~Previously~

Splendora reveals information about the power of Rosella's horn to Echo. There seems to be another reason behind Splendora's intentions. Could it be that she has some connection with Rosella? Rosella spent time in the park and met a specialist known as Alex.

Red Fountain

Rave had finished with his training and decided to watch Gale face off against Rexx. For the moment, he was quite impressed with their skills. Gale was more defensive while Rexx had a talent for offense. Each time Rexx would strike with his chakram, Gale would block the attack with his tonfa. After a few more minutes of training, Gale and Rexx decided that it was time for a break.

"I don't get how you do it Gale." Rexx said, wiping sweat off his brow. "You didn't even break a sweat and I was going all out. I don't get how you can block so easily. None of my attacks got through."

Gale chuckled a little and sighed. "Yea, you went all out alright and that's your problem. All you did was use the same attack over and over. If you want to break my defense, you need to adapt more. The last thing you want is to be predictable."

Rexx began to laugh until he spotted Colton and Alex. "This should be interesting. Who do you think will win this one?"

Gale turned his attention to Colton and Alex. "It's hard to tell. Alex is quite skilled when it comes to long range attacks. On the other hand, Colton has speed on his hands. This should be a really close match."

Rave turned his attention to the training field once more and glared upon seeing Alex. 'It's about time that I got to see Alex. You won't be able to get away from me. However, I can't reveal my true self yet. Everyone around here must believe that I am Zane.'

"Don't even think about holding back Colton." Alex said.

Colton smiled and readied his javelin. "I wouldn't dream of it. Besides, you need to work more on close range combat."

Alex chuckled and fired off a few frost arrows at Colton. 'Let's see what you got Colton.'

Colton waited until the arrows came close and quickly blocked each one with his javelin. As Alex readied more frost arrows, Colton ran towards him and brought the javelin down on his shoulder. Before Alex could react, the javelin struck him and caused him to wince in pain.

"You've gotten a lot better Colton." Alex said, using his bow to push Colton back.

Colton struggled against Alex's advance before using his javelin to counter. Within an instant, the connection was broken. "You could've easily blocked my attack and spared your shoulder. Relying only on your arrows won't get you anywhere. It takes time to ready your bow, giving your opponent the opportunity to cause some serious damage. It's a good thing we're just sparring or who knows what could've happened."

"I guess we both have a lot of things to work on." Alex said chuckling a little. "This is why we make a great team. We each make up for what the other lacks. Let's help each other become stronger alright."

Colton nodded and put away his javelin. "Sure thing buddy. We have a lot to learn. I just hope that we're ready before we need those skills. Something bad is about to happen and we need to be ready."

Rave couldn't stand the thought of seeing the one that stole his life away. Having to sit back and act as if nothing was wrong was the hardest thing he had to do so far. All he wanted was to take down the one that caused him so much pain, but his mistress wouldn't allow it. He didn't know how much longer he had to keep up his little charade as Zane, but he would do as he was commanded. At least, for now anyways.

"Hey Zane." Alex said, walking up to him. "Why don't you come down and spar as well. We're interested to see what you can do."

Rave looked up at Alex with a smile, pretending that the anger he had disappeared. "I'm not really as skilled as you all are."

Rexx chuckled a little and placed a hand on Rave's shoulder. "That's the reason we are all here. The only way you can improve, is to show us what you got and then we can figure out what problems you have."

"I suppose that I could show you a little of what I can do." Rave said before pulling out a whip. "I haven't had much practice with that thing." 'I'll be happier when I don't have to use that fool's weapon.'

Alex turned his attention to the whip and smirked. "I'll take you on. Let's see how well you handle my arrows."

Without hesitation, the two specialists walked out on the training field and stood ready for battle. Rave knew that he would have to hold back, even though he didn't like the idea of it. This gave him a great opportunity to test Alex's skills. After all, they would be facing each other soon enough. The battle raged on, leaving Alex as the victor.

"Zane is pretty good with that whip." Rexx said.

Gale kept a close watch on the battle and narrowed his eyes a little. "Zane may be good, but it's almost as if he's never held that whip before. Something's not right you guys and I need to figure out what." With that, he walked off to his dorm room and took a seat on his bed. 'Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions. Zane can't be that bad, can he? Still, I have to keep an eye on him. I just know that something is going to happen and it won't be good.'

Splendora's Base

Splendora watched the specialists from her shadow orb and glared a little. Her main focus was on Rave until Gale spoke up. "That boy is getting suspicious. We can't allow him to get in our way. If he figures Rave out, then all my plans will be for nothing. He must be dealt with before he learns too much. Bring him to me Echo."

"As you wish mistress." Without hesitation, Echo disappeared into the shadows.

"This boy could be the exact thing I need to get rid of those pesky fairies. Anyone that tries to figure out my plans will become a prisoner. Now to see what those fairies are up to." The image on the orb quickly switched images and stopped at Alfea.

Alfea

Rosella and her friends were hanging out in the quad, awaiting the bus to Magix. Since classes were over for the day, they decided to take a little trip. While Rachel, Catarina, and Carmen talked about what they were going to buy, Rosella was thinking about something else.

"Is something on your mind Rosella?" Catarina asked.

Rosella smiled and shook her head. "It's nothing. I just thinking about something."

Carmen had a devilish grin on her face and moved closer to Rosella. "Perhaps you are thinking about someone. Your thinking about a boy aren't you?"

Rachel sighed and pulled Carmen back, "That's a little creepy Carmen. She would tell us if it was something like that." Smiling, she turned her attention to Rosella. "Tell us about this boy you met."

Rosella chuckled and stretched out. "Why do you think it's about a boy I met?"

"It's written all over your face Rosella. I think someone's in love." Catarina said.

Blushing, Rosella jumped up and tried to hide her face. "Alright. I did meet a boy. His name is Alex. I don't know that much about him. All I know is that he goes to Red Fountain. He's the one that Gale told me about."

"That reminds me." Catarina said, pulling out her cell phone. "I was planning on calling Gale. He should be finished with training by now." Smiling, she walked off and waited for Gale to pick up. It didn't take long for the voicemail to pick up. "That's odd. Gale always picks up for me. I'm getting the feeling that something bad has happened to him."

Red Fountain

Echo appeared in Gale's room and smirked upon seeing him. He had been staring out the window and didn't notice anyone come in. Upon hearing his phone go off, he went to grab it and was knocked unconscious. As his vison faded, he took notice to Echo and did his best to get back up.

"Go to sleep little boy." Echo said as she smashed his phone. "No one is going to save you."

Gale was able to see that it was Catarina calling before his eyes closed. 'I knew something was wrong. Catarina, forgive me. I should have paid more attention.'

Echo stared down at Gale's unconscious body and laughed. "You now belong to my mistress." With that, she surrounded him in a sound barrier and sent out a wave of energy. The energy swept through the room, creating a huge mess before echoing through the grounds. Within seconds, Echo and Gale disappeared into thin air.

"Did you guys feel that?" Colton asked, looking around the grounds.

Alex narrowed his eyes and quickly looked around. "That felt like dark energy. It seems as if the school is under attack, but I don't see anything."

Rexx clenched his fists and looked up at the dorms. "Whatever it was, it came from Gale's room."

"Then there's no time to waste." Rave said. "We need to make sure that Gale is alright."

Without hesitation, the guys took off to Gale's room. Just by looking at the mess, they could tell that something bad happened. Alex took notice to Gale's phone and picked it up. "It looks like Catarina was the last person to call him. Although, judging by the look of things, I don't think that he got the chance to answer. This can only mean that someone has taken him."

Rexx looked down and turned his attention to the window. "This was the last place he was at and no one was around to help him."

"Calm down Rexx." Colton said. "He did mention that he wanted to check something. Gale believed that something bad was going to happen and now he's gone. We don't even have any clues as to where he's at or if he's even alive."

Rave sighed and sat down on the bed. "I haven't known him long, but I don't believe that he would drop his guard so easily. Something must have been on his mind or else this wouldn't have happened. Should we tell the girls?"

Alfea

"Is something wrong Catarina?" Rosella asked.

Catarina walked back to the group and shook her head. "Something has happened to Gale. He's not picking up his phone at all."

"Maybe he's still in training." Rachel said.

Catarina let a few tears fall and shook her head once more. "He finished training half an hour ago. By this time, he's back in his room. We talk at the same time each day and he always lets me know if he'll be running late. I have to find out what has happened to him."

"Let me see if Rexx knows anything." Carmen said as she called Rexx. Within a few minutes, she walked off and leaned up against a wall. "Catarina is already in tears. Meet us in the quad." After hanging up, she walked back to the group and placed a hand on Catarina's shoulder. "The guys are on their way. They thought that we should hear about what's going on in person."

Before anyone could say anything more, the boys arrived and walked up to them. On the way there, they had been trying to figure out a way to tell Catarina what happened. They knew that she wouldn't take the news well and that she needed to hear about it in person. Now they had a mission to accomplish, find Gale and bring him home.

"Please, tell me what's going on." Catarina said.

Rexx sighed and looked down a little, "We can't be sure really. All we know is that someone has taken him."

Alex looked over at Rosella and quickly turned away. "Whoever took him is flowing with dark energy. It would seem that he was attacked while trying to answer your call Catarina. His room was a mess and we found his phone smashed to pieces. There was something that he was trying to figure out and I believe that's why he was taken. Don't worry, we'll do everything we can to find him."

Catarina fell to her knees and burst out in tears. "I can't imagine what they must be doing to him. We have to find him and bring him back. I just couldn't stand the thought of him being dead."

"This has Splendora written all over it." Rosella said.

Splendora's Base

Echo appeared in front of Splendora with Gale and threw him across the floor. After a few minutes, Gale opened his eyes and looked around. He had very little visibility due to the dim lighting, causing him to panic a little. It wasn't long before he set his eyes on Splendora and realized what had happened.

"Where am I?"

Splendora kept her gaze on Gale and smirked, "You're in my tower little boy. And don't even think about trying to escape. No one even knows where you are and they won't be able to find you. Besides, they won't stand against me."

Gale glared and attempted to stand, only to be knocked back down by Echo. "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"

"You're in no position to be asking questions boy." Echo said, stomping down on his back.

Gale cried out in pain and turned his gaze on Splendora once more. "You won't get away with this. My friends will come and they will defeat you."

Splendora couldn't help but laugh at Gale's words, "You stupid boy. Don't you get it. I want them to come here. In their current state, they won't stand a chance. Capturing you was just a bonus. I can't have you telling your friends about my plans. Lock him up with the other one."

Before Gale could say another word, he was dragged off by Echo. The way to the dungeon seemed to go on forever, until they reached the stairs. 'There has to be something I can do. This witch took my weapons and I have no way of communicating with the others.'

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Gale was taken into a chamber and chained to a wall. He tried to fight back as much as possible, but to avail. Looking around, he took notice to torch with a dimly lit flame.

"It's a shame that you won't be around long enough to watch my mistress take over this pathetic world." Echo said chuckling. "Perhaps she will let me keep you as a pet. Join her and you might get to live."

Gale lifted his head and glared, "I would never join you witches."

Echo chuckled before scratching Gale's face, leaving deep gashes. "Have it your way. I'm sure you'll change your mind in no time at all. I am Echo, witch of sound waves and Splendora controls nightmares. You will learn to obey." With that, she turned and walked off out of sight.

"Don't worry about her."

Gale looked around, trying to find the source of the voice he was hearing. "Who's there?"

"My name's Zane." Zane said as his face came into view. "The real Zane."

"I'm Gale. Do you know what's going on here?"

Zane looked down and winced in pain, "Splendora is after a fairy named Rosella. They captured me in order to send a spy into Red Fountain. The Zane you know is an imposter. I can't be sure as to why they want to infiltrate the school, but there must be something else that they want."

"I don't really know of anything they could be looking for. Perhaps they intend to bring the entire school down. They wouldn't be the first to destroy either."

Zane chuckled a little before becoming serious once more. "I'm worried more about the fairy. They keep talking about how powerful she is."

Gale sighed as he felt the blood trickle down his face. "I'm starting to think that they want Rosella for something more than just power. Splendora has her completely terrified. I've never even seen the girl transform or use magic. These witches caught me off guard and that's how I ended up here. It seems that they are getting rid of anyone that starts to catch on to them."

"You've met Rosella." Zane said smiling a little. "I've heard stories about where she comes from. She's the fairy of unicorns right. Maybe all she needs is someone that can bring out her courage. It's time that she started fighting back instead of being afraid."

Gale smiled at the memories of the time he had spent with Rosella and her friends, especially Catarina. All he could do was hope that she would be alright without him. He hadn't known her long, but for some reason he felt attracted to her. She was actually a lot like him and that's what he liked most about her.

"It seems to me that you are thinking about a girl."

Gale chuckled and turned his attention back to Zane. "You could say that. I've spent time with Rosella and her friends. They really are a great group to be around. Maybe one of her friends can help her out. I just wish there was a way that we could warn them."

"We can't even get free from this place. And they took all our gear. It doesn't seem like we can rely on your friends to help either. They don't have enough experience to take on those witches."

~Next Time~

Gale has become a prisoner within Splendora's dark tower and his only friend is the real Zane. Without any way to communicate to the others, they can't warn them of the danger. The fairies decide that they need to help Rosella overcome her fears. At the same time, the specialists are heading to the dark tower to scope things out. Will they be able to gain the strength and power needed to save their friends? And just what exactly is Rave planning for Red Fountain? Find out next time on Scoutix Club.