simulator began to grow, it was as though my powers over technology were allowing me to connect with the computer that was controlling the simulation chamber. I could immediately sense dark energy surrounding it, and to me the idea was just too

frightening to ignore, being in a technology controlled chamber in which the computer controlling it was tempered with by a dark spell, was very unsettling despite my expertise. In my sleep, I started to toss and turn under my bedsheets as my powers allowed me to receive this piece of information. In my dreams I witnessed a code being entered into the computer that I had stood in front of just that afternoon, numbers flashed down the screen as the lights of the controls flickered chaotically.

"Error, error!" I heard a computerized voice exclaim, "Mainframe malfunction!" At those horrifying words, I felt my heart race in my chest, this has never happened to me before, my magic has never connected with other technological devices. It may be because I was developing them much more than I ever had prior to attending Alfea. Flashing colourful lights from the control panel faded to darkness as beeps and error sounds continued to fill my subconscious mind. Suddenly my eyes opened abruptly and I shot up, sitting in my bed, panting heavily.

"Tecna, are you okay?" I heard Musa whisper loudly from her bed on the other side of the room. Of course with her sonar hearing abilities, she could be able to sense anything I had been doing in my sleep.

"What was I doing, was there something wrong?" I asked her, obviously it looked to her like I was troubled if she needed to ask me if I was okay, and after the dream I just had, no I wasn't okay.

"You just look like you saw a ghost." She admitted tiredly.

"That's Illogical, ghosts don't exist." I protested, my voice sounded just as groggy as hers.

"It's a figure of speech, Tecna," Musa groaned, "You just looked like you saw something terrifying. Are you stressing out about tomorrow?"

"No," I told her, "but I think my powers might be granting me the ability to connect with the simulator, in my dream I saw a code being entered, it flashed on the screen. Then I heard the computer declare a mainframe malfunction error message."

"Well, if that did happen, Professor Palladium would catch it right away and let us know that the midterm has been postponed. Until then we don't know for certain." Musa attempted to reassure me, but my powers could not steer me wrong, I had to tell the professor about this the very instant I had the chance.

"I suppose there's nothing I can do about it now, but I'm dead serious that the simulator has been tempered with." I sighed with defeat, falling back on my bed as my head hit the pillow.

"Is it too scary for you to sleep?" Musa asked me while getting under her own blankets once again.

"I'm going to have to try, it's all I can do for now," I yawned, shutting my eyes hesitantly, "good night Musa."

The next day, I couldn't stand it any longer, despite having a restful sleep the previous night, what I saw in my dream still frightened me, and my powers over technology were giving me this crucial opportunity to possibly save an innocent student's life, never mind their grades. The midterm took place after lunch, so I had time to look for Professor Palladium before the test began. Luckily he was walking down the hallways in the classroom wing, heading toward the simulation room to prepare.

"Professor Palladium, there's something I need to tell you." I called out as he turned back and looked in my direction, "it's about the simulator, and it's very important."

"Are you nervous about the midterm, Tecna?" He questioned, giving me a look of reassurance, " I think based on your progress in your one on one battle classes with Ms. Faragonda, I'm going to have you go near the end, just in case."

"No, that's not what I'm concerned about," I continued, "last night I believe my magic allowed me to connect with the computer in the control room. I saw a code on the screen and the computer announced an malfunction."

"Oh, that is very serious, if I send one of you students in the chamber with that going on, who knows what could happen." He thought, "I'll check it out before the midterm starts, and I must say Tecna that your powers are developing quite significantly."

"Thank you Professor." I answered with a wave as I walked back down the hall to meet up with the other girls before we had to take the simulator test.

The moment was finally here, Professor Palladium took a second earlier to pull me aside and reassure me that nothing was wrong with the controls of the simulator. However if anything did happen he would know what to do. Everyone in our class was gathered around him in the control room to determine who would go first. Despite his reassurance, I couldn't sense any dark magic coming from the computer myself, although I was still alert and on guard.

"All right, ladies, in a few minutes we'll begin, you'll go one at a time," Professor Palladium began as he walked over to the controls.

"I'm just so nervous." Musa admitted in a quiet whisper in Flora's ear.

"Oh yeah, I hope I don't get to go first." The nature fairy agreed. I just stood there, arms crossed, waiting for anything suspicious to happen, but hiding my doubts away from my classmates so as not to create unnecessary panic.

"I think it might be better to go first," Stella chimed in, I honestly admired her optimism, but shook my head at her pure obliviousness when it came to the consequences of not studying, "that way you get it over with, and then it's off your mind... Bloom, did you hear what I said?" A smile was fixed on Bloom's face while she contemplated Stella's words.

"Yeah, it might be better." She thought to herself.

"Quit!" Professor Palladium ordered, "All right, everything is ready, let's get the ball rolling. Which one of you ladies wants to go first?"

"Oh my." Flora gasped while other fairies began protesting, shaking their heads with doubt. I still stood there, inside I hoped that what I seen last night didn't occur right before our eyes when least expected. One of my closest friends could be in real danger and I had the power to prevent it, but not the authority, that was up to Palladium.

"Stella, I thought you said you wanted to get this over with." Musa reminded the Process of Solaria.

"I changed my mind." The blonde instantly retracted her earlier statement, and it was pretty predictable that she would.

"Just as I thought," Professor Palladium concluded, seeing the obvious nervousness of his students, "I'll pick a volunteer.., Bloom! Which one of the tests did you choose?"

"Uh.., well, the second option, sir," Bloom acquiesced after a minute, "I want to work on a damaged environment."

"Excellent choice, girl." Flora whispered proudly while leaning towards her roommate.

"Come on then," the professor directed Bloom to follow him, "you can choose the environment. What would you like?" Bloom went over to the controls with him as he waited for her answer.

"I was thinking of a desolate environment." She told him as he began typing in the code for the simulation, "The most desolate possible."

"Okay, there's this place called.., Domino," Professor Palladium informed her, "it's the saddest most miserable place in the Magical Dimension. Have you ever heard of Domino?"

"No, I've never heard of it," Bloom admitted with a hint of wonder to her tone, "but I'm sure it'll be perfect."

"Well then, here it is." Palladium continued typing at the simulator's controls as the code came up on the screen, "As soon as you enter the simulation room, Domino will appear around you, are you ready?"

"Yes," Bloom announced confidently, only to turn back seconds later, "uh, I brought a few ingredients for potions and stuff, can I take them with me?" She walked over to pick up her small blue backpack that she had left on the floor.

"Sure, take whatever you want." Professor Palladium encouraged her kindly as he opened the door to the simulation room, "There you go, the test will last thirty minutes, I'll be in the computer room controlling everything, now do your best!"

"I will." Bloom reassured him with a confident smile.

"Good luck." Musa gave her a thumbs up for more encouragement.

"Be careful!" Flora called out.

"Take care, all right!" Stella added, waving goodbye.

"Figure it out!" That was all I could think of saying to her, I did not tell the rest of the girls about my dream last night, if what I had seen was true, I didn't want them to be scared, and if I was wrong, I didn't want to unintentionally start a panic for nothing. All I had to do for now was watch Professor Palladium handle whatever situation may come.

"What kind of encouragement is that?" Stella asked me.

"The most logical kind." I answered her evenly, hiding the fact that Bloom might have to stop her midterm very quickly if my suspicions were correct, and it would not be in her control.

"Thanks girls, I'll see you!" Bloom called back, waving as she walked into the simulation room with her bag. We watched her walk onto the platform and lights turned on all around her. The light surrounded her and the platform moved out from underneath her feet. Suddenly a dark and abandoned place appeared in place of the chamber. Bloom began walking around, looking at her surroundings and then she began digging in her bag for something. I wasn't sure, but I think I saw Kiko hiding in the bag. Bloom had a surprised expression when she realized he was in there. He began hopping around as Bloom continued to dig through her bag, obviously she wasn't too distracted by her pet accompanying her. She kneeled down and sprinkled seeds on the ground, and buried them in the soil. We witnessed her place her hands on the mound of dirt and use her magic to make them grow, and as Bloom removed her hands, a tiny stem began to emerge from the ground. She seemed relieved that her magic had worked, knowing that she was from a non-magical world and her powers had been unused for years. From what I've seen, her powers were enhancing much more than mine, in quite an exponential rate to be honest. Watching Bloom for a few more seconds, the class saw a bright flash of purple light and unknown to Bloom, the wicked trio we all knew as the Trix appeared right behind her.

"Oh no, the Trix!" The girls and I gasped in unison. It all made sense to me now, the Trix must've cast the dark spell on the simulator control panel, and the dark virus would only be activated once the chamber was turned on. That's why Professor Palladium couldn't detect anything before we came.

"I knew I had a reason to trust my intuition from last night!" I shouted, it was the first time I really ever raised my voice, but this was something that must not be taken lightly.

"Tecna, I have to give you credit for coming to me as soon as you have this feeling," He acknowledged, "unfortunately I didn't have that much time to look into it thoroughly enough."

"You knew the Trix were going to be in the simulator and you didn't tell us!" Stella scolded me without a second thought.

"No, I didn't know what was going on, all I knew was that the simulator was being tempered with, I wasn't even sure if it was true or not." I protested defensively.

"Now, now, ladies," Palladium directed our attention towards him, "I'll try to get her out of there, but for now she'll have to manage things on her own. I have complete faith in Bloom that she is a very resourceful fairy." We saw Icy speak to Bloom behind her, but we couldn't hear anything from the simulation room. Bloom turned sharply around to see the wicked trio behind her, then when she saw them, she stood up to fight, however Darcy raised her hand, attacking her with some sort of dark wave.

"I could take her on." Musa hissed under her breath, I knew how much she wanted to considering she told us that she witnessed the witch of darkness and Riven at a downtown cafe on the day that she was ambushed. I knew she wanted Riven back, although she wouldn't admit it out loud. Bloom moved out of the way of the oncoming attack, flipping backwards and landing on one knee, she immediately turned around to face the Trix once again after gaining her composure. Looking just as determined as ever, there was a fierce look on her face as she she transformed. Seeing someone else transform without doing it myself was interesting, it only took a split second for Bloom to sprout fairy wings, and she shot a powerful fire blast at Darcy, who instantly fell backwards. As Kiko began imitating what had just happened, Icy and Stormy went to assist Darcy. The witches attacked over and over, one by one, Stormy used her magic to cause rain to pour down hard as Icy and Darcy continued to fire their own attacks at Bloom. Everyone gasped in horror, seeing was going on and not being able to do anything about it. Flora couldn't even bare to watch and covered her eyes.

"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed as the rest of the girls gasped. Kiko was trying to shelter himself from the rain, and Bloom was now on the ground, she managed to sit up, however Stormy was standing right in front of her. Kiko began to hide behind a rock as Stormy conjured up more lightning, hitting Bloom with just one strike. She flew backward, fortunately she was able react quickly and fly back up in the air. Bloom began chasing Stormy with her fire attack, though, behind her, Icy began to freeze her from the feet up. In seconds she was half frozen, and the ice coffin fell with enormous impact, causing the ground beneath it to crack down the middle under the weight.

"Professor, you have to do something, Bloom is in serious trouble!" Stella pleaded desperately.

"I'm trying the best I can Stella, I'm trying to figure out how those witches managed to get into the simulation." The professor explained while typing in code after code at the controls.

"I can use my magic to connect with the computer again," I offered hastily, "it could tell us more about what happened."

"Tecna, you are just a fairy apprentice right now," Palladium regretted to tell me, looking up briefly from the controls, "your powers aren't strong enough to analyze the technology of an operating system this size. One day your magic will develop beyond your wildest dreams, you're making great strides, as are the rest of you young fairies. But this is a very dangerous situation that must be handled delicately so as not to put harm to anyone, especially Bloom." As we continued to watch helplessly, our redhead friend was trapped in the ice, trying furiously to struggle free, Icy and Stormy surround her, Stormy filling the sky with purple lightening, and the ground underneath Bloom began to crack open, and underneath was a river of hot lava. The ground gave way every second, leaving the ice Bloom was trapped in almost ready to fall. Suddenly she placed her hand on the ice using her magic to break free and destroy her cold prison. She fell safely to the ground and looked up at Icy, it looked like she was shouting at the ice witch, she must've been absolutely furious by now. Seconds of conversation between Bloom and Icy passed before Icy motioned to Bloom where the location of her pet rabbit was. As Icy turned, we were horrified to see Kiko tremble in fright on top of a precarious looking ledge that led deep down into the lava below.

"Kiko!" The Winx and I shouted in unison.

"Oh the poor thing!" Flora cried out with terror, "Those witches just cannot hurt him!" She just could not watch anymore and averted her eyes away from the screen. And just in moments' time,

Icy shot Kiko down into the lava as we gasped with complete horror and disgust. Bloom flew from her spot on the ground, trying desperately to reach out for him, but it was too late, Bloom was on the edge of the chasm, watching her beloved pet disappear into a horrifying demise.

"Oh poor Kiko," Musa thought silently, "Icy will pay for what she did!"

"Agreed." We answered her with solemn voices. Though, what we didn't expect was Bloom rising up from her position on her knees on the edge of the chasm and beginning to glow with a fiery power surrounding her entire body. She flew upward and unleashed an enormous amount of energy at the trio of witches. This was what I had missed out on when I was knocked out during the Trix' last attack in downtown Magix, this was the intense power everyone was talking about. It was something I had never seen before in my entire life. Just then I could sense a great amount of dark magic coming from the computer, the virus that was causing the mainframe to malfunction was at its peak of infection. I was terrified that this would happen, but I never thought one of my friends would be involved. The screen began to get distorted and fuzzy, and we couldn't be able to see Bloom at all, the class began panicking and shouting all at once before Palladium brought our attention back to him.

"Quite!" He called out, "I have to concentrate on the simulator."

"Professor, what's with the screen, we can't see a thing?" Stella shrieked as Professor Palladium tried everything he possibly could to try and get the controls to respond, though nothing was working, "Professor?"

"Tecna, what's happening?" Musa asked me with an extremely concerned voice.

"Looks like the computer's crashing." I regretted to tell Musa, there was an overwhelming sense of guilt that I knew this was happening and couldn't stop it, "Professor Palladium has everything under control." I was only trying to convince myself of that, honestly I wasn't even sure what to expect next.

"I'm trying everything I can, girls, but the computer isn't responding to anything I do." he explained to us, "We've got to bring her back, I'm going to have to use magic, I'll cast a restoration spell!" he placed his hands on the controls and called out his spell. When he released his hands, magic flowed into the computer. In seconds the simulator turned off, and Bloom was sitting there, and we were all relieved to see that Kiko was safely in her arms, unharmed.

"But... how can that be?" Professor Palladium was stunned. Everyone looked up to see her sitting on the platform in her casual attire, without a scratch.

"Bloom!" We shouted at once, Flora, Professor Palladium and Stella were the first to ran into the simulation room.

"Bloom, are you all right?" Flora asked her while she and Stella walked on the platform to greet her.

"Do you realize that you crashed the computer?" Stella asked her, it wasn't Bloom that caused the malfunction, it was the Trix, but it was better if I told her later.

"Really?" Bloom answered her with an astonished expression.

"You did, the simulator is totally gone," Palladium confirmed, "but you're okay, right?"

"I'm a bit shaken, but either than that, I'm fine." She reassured us.

"I'm postponing the exams, first we've got to fix things up," Palladium announced, "then we'll

reschedule the exams." When he announced this, the rest of the class and I came running into the simulation room cheering. I must admit I was happy that the exams were being postponed, it gave me more time to study.

"Ladies, three cheers for Bloom!" Stella shouted happily.

"Hip, hip hooray!" The class cheered repeatedly as we ran toward Bloom, lifting her in the air and catching her in our grasp in a big circle.

"Oh, and uh, Bloom?" Stella asked her, "By the way, do you think you can get the history exam postponed too?"

"Well.., I can try." Bloom laughed as she was being thrown in the air and caught by the rest of the class as we repeatedly cheered. Even though the tests were postponed, I was amazed to see Bloom's power reach it's fullest levels, and I too learned something about my own powers over technology. I also learned to let things go in others' hands, Professior Palladium knew what he was doing this entire time, and still allowed Bloom to complete her midterm before anything went awry. Thinking back on the events of this afternoon, it got my attention that the Trix were beginning to target Bloom for her new incredible powers, this was something I didn't expect when I first came to Alfea, for one of my friends to become so powerful that she herself didn't know how to deal with it. It was definitely going to get more and more adventurous with every turn.

After dealing with a midterm in another class, school was out for the day, and I took the time to do a little more studying for the midterms I had left to take. Suddenly my pager beeped, and hologram of Damian appeared before me.

"Hey Tecna, I'm.., really sorry about acting so rude the last time I talked to you, I was just in a hurry." He began, it was no logical excuse for his behaviour, however I only let it go.

"It's okay." I assured him reluctantly as he continued talking.

"Listen, I hope you can come over to Red Fountain because I need your help with this.., uh, thing." He went on, "My computer is continuously telling me something about a virus and my files are being deleted. Do you know anything about that.., well yeah, stupid question, of course you do, you're from Zenith. What I meant to ask is if you are available to help me?" I rolled my eyes at his assumption that just because I was from Zenith, I knew everything about computers and technology, yes it was generally the case, but I had no doubt in my mind that others had much more advanced knowledge than I ever did.

"Fine, my major simulator midterm just got postponed until further notice. I have plenty of time now." I informed him, "I'll be over in approximately fifteen minutes." We ended our conversation and I took a few extra gadgets from my desk drawer before walking out.

This was the first time I ever went on Red Fountain's grounds any further than the battle arena where Sky and Brandon did their training, I didn't even see Timmy anywhere, or any of the other boys for that matter. Damian told me he would escort me to his dorm if we met out in front of the school, and just as expected, he was standing there in his black leather jacket and rugged denim jeans.

"Hey, there you are, my dorm is up this way." I followed him up multiple flights of stairs to the boys' dormitories, I didn't even bother looking for Sky or the others, but I wouldn't be surprised if I crossed their path while I was here. Once I entered Damian's room, I immediately was taken back by how unkempt it was, clothes, books, DVDs and CDs were scattered around the floor, and the overwhelming scent of his cologne hit me quite abruptly.

"You really need to clean up in here." I breathed, and he suddenly glared at me, but just as quickly retracted his reaction.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess, been too busy studying for my own midterms." He replied nonchalantly, falling down onto his desk chair and turning on his desktop computer. I browsed the screen for a couple minutes before a warning message popped up in the corner.

"I have a question for you," I began, "do you have any anti-virus software installed on your computer?"

"Anti-virus software, you know I don't know anything about that complicated technical crap, that's why I have you." He answered me, a little rudely than I expected, but again I let it slide.

"Well, because you don't have it installed, your computer has a serious virus that is slowly destroying all your important data files. These files are crucial components that help your computer function properly." I continued to explain, hoping that some of it would sink in.

"Okay, spare me the complex details and show me what I need to do." Damian sighed with slight irritation, and I took a disk from my bag.

"I brought my own anti-virus software, I can install it on your computer and set it up, but first this thing needs a complete cleanup." I told him, and sat down beside him, searching for his Cd drive. As I put the disk in, a window opened prompting me for permission to do a scan. I accepted and turned back to face the dark green haired Specialist.

"So, now what?" He inquired impatiently.

"This might take a while." I warned him just as irritably as he was showing towards me, but I held my irritation on an even level, "based on the amount of files affected, the scan with take longer."

"And then what do you do?" He asked.

"Then there's the cleaning process, first the software searches for affected files, then cleans them out of the operating system." I continued to explain, luckily the process only took five minutes to complete. I was absolutely shocked to see how many files had been affected by the virus, and he should consider himself lucky he called me in time before he had to get a brand new computer, everything would have been gone. Once the cleaning process was completed, I set up the anti-virus software on his computer, and activated it.

"Now if the software tells you it needs to be updated, don't leave it until the last minute when your computer is vulnerable to attacks again, that's what this software does is keep these things away. That's why it's so important to have." I concluded, finishing up what I was doing.

"Thank you," he mumbled, "that's why I have you, you know all this technical crap."

"I'm starting to think that's all you ever need me for, technical support." I admitted hesitantly.

"Well, are you looking for a relationship or something?" He shrugged, leaning back in his desk chair as I gathered my belongings. The question took me by surprise, the last thing I was interested in was a relationship.

"No, but a little more than being your go-to tech support woman would be good."

"How about this, you keep helping me out with your technical knowledge, and I won't make your life a living Oblivion." I sensed this was blackmail, and I wondered how in the Magical Dimension he was planning to achieve this?

"And how are you going to do that?" I shot back, surprising defensive comIng from myself.

"I get around, I have connections in very.., questionable places, so if you don't want to be humiliated like that pathetic doormat Timothy Windez, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." I froze in mid action. I had never had a threat directed at me before, ever by Dr. Tonson and his colleagues, so I had no idea what to do. I said nothing after that, and only grabbed my bag. Did he manage to embarrass Timmy before, or was he just referring to what Riven did at the back to school gala? Something in me felt slightly off as I left his dorm in silence, but I shrugged it away, all I had to do was continue helping him and he won't humiliate me, it sounded like a fair deal. Though I couldn't help but ponder why he'd want to humiliate me in the first place. Walking back down to the outside of the school, I stayed just as silent as I was leaving Damian's room. I thought it was best not to say anything at all and just go with what he told me to do. Despite being a little rude, bad tempered, inpatient and having the computer knowledge of a four year old, I tried my best to defend myself only for it to fail miserably.

I stared up at the ceiling for what felt like hours while laying on my bed, it wasn't just the day's events that caused my mind to race, it was how innocently helping someone with his computer could turn into being threatened with blackmail. After a while I turned my head and spotted the video game that Timmy lent me, I left it on my computer desk but never got a chance to play it due to all the studying I had to do. Staring at it, all I could remember is what Damian said about Timmy. It didn't change my opinion of him by any means, but because Timmy was a friend, Damian's words seemed to affect me more than they would have otherwise. I grimaced at the words that were said to me, and Musa noticed the pained expression on my face.

"Is everything okay, Tecna?" She asked with a hint of hesitation.

"Yeah, just thinking about what happened today." I half lied, I suppose it wasn't technically a lie, because I was thinking about what happened, but she thought I was referring to Bloom's midterm. I didn't dare mention anything about Damian to anybody, because based on what he told me, he was very influential. He looked like he could easily beat many other Specialists in a fist fight, and I could only imagine what types of things he tried on Alfea fairies, or even Cloudtower witches. He did say his connections were questionable, which made my head go places I never thought it would. Musa brought me back to the situation with Bloom and the simulator before I could think about it anymore.

"You told Professor Palladium what you saw last night, and that's all you could do." She tried to reassure me, "He had everything under control when the computer started crashing."

"I'm just confused about why everyone says that Bloom's power caused the malfunction, I saw it with my own subconscious that one of the Trix had cast a dark spell on the control panel, installing a virus. What's the harm in telling Bloom the truth?" I continued, almost relieved that Musa had rerouted my train of thought. I wasn't sure why everyone else agreed that it was Bloom who crashed the simulator, because if the virus wasn't installed in the first place, her immense power probably wouldn't have done anything.

"I would just let it go, Tecna," she advised, "the important thing is that no one got hurt and that the virus was spotted before it did happen." Hearing those words, I got off my bed, walking towards my desk and picking up the game lying there beside me ladybug scanner. Now that I had some free time, I was able to play the game, to see if it was as interesting as Timmy had described it as to me. Once I got the hang of playing it, advancing through level after level, I was going to tell him about what I thought of it, and ask him for help if I needed it. After playing for about a half hour, I paused the game and sent Timmy a quick message, thanking him and telling him I was completely enthralled in it. Seconds later, I received a response, which I didn't expect.

Timmy: Glad you like the game, Tecna, I knew you'd be interested. Maybe we can try multi-player some time.

Tecna: That would be good, I finally had time to play since my simulator midterm was postponed due to technical difficulties.

Timmy: What happened?

Tecna: The Trix cast a spell on the controls of the simulation chamber and I'm suspecting they are targeting Bloom now that she has unleashed her untapped power. I seen it while she was in the simulator and it was beyond anything I've ever witnessed.

Timmy: So you think the Trix will strike again?

Tecna: I don't know when or how but I know they'll never give up, considering who they are and how powerful Bloom could be. They are power hungry witches after all.

Timmy: You know if you Winx ever need our help, just let us know.

Tecna: I'm sure that Stella would be more than willing to ask for protection from her prince. Lol

After a few more messages back and forth, Timmy and I ended the conversation and I resumed playing the game until I ran into a bit of trouble, I was looking for tutorials online and managed to get very far in the game. Timmy told me his was quite further ahead and if I wanted I could play until I caught up to him. It did take my mind off Damian's threat, until the thought completely vanished.

Timmy's Point of View

After being told that the three witches we previously encountered were after the redhead girl from Earth, I knew that could put Tecna in much more danger than the average Alfea student. Remembering how easily she was knocked out made me realize just how hard my job of preventing her from getting hurt was going to be. I bet General Tyler didn't expect that my assigned fairy would be involved in something like this. Though we really didn't know what to expect when he signed me up for Tecna's case. I gave her the video game to have something for us to talk about, and a reason for me to see her face to face, though now that I have this extra piece of information, I would have to be even more vigilant with Tecna. If Bloom is in fact a target for Icy, Darcy and Stormy, than Tecna and the other Winx would more than likely be caught in between. When I was first assigned her case, I wanted to do some research on her history, relatives, childhood.., anything that would give me clues as to what I should be watching out for. However I saw absolutely nothing, for a technology fairy, she had no social media profiles, no online blogs, no gameplay videos that might indicate hints towards her personal life. It was like she didn't even exist on the online world. This lead to my only option of figuring these things out face to face, which I personally found much harder than doing it online. Though it was also a chance for me to improve and expand my social and my battle skills for personal benefit. Before having my first secret agent assignment, I found there was no reason for me to work on skills that I wasn't going to use in the future, I was quite confident being a behind the scenes strategist, using logic to plan out a solution to the problem and coming up with a backup plan if things didn't pan out the way they should. Though if I had a mission to prevent any harm from coming to Tecna, I would need all the help I could get. Now that I reminded her that she could call on us for help if the witches attacked again, and invited her to play the video game with me, I had more chances to see her, and keep an eye on her. Maybe I could secretly try to get her to reveal some crucial information that might help me on my mission, I would never stoop to the level of looking through her belongings for clues, that would be just undignified, and there would be no way she would ever trust me again if she caught me. I had my own methods of getting information, although I must admit that because this is a very attractive, intelligent woman just a year younger than I am, getting her to talk about it was going to be difficult considering my lack of social skills and nervousness. I didn't have a plan of action yet, but after our midterms and once break was over, I could ask Tecna to play the game with me, this would set things in motion. All these thoughts rushed through my head while I sat at my computer desk with textbooks and papers scattered everywhere while I was trying to study for my own midterms. Tecna's sudden messages didn't bother me, in fact it was reassuring to know that she was willing to call me back about the game and to know that she was doing okay. I needed to keep my focus on my main objective, becoming Tecna's friend was just an advantage in the whole process. But for now it was on her, and I just had to wait.

I'm sorry about Timmy's long spree of thoughts and no action, I just thought I'd give him a bit of room in this chapter and get inside his head after knowing Tecna might be caught in the rivalry between the Trix and Bloom. And what his next plans are to gain Tecna's friendship.