Chapter 9

"Balena!" Silver growls, her hands in tight fists.

Balena laughs, "Oh, so this is your so-called 'Winx Club'? And here I thought-"

She gasps as she spots, "Ancrua?! You're part of this too?"

Ancrua's eyes widen in horror, "No! No...Balena, you don't understand, I'm not a part of this-"

Balena snarls, and her eyes glow red for a brief second, "I can't believe you!"

She aims her hands toward Ancrua, "Rainbow Blast!"

The blast of rainbow color heads straight for Ancrua, and she's struck down, falling to the floor on her back. Balena fires another blast at Ancrua, and it heads right for her.

"Raging fire!"

A ball of green fire intersects with the rainbow blast, and the two collide, exploding in a burst of color. Jade steps in between Balena and Ancrua, "That's enough."

Balena steps back, "A...a Witch?"

The fear in her eyes suddenly disappears, as she bursts into laughter, "Ha! No way...your 'Winx Club' is nothing more than a weak water Fairy, and a Witch! Oh...this is too good!"

Balena's smile fades, as she gets right in Jade's face, "Look, you better go running back to your emo castle in the sky, because you don't wanna mess with me. I already have my Charmix, that little blast was just to scare Ancrua there."

"Think I'm scared of a little Fairy? I could take you on, anytime," Jade challenges with a sinister smile.

Silver pushes Jade back, before she whispers to her, "Don't go picking a fight with everyone you see, Jade! Besides, that's Balena, one of the strongest Fairies at Alfea. She's also...kind of my rival."

"Ha! Not much of a rival, Silver Fish!" Balena mocks, putting her hands on her hips.

Silver snarls, "Don't you dare call me 'Silver Fish'!"

Balena flips her rainbow-highlighted hair before turning around to walk away, "Hmph. Well, good luck with you dumb little club, Silver. You'll need all the help you can get."

She walks out, slamming the door shut behind her.

Jade assumes a thinking position, "I recognize her, she's the princess of Mirza, Alrance's biggest trading competitor. Mirza's known for their Rainbow Crystals, just like how Alrance is known for its Diamond Moon."

Silver groans, tossing back her hair, "Ugh, whatever. Alrance is the cooler planet by far. Who'd want Rainbow Crystals anyway? So tacky."

"Either way, when Balena got angry at Ancrua, I felt a very powerful negative energy in the room. Ancrua, do you have any idea what that was?" Jade asks her.

Ancrua, who now sits slumped down on her bed, looks up at Silver and Jade, "Who cares? I was actually friends with someone as popular and powerful as Balena, and now she hates me…"

She buries her head in her hands as she starts to cry. Silver approaches her, and sits down on the bed with her, "Ancrua, you're an awesome Fairy, and if Balena can't see that, well that's her fault!"

Jade crosses her arms as Silver comforts Ancrua, but as she watches her sister help her friend, she can't help but smile.

"How am I going to make any friends now? Balena's going to tell everyone that I'm a loser. No one's going to want to be seen around me," Ancrua cries, turning away from Silver.

"That's not true! We're here, right? We're your friends, Ancrua," Silver assures her.

Ancrua wipes away her tears, "Thank you so much Silver."

"So, how exactly should we tell people about this...Winx Club?" Jade asks, even as tears still dot Ancrua's cheeks.

Silver looks at Ancrua with a concerned expression, but she turns to her, smiles, and nods. Silver stands.

"Well, Tecna's post on the school website is still up, let's see if anyone's asked to join there."

Ancrua picks up her phone and checks it, "Nothing but negative comments…"

Jade sits down with the other two girls to take a look, "Even Alrancian political videos don't get this much hate…"

"Hang on!" Ancrua shouts in surprise, "Someone's just messaged us!"

She taps a couple of buttons on her phone as she reads the message aloud, "Dear Winx Club, please meet me at the Alfea library ASAP. Signed, a fan. The sender's anonymous, the message isn't attached to any kind of account."

"Cryptic," Jade comments.

"Creepy!" Silver shouts, "Who could this be from?"

"Who knows," Ancrua figures, "but it's the only lead we have. Everything else on the post is all hate junk."

Silver takes Ancrua's phone and turn it off, "Enough negativity! Let's go meet this mysterious fan in the library!"

Silver grabs Ancrua's hand and rushes toward the door, but Jade stops them, "Wait!"

Jade clenches her fists, and is surrounded by green sparkles that swirl around her. Her eyes suddenly become much wider, and her clothes change from a dark tank top and green miniskirt into a pink cropped tank and hot pink capris.

"How do you like my 'Fairy Disguise'?" Jade chuckles, her voice now at a higher pitch.

Silver and Ancrua turn around, and they both gasp. Ancrua covers her mouth with both hands, and Silver bursts into laughter.

"Oh my goodness...Jade! I can't believe...that's what you think a Fairy is?" Silver struggles to breath as she falls over laughing.

Jade twirls around in her new clothes, "But...I look like a Fairy, right? See, I've even wearing pink."

Silver hangs her arm over Jade's shoulder as the two of them walk out the door, "As a Witch, you were already in need of a makeover...but now that need has doubled. We'll deal with that when we get back."

In an unknown location surrounded by dark red fog with a red crystal ball in the center, a dark, cloaked figure steps out from the fog. With a deep, bellowing voice, the figure lays his hand over the crystal ball.

"Soon, my influence over Alfea College will be complete. The dark magic that has penetrated its borders is slowly seeping into the minds and hearts of its students, and soon I will have complete control over all of the Magix Dimension! After all, Alfea is just the start-"

The crystal ball in front of him starts to glow, and he casts a hand over it, "What's this?"

The image of Silver, Jade, and Ancrua walking through the hallways of Alfea appear in the crystal ball.

"But I mean, the Winx Club is about making close friends who're always true to one another. Plus, with loyal friends like that, our club members could be on the fast track to earning their Charmix, and then their Enchantix!" Silver tells the other two with her never ending enthusiasm.

"Three Fairies...looking to build a new Winx Club? Doesn't seem like a threat...but if the crystal ball is showing me this...I should keep an eye on them…"

The cloaked figure points his finger at Silver, as she bounces up and down around Jade and Ancrua, "This one seems rather...unaffected by my curse. Perhaps my magic has not reached her yet. We'll have to change that...won't we?"